PETERSHAM — Petersham selectmen Tuesday night signed documents committing the town to short-term borrowing of $260,000 to help fund the effort to bring broadband internet service to residents and businesses. The loan was overwhelmingly approved at a December special town meeting, along with the use of $300,000 from the town’s stabilization fund for the same purpose. Once the high-speed fiberoptic network has been installed, the town will be reimbursed by the state.
On January 29, selectmen signed an agreement with the state Technology Park Corporation, via the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, to give the town $880,000 toward the overall $2.6 million cost of the project. In addition to state funding, Matrix Design Group, Inc., the New Jersey-based company which will build the network, will contribute $1.75 million to the cause.
The MTPC and MBI both fall under the jurisdiction of the state Dept. of Housing and Community Development.
“We now will have the $800,000 to begin the make-ready,” said board Chair Nancy Allen, “and when the make-ready and the installation of the network is done – somewhere, we hope, around November 2019 – the state will reimburse. We’re hoping it’s on track for November. We’re actually hoping for September or October, but we’re pushing off to November depending on which part of the project we’re talking about.”
“There’s the completion of the project,” she explained, “but then we have to pull the paperwork together and submit to the state. And if we’re lucky, they’ll reimburse us in November or December.”
Allen said the make-ready work – essentially getting utility poles throughout the town ready to carry the fiberoptic network – was to have begun several weeks ago “but that was held up while the financing was worked through; so that we could get our bond, so that we could pre-pay the make-ready. That work will start the first week of April.”
“Now that work is starting up,” Allen continued, “everyone will be hearing more from the Broadband Committee. There will definitely be more announcements on a regular basis, letting them know how the work is progressing.”
The Chair said the bond signed Tuesday was facilitated by the town’s lending bank, Worcester-based UniBank.
To get the project off the ground, Matrix Design was able to secure commitments from a majority of potential subscribers, along with a $250 deposit from each. Subscribers will pay $95 per month for standard service, while packages that include caller identification, call waiting, and three-way calling will cost $115. Matrix has committed to operating the network for 20 years.