Minutes 8-27-97

The scheduled meeting of the Electronic Village of Abingdon "91st Day" Subcommittee held in the Town of Abingdon Municipal Building was opened by Vice-Chairman Jay Cox, since it appeared that Dr. Moore had been detained. There were eight members present. These included:

The first agenda item was that of discussion of the terms of the rental for the T-1 line which EVA uses between the Municipal Building and NetAccess. These rental terms and costs as presented were as follows:

TERM	RATE
Month to month	$ 330 per month
13 to 24 months	$ 328 per month
25 to 36 months	$ 308 per month
37 to 60 months	$ 274 per month
Over 60 months	$ 228 per month

Jay Cox cautioned the group about long term contracts for any telecommunications purpose since the technology changes so fast in that field. NetAccess would typically use the 13 month rate if the need for any such long term commitment was felt. After some discussion, it was the decision of the group to employ the month to month rate, especially in light of some of the later discussion that was to take place in regard to the microwave transmission equipment.

The proposed Phase 3 extension was discussed at this time. Al Bradley reported that David Taverner, who was unable to attend the meeting tonight, had advised of a 9/5 - 9/6 build date for the fiber extension to the west along Plumb Alley.

The next discussion item was the hospital connection. Al Bradley reported that the hospital was still in the process of revising its computer network, but in his discussion with Mr. George Lewis of JMH, it was discovered that the hospital had not determined how many computers would be given complete internet access and therefore no decision could be made as to their connectivity at that time. The hospital would have to make some determinations of its own before we could assist with their project, but it was felt that the hospital could be accommodated along with some of the intervening businesses and offices.

On the subject of "Other Connections", Jay Cox reported that they had purchased HDSL equipment and were connecting Chaffin & Chaffin Law Firm on East Main Street to the EVA system through the Washington County Chamber of Commerce Office. They intended to network the whole office building and not just the law firm itself with HDSL technology.

Jay Cox also reported on microwave radio transmission experiments that NetAccess has conducted with People, Incorporated and the William King Regional Arts Center. Jay reported that this equipment worked flawlessly and achieved a 2MB transmission rate; faster than the T-1 equivalent. There was discussion of further experiments with similar equipment to take place in the Crestview Drive area.

Dr. Moore gave an update of the Electronic Village legislation. He had received some correspondence from the City Attorney of Lynchburg in regard to the application of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to our situation. This contained a legal opinion as to a similar situation in Tennessee from the Baller Law Group of Washington, DC in which there is a quotation from the Telecommunications Act stating that ". . . no state statute or regulation may prevent any entity" from engaging in the telecommunications business. A committee of the Virginia Municipal League is working on this subject.

Dr. Moore also advised the group of a study done by VPI&SU concerning the establishment of a "business incubator" in the area which could benefit the establishment of some technology related businesses here.

The next meeting of the EVA 91^st Day Subcommittee was set for 12:00 noon on 24 September 1997 at the Johnston Memorial Hospital Cafeteria meeting room.