Dear Editor:

144 Southport voters signed a petition presented to the Selectmen this past Wednesday night, April 13. Some may try to portray this petition as the end to broadband-for-all on Southport. It is not. Rather it is a message to the Broadband Committee and the Selectmen who took a simple mandate to fix what’s unserved on the island (10% or less) and proposed an island-wide Municipally owned Fiber Optic System. The Committee built support for this extravagance on a promise of “Tax Neutrality,” discarding other technology and strategic options even before soliciting bids from providers who had different, and cheaper, approaches. They persuaded 96 voters to pass $2.4mm in bonding authority with the argument that revenue from 320 customers would cover the payments and grants would reduce the principal.

Nine months later the signups are stalled at about 130 while the “Tax Neutral” target has been upwardly estimated at about 500. Successful grants total less than $50k.

Rather than reset or cancel the project, an authority that the Selectmen always had, they opted to sign contracts (without legal counsel), hire the salesmen to run the project, write a check for $640k out of the general fund and borrow $1.5mm - turning authority to bond into “whatever it takes.” This spending and the resulting tax increases were never authorized by voters.

Our first article in our petition removes any doubt about what was promised to voters all along.

The second article in our petition, signed by 83 voters, allocates $60k to a fund for those truly underserved. This is generous since towns around us that have opted to fix only what’s broken, based on state standards, have been successful at getting state money avoiding big local expenses. Our $60k could also be used for alternative solutions like Starlink to actually meet 100% served (including off-islands) for a lot less. Piscataqua County Commissioners are considering the Starlink option; our Committee dismissed it out of hand.

These petitions restore prudent management to a town whose taxes have, up to now, reflected that philosophy. That is why it’s time to vote again.

Tom Myette

Southport