During the Nov. 19 Otter Creek Communication Union District meeting, members reviewed sustainability work and provider reporting and discussed looming federal funding uncertainty.

The sustainability committee decided to retain the existing interlocal agreement rather than pursue a legal merger because of the higher cost of merging, committee members said. The group also reviewed insurance and indemnification language in contracts with the district's partner provider, Consolidated, and confirmed that certificates of insurance are being collected annually.

The committee discussed using preconstruction grant funds in 2026 to hire a consultant to pursue additional grant funding. "Maybe to hire a consultant and see if we can go after some other grant money," the chair said, noting the possible use of preconstruction funds if available.

Board members raised concern about federal funding for CUD buildouts. One participant summarized recent federal developments: "The Federal Government allocated $120,000,000 to Vermont to the CUDs for their build out. But just recently... the NTIA is looking at taking $100,000,000 of that back, which would mean there'll only be $20,000,000 coming to the state," a board member said, describing a substantial funding risk for ongoing buildout plans. The district will monitor federal developments and coordinate with VACUDA/Vakuta and the Vermont Community Broadband Board.

On provider reporting, Go Net Speed's quarterly measures (net promoter score, speed, latency) were described as generally strong though minimum-speed figures were sometimes inconsistent; one installation complaint was noted. Steve reported Go Net Speed notified customers of a planned upgrade with a predicted short outage on Dec. 10.

The board asked staff to follow up with the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) about amending the preconstruction grant end date after the chair discovered the grant record had not been extended and currently showed an end date of 2025. Chair Laura said VCBB staff indicated they would process the amendment but she would check for written confirmation.

The sustainability committee said it would reduce meeting frequency as tasks stabilize and invited additional members to join. The board closed the item and moved to final administrative business.