COLRAIN — After learning that the Board of Selectmen withdrew from the WiredWest broadband municipal collaborative earlier this spring, the town’s full Broadband Committee has resigned.
On July 5, former Broadband Committee members sent a letter to the Board of Selectmen, saying they had “unanimously chosen not to accept our reappointments to the committee,” after learning from WiredWest that the selectmen had voted to formally withdraw from WiredWest on May 19.
“We feel that you have neither solicited our advice, shared real questions or intentions before making decisions concerning bringing high speed internet to town, nor presented a model on how we might work together in the future,” the Broadband Committee letter states. “Therefore, we feel that the committee … has been unable to serve the town.”
The committee’s letter goes on to criticize the selectmen for not telling the Broadband Committee it had withdrawn Colrain from WiredWest. “There was no discussion, no reasons given and the vote to withdraw was conducted outside of the normal meeting schedule, with no notification to anyone involved with this issue,” the letter states. “Hardly a model of cooperation between two town committees!”
On May 23, selectmen sent WiredWest a letter saying the town was officially leaving the municipal broadband collaborative. Selectmen had asked that the town’s name be removed from the WiredWest website and that town residents who had placed a $49 deposit for future WiredWest internet services get refunds. More recently, WiredWest had sent a letter to Colrain pre-subscribers, saying the town had withdrawn from WiredWest, and that pre-subscribers must submit refund requests in writing (not by email), to meet legal requirements to have funds removed from an escrow account.
Selectman Eileen Sauvageau said she was sorry that poor communications between selectmen and the committee had resulted in the fracturing between the boards, but she wasn’t sorry that the town has withdrawn from WiredWest. She said the meeting — which was held on a Thursday instead of the usual Monday night — had been posted inside the Town Office, as is required. She and the other selectmen said they had let the Broadband Committee know of their concerns about WiredWest’s business plan and its earlier plan to own the regional infrastructure.
In their letter to selectmen, former Broadband Committee members David Greenberg, Holleran Greenburger, Rebecca Tippens, Barry Stacy, Bill Cole, Ed Stamas and Bill Dornbusch said they would be for an ad hoc committee “to keep abreast of developments and possibilities concerning wiring our town.”
Selectmen say they are making progress, and are taking steps recommended by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute to ensure the town will be in line for last-mile broadband build-out and for the town’s share of broadband funding from the state.
As part of the town’s Readiness Assessment for last-mile broadband, the Board of Selectmen appointed itself to serve as the town’s Municipal Lighting Plant board, with Town Coordinator Kevin Fox to be the board manager.
Also, the town is looking to hire a financial adviser and bond counsel to get a bond that would help the town pay for its $2.4 million share of the broadband build-out. Colrain voters approved a $2.4 million debt exclusion for broadband at the 2015 annual town meeting.
Selectmen said they are still seeking a regional option, rather than a single-town network, such as that built in Leverett.