Richmond Select Board Unanimously Backs Cable Franchise Draft for Charter Negotiations

RICHMOND -- February 10, 2021, Richmond's Select Board unanimously advanced a new 10-year cable franchise agreement with Charter Communications and approved a private cemetery restoration at its February 10 remote meeting. The board voted to submit the redlined agreement to Charter for negotiation, the culmination of work by the Cable Advisory Committee since 2018; the agreement is non-exclusive, leaving the door open for the town's new telephone company to seek its own franchise and compete on high-speed internet. Ed Fechner, co-chair of the Cable Advisory Committee, presented the highlights, with town counsel Elizabeth Goodman advising on a proposed non-discrimination addition raised by board member Roger. The board also unanimously approved Peter Williams' plan to restore a 19th-century family plot at Center Cemetery, cleaning stones, replacing three missing iron posts, and rehanging period chains, with the Williams family assuming full maintenance responsibility for the plot interior. The board approved $62,825 in small bridge grant reimbursements and a $1,900 assessors' tax map contract renewal, and continued both the Boulder Dash special permit hearing and new green burial regulations to the February 24 meeting.