I have been asked to comment on the passage of Resolution 10-2020 which amends the Town’s fee structure for permits in the Town’s right-of-way. 

The FCC implemented a rule which limited local government’s ability to regulate “small cells” and related infrastructure which became effective April 2019. 

This ruling was a concern not only to the Town of Centreville, but to many rural municipalities and counties. In fact, in September 2018, the Queen Anne’s County Commissioners wrote to the FCC in response to these pending regulations. (The full letter can be found here.)  

“...Queen Anne’s County writes to express our concerns over the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed Declaratory Ruling...we are concerned that the proposed language would significantly impede local governments’ ability to serve as trustees of public property, safety and welfare…The FCC’s proposed recurring fee structure is an unreasonable overreach that will harm local policy innovation. We disagree with the FCC’s interpretation of “fair and reasonable compensation” as meaning approximately $270 per small cell site. Local governments share the federal government’s goal of ensuring affordable broadband access for every American, regardless of their income level or address….Why does it see fit to so narrowly dictate the rates charged by municipalities? Without the ability for Queen Anne’s County to set permit fees to recoup our expenses for processing them and add a franchise fee so that we may serve areas which the industry will not in our jurisdiction, our county will lose money and not be able to provide 21 century internet services to all our citizens.” 

In early 2019, at the advice of our attorney, the Town of Centreville introduced Ordinance 02-2019 “Small Cells” which regulated the permitting of small cells and related infrastructure in the right-of-way. The Town held a public hearing on March 21, 2019. No one spoke in favor of the ordinance. No one spoke in opposition of the ordinance. The ordinance has a provision providing that the Town Council could regulate the fees associated with permitting small cells and related infrastructure via Resolution, as we do for all non-utility fees. The ordinance passed unanimously on March 21, 2019. 

On May 16, 2019 the Town Council approved Resolution 03-2019, which amended the Town’s fee schedule to add fees for permits in the right of way, permits for small cell facilities in the right of way, permits for new poles and annual right-of-way fees. This fee was implemented to ensure that the Town can equitably protect public property, safety and welfare. 

The fee amounts were based on regulations from the FCC and do not reflect the true cost of the permitting activity (the true cost is likely to be much higher). 

With regards to it’s fee structure, the Town of Centreville strives for a policy of equity. Equity is defined as ‘the quality of being fair and impartial’. Whether it is a building permit to erect a shed in your backyard, a building permit for a developer to build a new home, or a utility to place infrastructure in the Town’s right-of-way, the policy of the Town has been based on equity. 

Fees are charged to applicants based on the cost associated to provide that service and process the permit. The person/company seeking the permit pays the town for the cost associated with processing the permit. These fees are updated from time to time based on costs associated with processing them. Taxpayers who do not benefit from this should not foot the bill for this. 

High speed internet has the ability to positively affect every household and business. That being said, there will be a subset of property owners in town that do not want to utilize fiber high-speed internet or perhaps there will be an area that will not be served by underground fiber. It is because of this that the cost to permit this infrastructure is to be born by the company seeking the permit. There is a tangible labor cost to review the plans, approve the permit, oversee and inspect the construction, ensure the protection of public property, and safety and welfare of the citizens, etc. The actual cost of this is likely to be much greater than the permit fees, but the FCC has set limits on local government fees associated with permitting this infrastructure. 

Resolution 10-2020 amends the Fee Schedule to clarify fees related to non-small cell facilities (such as underground fiber) in the right of way. These fees mimic the original fee structure from Resolution 10-2019 and both resolutions are almost identical, with Resolution 10-2019 providing greater detail. This resolution ensures that the permit applicant is paying their fair share to install the infrastructure and that the cost to the taxpayers is minimized, to the extent allowable by FCC regulations. 

These types of fees and ordinances are prevalent throughout Maryland. In October 2019, the Maryland Municipal League stated that “there are 45 municipalities that have adopted ordinances or aesthetic standards” which would include permit fees and design manuals. In addition, many Maryland Counties have also adopted these ordinances. 

For example, one of our local neighbors and a town that is often cited as one we should strive to be like, Denton MD, enacted similar legislation in 2019, complete with a requirement for permits, design manual, and a fee structure. 

Property and local income taxes should be used to provide services to all citizens of Centreville. They should not be used to subsidize private development (whether it is a developer building a subdivision, a homeowner installing a new roof, or a private utility installing infrastructure). The Town strives to enact fee structures that promote equity and maximizes the tax dollar for everyone. Resolution 10-2020 was enacted to clarify Resolution 03-2019 and ensure equity and fairness for the taxpayers of Centreville.

