Yes, Jim phase one. The work in the center has been broken down into phases, phase one is a good size project, and the biggest hold up was the poles and working with the utilities to get them moved to continue with the project. It has been a long process, and I cannot wait to see it finished, The July 4th celebration this year is going to be beautiful with all of the work that has been done and all of the hard work that is being done behind the scenes that no one sees.

Verizon has been the major contributors to the hold up. If I am not mistaken when this was presented at town meeting, I think there were four stages, which involved going down into the center. If memory serves me correctly Mr. Cohen mentioned that the additional phases were going to be tabled for the time being because of all the issues the utilities and Phase 1. I can't speak to the funding, it's been so long other than the surcharges from Verizon, I really don't remember. Maybe Krista you can ask Mr. Cohen specifically how the funding of this project works other than for the Verizon piece of it.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Verizon isn't the utility with the surcharge, it's National Grid. So I guess you'll be paying for the buried cable like the rest of us if you are on the electric grid.

Krista's article explained that according to Cohen, "The constraint on the project schedule...is the collection of surcharges on traditional land line telephone service that funds the costs for the suppression of the Verizon lines." Tony, I think you are saying that you don't believe her statement to be true. I guess we will have to let Krista comment in whether she still believes that her statement is accurate. Is Verizon collecting surcharges to fund suppression of the lines?

Ned: No. I agree with what Krista said. There's no doubt that Verizon landlines have been effected by competition from cellphones, iphones, FIOS, Comcast, etc. What I should have said was that National Grid, Comcast, and Verizon have all collected surcharges since inception of the agreement with the town to bury cables and that we already have paid for it over many years. I believe the Verizon surcharge was a dollar, or two, per month for an average homeowner. I'll have to check to see if Verizon is still collecting. If they are, then there's validity to what Cohen has indicated is the holdup. Verizon still needs to capture whatever dollar diffference there is between what they estimated they needed and what has been collected. I don't think it's a large amount of money but Verizon, by agreement, has the right to wait until it has the cash in hand. I don't think that the parties to the agreement ever saw the future impact of technology on landline services. For example, FIOS itself competes with landlines, but I don't think that was ever forecasted as part of the deal. I don't believe that FIOS customers were required to pay the surcharge and, in addition, Verizon landline revenues were lost by the replacement of existing lines in homes, businesses, etc., that switched over to FIOS.

My apologies JTAlexander, I did not see your questions. I will do my best to get you an answer.

Actually Krista the question was in my last post, I did not send it directly to you. Sorry, for the confusion.

Maria, my comment to Ned was only intended to make him aware that Verizon wasn't the only utility that had been collecting the surcharge so nothing was really being saved in this regard by dumping the service. As I think back to a conversation I had with Bernie Lynch some time ago, we spoke more about the reticence of National Grid to move forward without collecting sufficient funds to complete the project. I should have made it clearer that Comcast, Verizon, and National Grid were all allowed to collect the additional fee.

Maria, This is an interesting project to follow since it shows how difficult it is to bring a government/private venture to fruition. It's history is fascinating and there were many "bumps in the road." I know that Mr. Lynch was frustrated many times trying to get this thing implemented literally htting the proverbial "stonewall" each time he tried to negotiate a start date with National Grid. My hat's off to Mr. Cohen, et al., because, quite frankly, I didn't expect to see this happen in my lifetime knowing what Mr. Lynch was going through. I think that the improvements to Chelmsford Center will far outweigh any of the small surcharges we paid. This is a beautification project that will not only be a source of local pride, but an enhancement to the livability and overall appeal of Chelmsford and a positive influence on future property values.