NEW SALEM — As the town nears completion of its fiber-optic broadband network, voters will have to make a key decision in the process — who do they want overseeing final construction and initial operation of their network?
New Salem’s town election will be Monday, May 6, and for the first time, the ballot will ask voters to decide the members of a Municipal Light Plant Board. A municipal light plant is an electric or gas service provided by a town to its residents — the broadband network in New Salem’s case — and the MLP Board is responsible for managing the MLP, making decisions regarding distribution and supply, as well as overseeing its director.
The three positions include one three-year seat, one two-year seat and one one-year seat. At the completion of each of those terms, the seats become three-year seats. According to Broadband Committee Co-chairwoman MaryEllen Kennedy, it is likely that the ballot will include current members of the Broadband Committee, and it is unclear if there will be any competition. That will become clear after March 15, the last day to submit nomination papers to be on the ballot.
Many of the decisions regarding broadband in New Salem have been made by the six-member Broadband Committee, members of which will perform the duties of the MLP Board until the election.
According to mass.gov, 41 communities have established MLPs serving all or part of 50 municipalities across the state. Massachusetts General Law states that the MLP Board has the authority to construct, purchase or lease the MLP in accordance with a town vote, and maintains and operates the network.
The MLP Board’s formation comes at a time when New Salem is nearing completion of its broadband network. The town installed its broadband “hut” — the electronic hub of the network — in December, and, according to Kennedy, household connections to the network are estimated to begin in July. Currently, the town is working on “make-ready” work to existing utility poles, altering them to be strung with the physical wiring of the network.
New Salem has been working on getting broadband under the state’s Last Mile program since 2015, as one of the last 44 Massachusetts municipalities without high-speed internet. Previously, a page on the New Salem town website included testimony from residents who said they had trouble selling homes or running businesses due to the lack of broadband.
It is still unclear how much, exactly, the network will cost. Westfield Gas & Electric is designing and building the network, and originally estimated a project cost of $1,967,666, just under the Massachusetts Broadband Institute’s estimate in 2015, when voters approved the project at their annual Town Meeting. Make-ready costs to the network were underestimated by about $600,000, Kennedy said.
“We still have some large unknowns — notably the cost of constructing the distribution network, and then, connecting homes and how much additional relief we will see from the commonwealth,” Kennedy said.
To vote in the town election and choose the members of the MLP Board, residents must be registered to voter by Tuesday, April 16.
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.