 Response to Talkie Fiber's post on the Facebook Centreville Citizen's Forum (CCF):

On Sept 2, 2020, the owner of Talkie Fiber, posted the following on the Centreville Citizen's Forum: 

"Chestertown is 5 years ahead of centreville when it comes to fiber internet. Recently a fiber permit was requested for centreville and its being meet with resistance and delays. I will like to know where everyone stands in bringing new fiber infrastructure to the town and what can be done to eliminate the delays."

 

I have been asked by several people for a response to that post (and the 120+ replies to that post).  I have commented several times on the CCF page, but each time they have been removed.

Here is my response:

The town does not oppose fiber optic. I think it is a great thing and something that will literally benefit everyone. The Council has been very supportive of new technology, especially when it is installed at no cost to the town, as is being proposed here. However, this is a major proposal (Talkie has said it is over 6 miles of fiber). We are actively working with Talkie and another Fiber company to ensure that Centreville homes have access to high speed internet via fiber.

 

This project came in just as COVID19 forced a shutdown of everything but essential services. The town was impacted as well and just about everything was delayed.

In addition, our staff is stretched extremely thin. Due to budget cuts, we no longer have a full time professional planner on staff (we contract that out on a part time basis). When staff positions are cut, delays happen. We don’t have a full time project manager for a complicated proposal like this.

Also, what Talkie is proposing is to install fiber in the ground, which would cross the existing buried utilities in Northbrook, including phone lines, cable TV lines, water lines, sewer pipes, stormwater pipes, etc.. This is across both public and private property.

As anyone who has lived in Centreville knows, the town has had challenges with Northbrook water and sewer. What happens if a sewer line is breached? What happens if a water line is breached? What happens if one of those is broken on private property? These utilities are YOUR assets and the town needs to ensure that YOUR assets are protected from damage. I want high-speed internet as much as anyone, but its not just as easy as signing a permit and boom, high speed internet. When something does break, the complaints go to the town and the blame does as well.

Just ask Chestertown. 

 

Here are some excerpts from some recent minutes of the Mayor and Council of Chestertown:

MAYOR AND COUNCIL MINUTES: DECEMBER 2, 2019:

Ms. Emily Moseman, resident of High Street, stated that she spoke with employees from Talkie (a company installing fiber optics underground) and was told that they are receiving “pushback” from the Town and that was why the residents can’t use the fiber yet. Mr. Ingersoll asked what was meant by “pushback”. Ms. Moseman said that she spoke with Talkie employees who basically told her the Town won’t let them do their work. Mr. Ingersoll stated that he was working with two different fiber-installing companies and there were issues with the placement of large hand-hold boxes and incidents where the required depth of fiber was ignored, destroying water and sewer lines. Mr. Ingersoll stated that one of the companies ran their fiber through Coventry Farms at only 3’ deep (a minimum of 5’ depth was required in their approval) and ran through water and sewer lines. Mr. Ingersoll stated that he required plans from the companies, adding that with multiple companies going through Town, he was going to limit the number of handholds. Mr. Ingersoll also stated that the fiber companies are not bonded, leaving the Town with little protection when roads or infrastructure is damaged. He said that he was working in the Town’s interest to see that the fiber was installed properly with no damage to the Town’s existing infrastructure.

MAYOR AND COUNCIL MINUTES: DECEMBER 16, 2019:

Rev. Tolliver stated that he has an issue endorsing this Resolution until Talkie resolved the problems in his Ward and the rest of Town due to the installation of their fiber network. He said that Talkie hired an independent contractor that is not ensuring that work is done correctly. Rev. Tolliver stated that Talkie should not be looking for tax breaks of any kind until they have corrected all mistakes and damages caused to the Town of Chestertown….He said that they are circumventing any direction from the Town, particularly the depth at which they are installing the fiber. Mr. Ingersoll acknowledged that there are issues with this company and said that Mr. Sipes told them no weekend work, but they did it anyway which was when the break in College Heights took place. He said that this company is not able to fix what they break so Chestertown Utilities had to come in and fix it immediately before any repayment funds are advanced for the work.

UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES: JANUARY 6, 2020:

Mr. Sipes stated that on Saturday, December 6^th there was an incident where a fiber contractor hit a water line on Cedar Street, even after being told not to work on weekends. He said that some of the valves on Cedar Street were still leaking as a result. There were some valves repaired but the valves at Cedar Street and Valley Road and at Cedar Street and Greenwood Road will be fixed as soon as possible. He said that he did not want the residents to be alarmed if they saw running water above ground in the area.

