By Beth David, Editor
The Fairhaven Select Board held off on appointing itself temporarily as the Municipal Light Board at its meeting on Monday, 11/7/22. The MLB will be responsible for ushering in the creation of a town-wide internet infrastructure that could be owned by the town in order to save costs on internet access, and ensure that all parts of town are serviced by high-speed access. Fairhaven Town Meeting has held two votes to make the change happen.
The next step is to create a board to take charge of the details, including applying for grants, deciding exactly what the service will be, and deciding if the town will own the project, create a separate entity to own/run it, or contract it out to a for-profit organization. The SB is the authority on finances.
The board met with Shutesbury Municipal Light Plant Manager Gayle Huntress, who outlined the process her town went through to create the board. The town has only 2,000 residents, she said and they had no internet provider at all. Now 100% of residents have high speed internet at about $60/month.
She said during the first two and half years it was all about figuring out how to pay for it and then working with the state to get grant money, then working with town leadership and residents to pay for it.
After it becomes a real Internet Service Provider, the town needs someone to run it, said Ms. Huntress.
Discussion revolved around appointing the Board of Public Works as the MLB, with Vice Chair Leon Correy advocating strongly for the BPW, and SB member Keith Silvia agreeing.
SB member Bob Espindola was against the idea at this stage, saying it was too early in the process. Because the internet service would be considered a utility, requiring 24/7 support, it makes sense for it to fall under the purview of the BPW, he said, but not yet. The entity is not even established, he said.
SB chairperson Stasia Powers and SB member Charlie Murphy also said they felt the timing was not right to send it to the BPW.
The three agreed that it was better for the SB to serve as the MLB until the service was established, then create either a new board, or shift responsibility to the BPW.
Mr. Murphy suggested at least having a joint meeting with the BPW. He and Ms. Powers both said it was not fair to assign a multi-million dollar, multi-process project on the BPW without even asking them if they wanted to do it, or could do it.
In Fairhaven, the BPW is an independent elected board that is not under the jurisdiction of the SB or the Town Administrator.
Mr. Correy noted, more than once, that at the last joint meeting the SB and BPW had, the SB ignored the will of the BPW members and appointed a member to fill a vacancy that the BPW did not want.
Mr. Correy also said he felt there was a conflict of interest with Mr. Espindola having decision-making authority over the project because he had been working on it for years and was passionate about it.
He said the BPW would be “open and impartial.”
It was unclear what the conflict would be. Town Administrator Angie Lopes Ellison said she did not see a conflict because there was no “vested interest,” in the project.
“I want to understand the conflict question,” said Ms. Powers.
Mr. Correy said at every stage they are “selling” the project and the Mr. Espindola had spent a lot of time on it.
“I value my time,” said Mr. Correy.
Mr. Espindola said he worked on the issue because his constituents asked him to, making it clear there was a need for affordable, reliable, high speed internet.
Mr. Murphy suggested a meeting with the BPW.
“I don’t want to appoint a board without them knowing it, he said.
“We recently made a decision for the BPW that went against what they wanted,” said Mr. Correy. “We made it clear in that meeting it was our prerogative.”
He made motion to appoint the BPW, and Mr. Silvia seconded it.
Mr. Espindola said the MLB decision was much different than appointing one person to the board. Ms. Powers agreed.
The motion to assign the task to the BPW failed, with Mr. Correy and Mr. Silvia voting for it, and Ms. Powers, Mr. Espindola, and Mr. Murphy voting against it.
Mr. Espindola made a motion asking for a joint meeting with the BPW, and to have Mr. Espindola and Ms. Ellison meet with either the whole BPW or PW Superintendent Vinnie Furtado beforehand to give details about the project. That motion passed unanimously.
In a related matter, the board voted to assign Mr. Correy as the point person for the Digital Equity Planning Program, which will allow the town to assess and then find ways to bridge the digital divide, meaning the divide between people who have high speed internet access and know how to use it, and those who do not.
Mr. Espindola told the board that digital equity is an effort to get people get connected. He said they may not have the equipment, or they may have a language barrier. Internet access is required for everything now he said, including applying for a job. Even when someone makes a phone call, they are very often directed to a website.
“So it’s really very important,” said Mr. Espindola, and there is money to help.
He told the board that in order to get that grant money, though, the town needed a point person. He said the state is turning to regional groups like SRPEDD (Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District) to distribute the grant money.
Mr. Espindola said he would be willing to be that person as he has been working on the issue, but he had no problem if someone else wanted it.
Ms. Ellison said she and Mr. Espindola have been working on broadband issues so they were a logical choice. Only elected official or a staff member can be the point person.
Mr. Correy said he would like to be the person in that role, saying in his professional life, that is what he does.
Mr. Espindola said he would love to have Mr. Correy take on that role, noting it was not a single effort, but also included outreach to the Council on Aging, the Housing Authority, Libraries, and other groups.
Mr. Espindola said it was not something he would have asked someone else to do.
“But if you’re willing, I’m very willing to let you,” said Mr. Espindola.
A motion to appoint Mr. Correy to be the Digital Equity elected official point person and to work with Ms. Ellison to apply for a grant and establish the town’s digital equity plan passed unanimously.
The board also scheduled an additional meeting for Monday, 11/14, the day before Special Town Meeting, to discuss a couple of articles that had not been decided. Mr. Espindola expressed concern that the board would not have enough time to discuss the articles if they met right before STM on the evening of 11/15.
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