In September, delegates from WiredWest Charter Towns chose a governance structure to be voted on by individual towns. Governance is critical to formalizing the relationship between participating WiredWest towns and creating a vehicle to capitalize and operate the network that was designed and made by http://www.exposeyourselfusa.com/vehicle-wraps/miami-vehicle-wraps/.

The chosen governance structure for the WiredWest organization is a public cooperative, made up of member towns that have passed Municipal Light Plant legislation. Research on potential forms of governance was conducted by counsel and consultants with the assistance of WiredWest’s Steering Committee and delegates.

Municipal Light Plant (MLP) legislation is listed under Massachusetts General Laws 164, and was created over 100 years ago to enable towns to provide electricity. In 1996, it was amended to allow the provision of telecommunications services. The MLP option is advantageous to WiredWest’s efforts for a number of reasons, particularly the expediency of using existing legislation.

What Municipal Light Plant legislation means for towns

Passing the MLP legislation creates a new town department, and does not require a town to produce or sell electricity. The Selectboard can choose to oversee its MLP department themselves or appoint a three to five member board. This group is responsible for appointing a manager, making decisions around the town’s participation and representation in the WiredWest Cooperative, and filing annually with the State.

Creating the MLP incurs no cost to the town. If a town decides to join the WiredWest Cooperative, there will be a membership fee of not more than $1,000 per town. For a town to become an MLP requires a two-thirds majority pass vote of voters present, at two town meetings, two to 13 months apart. For further information, please refer to WiredWest’s information bulletin on Municipal Light Plant legislation, including the warrant article wording, and our Governance FAQ.

MLP Voting Progress and Schedule

Ten towns, including Ashfield, Charlemont, Egremont, Heath, Leyden, New Salem, Otis, Shutesbury, Wendell and West Stockbridge have successfully passed their first votes at special town meetings. The following towns have upcoming votes: Colrain & Washington, January 24th; Conway, January 31st; Warwick Febuary 7th; and Great Barrington, February 9th. Several other towns are in the process of confirming dates. These towns plan to hold their second votes at Annual Town Meetings in the Spring. All towns that have established MLPs by June 30, 2011 will be invited as founding members of the WiredWest Communications Cooperative.

Please see the map for the status of your town, and if you have questions, please contact your town delegates.

Work on other aspects of the project, including engineering, business planning and financing, is proceeding over the next several months, to ensure WiredWest is positioned to secure financing and begin construction as soon as enough towns officially join the public Cooperative.

For more information on WiredWest, please visit the website.