Mr. Sipes stated that the contractors installing the fiber have hit nine (9) water lines in Town to date. He said that the most recent break meant that he had to call in his men, plus a plumber and his crew at overtime pay. He said that the plumber refused to bill the contractor directly for fear he would not be paid, so his costs are rolled into the claim for over $28,000.00. Mr. Sipes stated he and two (2) of his employees and worked for 12 hours the day of the leak and they were able to slow it down. He said that on Sunday he needed his entire crew for the repairs, which took 15 hours….Mr. Sipes stated that he shut down the project after the contractor hit the line at 115 Elm Street until the issues were resolved. He said that installation is specified at a 5’ depth and he was finding lines installed at only 2’ to 3’ deep and there has not been payment to the Town for damages.

MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 6, 2020:

Mr. Ingersoll stated that due to the destruction caused by underground work in the last year, a bond amount should be determined before any contractor moves forward with additional work. He said that at the next meeting he would like to discuss an amount for the bond. Mr. Ingersoll stated that Talkie insisted that they cannot provide a performance bond to the Town because they were not working for them, but said he disagreed with that line of thought.

MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES: FEBRUARY 3, 2020:

Mr. Foster stated that he would like for the companies to understand that they were running a risk when they cut into lines. Mr. Ingersoll stated that there was verbiage about having an engineer on site to oversee the work, but if the plans were not followed the Town would have the right to make them remove what was done and make sure that it was done correctly. He said that he also added the SHA inspection standards.

MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES: FEBRUARY 18, 2020:

(THIS MEETING HAS EXTENSIVE COMMENTS: https://townofchestertown.com/2020/03/03/mayor-and-council-meeting-minutes-february-18-2020/)

Mr. Ingersoll stated that Chestertown did not have franchise agreement for fiber, as they did for cable tv, and they were at a place where there are two (2) fiber companies that want to wire the same neighborhoods in Town twice. One of the companies has now threatened suit. He said that both companies were at the meeting and the Council would listen to what each had to say but he wanted to put off the enactment of the Ordinance until they hear further from the Town’s attorney...He said that right now there is really very little available fiber but there has been considerable destruction of underground water and sewer utilities. It now it appears as though there could be double the mess. He said that that Town attorney is looking into the suit…Mayor Cerino stated that everyone agreed that fiber had the potential to drive economic growth in the Town, but the installation has been a headache. He said he was concerned from the beginning of about disruption of pre-existing underground infrastructure but a federal law allowing utility companies to work in the rights-of-way might be making it difficult to protect the Town. Mayor Cerino stated that are residents in Town who had no idea who was digging in their yard, infrastructure has been damaged, and permits requirements of depth were not being followed. Mayor Cerino stated that any time work takes place in Town like this it is the town staff that takes the brunt of the phone calls and complaints and the Town is blamed for an issue created by someone in the private sector...Mr. Andrew De Mattia and Mr. Andre DiMattia of Talkie Communications were present and stated that they were limited in what they could say due to the ongoing litigation with the Town.

UTILITY COMMISSION MEETING: MARCH 2, 2020:

Mr. Herz asked if Talkie was still making payment according to their agreement. Mr. Sipes stated that that they were still paying the bill and said that their balance was now around $12,000.00.

UTILITY COMMISSION MEETING: MAY 4, 2020:

Mr. Sipes stated that JCC (Talkie) hit the same private sewer line on Reed Court on two (2) different occasions and he was sending an invoice for the damage.

Mr. Herz asked if Talkie was current on their bill for repairs to the Utilities Commission. Mr. Sipes stated that they are current on their bill and had asked for a final billing on their account until this present situation on Reed Court. He said that there was still a problem with a homeowner in Coventry Farms that he was working on having repaired at the cost to JCC (Talkie) if the problem was indeed found to have been their mistake.

Mr. Foster stated that he believed there was a problem on Reed Court with a slow leak and thought it was due to the fiber installation.

 END OF EXCERPTED MINUTES

 

So, in a span of 3 months, at least 10 water/sewer lines were breached due to Talkie not digging to the required 5 feet. Talkie did not want the Town to hold a bond, nor did they say a subcontractor doing the digging was their responsibility. Due to federal law, the Town may not be protected in the event of damages. Talkie also either threatened litigation or followed through with it.

I am hopeful that Talkie and/or ThinkBig or some other carrier will provide fiber to Centreville and as I write this, our town staff is working with them to secure the necessary permits. Centreville has never dealt with this type of a project before. Don’t you think its important that we do our due diligence to ensure that your assets are protected and that this project goes in as described?

Trust, but verify.