Casco Bay Advisors' Brian Lippold on July 13 recommended Boothbay Harbor talk with Spectrum about unserved roads, talk with other internet providers and refine the town’s goals. Lippold was sharing his assessment of the broadband inventory study with selectmen. The firm presented it to the Broadband Committee in May.

Spectrum and Consolidated Communications (CCI) are the two main companies serving Boothbay Harbor; Spectrum holds about 90% of the market, Lippold said. Over 99% of the town has access to Spectrum’s service, he said.

“Consolidated Communications offers … a distance-sensitive speed with much lower speed than what is achievable with Spectrum for most of the region. (CCI has not) invested in upgrading that equipment because of the prevalence of (Spectrum) that inherently has much greater capability.”

He said unconnected, potential customers typically live on long driveways, and about four unconnected areas fall out of both Spectrum and CCI’s driveway standards. “That's considered to be served even if it isn't connected, because it's up to the property owner to select service and negotiate an installation fee if it's, say, beyond 250 feet from the major roadway.”

Lippold said his main recommendation is to talk with Spectrum about the roads not served, because the company would likely extend its coverage for little to no cost of the approximately $24,000 build-out.

Building a fiber-to-the-home system across the whole town would cost about $3.3 million, he said. If the town partnered with a private company, particularly Lincolnville Communications (LCI), the cost would be significantly less due to the fiber “backbone” the company already has in place, he said.

“I'm not recommending one solution over another, but just pointing out the economic realities as they would be a logical provider to negotiate with and, coincidentally, they have an interest in expanding their service.”

Lippold said another option would be to create an open access dark fiber network, to have leases with any number of providers, creating a competitive market. It would cost a little less than the $3.3 million to complete a standard fiber-to-the-home network, Lippold said.

The overall recommendation to the town is to educate the public on the available options and share the report and the town’s vision and goals with existing and potential providers.

“You might be surprised. You may have a lot more support to do something as an overbuild than you might have thought … Talk with LCI, talk with all of the other service providers … and really define what your vision and goals are. At this stage – now that you know what you have and what you don't have and what you could have. Refine your vision and be specific with your goals.”

JEDC

Select Board Chair Mike Tomko and Town Manager Julia Latter and Boothbay Select Board Chair Steve Lewis and Town Manager Dan Bryer met last week about the Joint Economic Development Committee and agreed to dissolve the committee. The decision ends the towns’ arrangement that was renewed last September.

Selectmen voted unanimously to dissolve the JEDC after Boothbay’s decision to do the same July 8. Both towns' officials agreed to keep working together directly rather than through a committee.

Said Tomko, “It was felt with the support of Dan Bryer and with Steve Lewis that we did not necessarily need … a printed agreement to work collaboratively and in fact, in many ways there is collaborative work that's being done. There are opportunities whether it's talking about purchasing of sand, salt, gravel, maybe paving services where there can be an alignment. There's communication between board members and definitely between the town managers.”

Union Street sidewalks

Latter announced a project manager of a home renovation on Union Street has offered to lay down 194 feet of sidewalk if the town agrees to pay for 96 feet of it. The project would make the stretch of sidewalk American With Disabilities Act compliant and, according to Crooker Construction estimates, the town would be responsible for one-third of the cost or $2,445.67. Along with a short stretch of Union Street adjacent to Pear Street, the total cost for sidewalk work in that area will be under the $17,000 budgeted.

Selectmen unanimously agreed to the offer.

Other announcements

Selectman Wendy Wolf said with orders from Gov. Janet Mills to wear masks in public places, there is a compelling business perspective to why the town should be striving to comply.

“Given social media, if we can become known as a community that is focusing very hard on safety and a safe experience for our visitors, that speaks volumes with people coming here and having a good experience. If people don't and they post something on Facebook or tweet about it or whatever, those messages can be amplified and they can do a lot of damage to people’s perceptions …”

Tomko invited the business community to talk with the town about how everyone can help make Boothbay Harbor the safest, most inviting coastal community.

Latter announced there have been no applicants for the proposed Water Supply Protection Group. The town is also looking for a part-time or per diem front counter support after longtime front office staff member Larry Omland retired several months ago.