Town Of Alford

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND CABLE
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
D.T.C. 09-1 June 4, 2009

Investigation by the Department of Telecommunications and Cable on its own motion, pursuant to General Law Chapter 159, Section 16, of the telephone service quality of Verizon New England Inc., d/b/a Verizon Massachusetts, in Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties.

On June 1, 2009, the Department of Telecommunications and Cable (“Department”), pursuant to G. L. c. 159, § 16, opened a regional investigation of Verizon Massachusetts’ (“Verizon”) telephone service quality in Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties (“Regional Service Quality Investigation”) and consolidated existing Verizon telephone service quality investigations for the Towns of Hancock and Rowe and petitions regarding Verizon’s telephone service quality by the Towns of Shutesbury and Egremont into the Regional Service Quality Investigation.

The Department will hold public hearings to receive comments pursuant to the Regional Service Quality Investigation on the following dates and locations:

• Franklin County: Tuesday, June 23, 2009, 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., at Greenfield High School Cafeteria, 1 Lenox Avenue, Greenfield.
• Hampshire County: Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., at JFK Middle School Auditorium, 100 Bridge Road, Florence.
• Berkshire County: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., at Berkshire Community College Robert Boland Theatre, 1350 West Street, Pittsfield.
• Hampden County: Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., at Westfield State College, Scanlon Hall, 62 School Street, Westfield.

Members of the public and elected officials are invited to attend and comment. Persons wishing to comment on this matter may appear at the public hearing or file written comments with Catrice C. Williams, Secretary to the Department of Telecommunications and Cable, Two South Station, 4th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02110. Written comments must be filed no later than the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on Friday, July 10, 2009. Written comments intended to be part of the evidentiary record in any subsequent adjudicatory hearing must be signed and accompanied by an affidavit attesting to the veracity of the facts contained therein.

Any person who desires to participate in any subsequent adjudicatory proceeding concerning the Regional Service Quality Investigation must file a written petition for leave to intervene or to participate in the proceeding (“leave to intervene”) with Catrice C. Williams, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications and Cable, Two South Station, 4th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, no later than the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on Friday, July 10, 2009. A petition for leave to intervene must satisfy the timing and substantive requirements of 220 C.M.R. § 1.03. Receipt by the Department, not mailing, constitutes filing and determines whether a petition has been timely filed. A petition filed late may be disallowed as untimely, unless good cause is shown for waiver under 220 C.M.R. § 1.01(4). To be allowed, a petition under 220 C.M.R. § 1.03(1) must satisfy the standing requirements of G.L. c. 30A, § 10. A procedural conference will be held after intervention has been established, at which time a procedural schedule will be established for the efficient, orderly, and timely conduct of this adjudication.

If possible, please submit a copy of all nonproprietary written pleadings, comments, or petitions to intervene to the Department in electronic format by e-mail attachment to dtc.efiling@state.ma.us and Catrice.Williams@state.ma.us. The text of the e-mail must specify: (1) the docket number of the proceeding, D.T.C. 09-1; (2) the name of the person or company submitting the filing; and (3) a brief descriptive title of the document. The electronic filing should also include the name, title, and telephone number of a person to contact in the event of questions about the filing. Text responses should be formatted as either Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF compatible files. Data or spreadsheet responses should be compatible with Microsoft Excel. All comments submitted in electronic format will be posted on the Department’s web site: http://www.mass.gov/dtc.

Any person desiring further information regarding this notice may contact: Kalun Lee, Hearing Officer, Department of Telecommunications and Cable, Two South Station 4th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts, 02110, e-mail alun.Lee@state.ma.us.

By Order of the Department
/s/ Catrice C. Williams
Catrice C. Williams, Secretary

Announcing a western Massachusetts Broadband Community Meeting in Berkshire County with with Sharon Gillett, Massachusetts Broadband Institute Director, staff from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), WesternMA Connect, and Senator Ben Downing, Rep. Smitty Pignatelli and Rep. Denis Guyer.

Please attend this public forum about expanding broadband internet access in western Massachusetts.  MBI will conduct a presentation about its latest efforts and offer an opportunity to participate in discussion on this important issue.

Friday, June 19, 2009
3:00-4:30 PM
Berkshire South Regional Community Center
Robbins Meeting Room
15 Crissey Road
Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Please email broadband@masstech.org or call (508) 870-0312 x 1645 to indicate your attendance.

I want to remind everyone that dog licenses are due by the end of March and a fine will be imposed after that date…AND to also remind everyone to return their census forms. The Town Meeting is May 12th and town elections are May 19th. If you have any questions feel free to call.
Thank you
Paula Doyle, town clerk

Alford together with representatives from Egemont and Great Barrington have joined TRIAD for Berkshire County. TRIAD is a community policing initiative involving seniors, law enforcement and service providers to increase safety through education and crime prevention. Its goals are:

• To reduce criminal activity which targets older Americans
• To alleviate seniors’ fear of becoming a victim, build confidence and improve the quality of life
• To enhance delivery of law enforcement services to older persons

TRIAD on the community level is implemented by a Council composed of seniors, law enforcement personnel, fire protection personnel, and representatives of other community and civic groups. The Council determines the needs of the community’s senior population as they relate to crime prevention and safety awareness and coordinates activities to meet those needs. One current project being worked on by the Council for southern Berkshire County is the creation of a data base composed the names, addresses and phone numbers of seniors in the respective towns having “special needs”. The purpose of this data base is to be able to contact such seniors in the event of an emergency such as an ice storm causing a loss of electricity and to provide assistance as needed.
Joseph Silvestri

From the Undermountain Elementary PTO. We are looking for used tennis racquets and balls to be used during recess. If anyone has any they can leave them for me at Town Hall or they can call me @528-1686 and I can come and get them. Thanks so much, Roxanne Germain