State grant monies originally provided Goshen with $770,000 as partial funding for Goshen’s fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) town-owned network. In addition, the town voted to borrow up to $1.4 million to cover the remaining costs of building the town’s FTTH network.
“Make-ready” costs have far exceeded the estimates from the initial project cost assessment. (“Make-ready” costs are what the town must pay the utility companies to replace poles and move lines on poles, in order to meet current regulatory standards for additional network equipment and fiber.) The original make-ready project cost estimates were $550,000 and were included in the total state grant monies of $770,000 indicated above. The current make-ready project costs will likely total $1.3 – $1.4 million dollars, far exceeding the earlier estimates.
The original make-ready cost projections were created using computer modeling, without actual visits to the towns. While make-ready projections were accurate for many towns, Goshen’s were not, as computer modeling could not forecast the large amount of work required for utility companies to bring Goshen’s infrastructure into compliance with current standards. The town and the state have worked together to obtain extra grant monies to cover the $750,000 – $850,000 make-ready funding gap. The state has already approved additional grant funding monies to the town with an initial supplemental of $532,337; and, the state has agreed to provide additional grant monies to cover the rest of the make-ready funding gap at project completion.
See the chart below for revised funding sources and totals as of December 2019:
| Project Categories | State Grant Funds | CAF II FCC AWARD | Municipal Funds | Total Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional Services Allocation (original state grant award monies) |
$320,000 | $320,000 | ||
| Construction Allocation (original state grant award monies) |
$450,000 | $450,000 | ||
| Supplemental Make Ready Funds recently provided by the State to the Town | $532,337 | $532,337 | ||
| Potential Additional Make Ready Funds available at project true-up (see #1 below) |
$177,446 | $177,446 | ||
| CAF II – Federal FCC grant monies award obtained through partnership with Westfield Gas & Electric (see #2 below) |
$261,762 | $261,762 | ||
| Current Municipal Contribution via debt exclusion authorization | $1,400,000 | $1,400,000 | ||
| TOTALS: | $1,479,783 | $261,762 | $1,400,000 | $3,141,545 |
Items highlighted in green are new grant monies awarded to the Town in December 2019, totaling $971,545.
1) The final amount awarded is dependent on the actual make ready billed amounts after project completion. If the final excess make ready costs are larger or smaller, the amount will be adjusted accordingly.
2) These monies are provided in equal 1/10 disbursements over the 10 years following project completion. Funds are conditional upon meeting some federal reporting & other requirements.