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Concord pursues Mass Broadband Institute grant to bring fiber last mile to four housing authority properties
Summary
CMLP staff said they are preparing documentation and quotes to apply for a Mass Broadband Institute residential-retrofit grant that could pay a portion of the last‑mile fiber costs to connect four Concord Housing Authority properties.
Town of Concord Municipal Light Plant staff reported progress on a Mass Broadband Institute grant to bring fiber last-mile service to several Concord Housing Authority properties and on other broadband operations items.
Jason (last name not specified), Director, said CMLP is preparing a grant filing for a residential-retrofit program through the Mass Broadband Institute that would subsidize a portion of the last‑mile cost for four housing authority properties. "They were not listed on the latest round in the grant, but Dale has actually been working with the housing authority to try to help them get all their documents submitted to the state so that they can be eligible in the next round," Jason said. Staff are obtaining quotes and preparing the application so the town can be considered in the next funding round.
Other broadband updates
- Equipment procurement: Staff said a 10‑gig equipment replacement bid will be advertised soon so the utility can go out to procurement for core network hardware.
- Schools and fiber work: Staff reported that the school’s permanent fiber splice is complete and the new middle school has cut over to the new fiber feed, allowing decommissioning of the old building’s lines.
- Wireless access points: The team is considering adding wireless access points on utility poles where smart gateways exist to provide coverage for first responders and a mobile emergency operations center.
- Staffing: CMLP is recruiting for a second network engineer after a senior network engineer departed; staff said Dale has identified a strong candidate pool.
What this means: If the Mass Broadband Institute grant covers part of the last‑mile cost, it will lower the capital burden for deployment to those Concord Housing Authority buildings. Staff will return to the board with updates on the grant outcome and procurement timing.
Ending
Staff asked the board for continued support as they finalize quotes and filings and said they will report back when the next round selections are announced.
