Hermon rejects Internet expansion

HERMON – The future of town-offered wireless Internet access services touted as a way to attract businesses to town appeared uncertain Thursday after councilors said the costs were too high and the unanswered questions too many.

In a unanimous vote, the seven councilors nixed the idea of setting up a one-man town department to handle the project that would lose $85,572 in the first two years.

After more than an hour of discussion, town officials pressed for a decision, one way or the other, on the matter, but the proposal lingered in limbo until Councilor Louis “Buzzy” LaChance proposed moving forward with the project, an idea he quickly acknowledged he opposed. He found a second for the motion, and the measure quickly was defeated.

A consultant predicted the fledgling fixed wireless access system currently in place and operated by the school department could not survive as is.

“They cannot sustain the fixed wireless product that is out there,” Jeff Taylor, an independent consultant brought in by the town, told the council. Taylor, who previously consulted with the school system, said that while school officials are knowledgeable, they are not equipped for such an endeavor.

He presented the council with an ambitious proposal to add 156 new business and residential customers a year.

The town currently offers fixed wireless Internet access to about 30 customers. The access now covers about 35 percent of the geographic area of the town, and expansion to about 90 percent coverage was being considered by adding a tower.

Having wireless Internet access as a utility in town was seen as a strong selling point in convincing new businesses to move to Hermon.

“From an economic development standpoint I think that there’s a lot to be gained if Hermon wanted to put itself on the top rung of municipal technology as a service to the community,” Town Manager Clint Deschene told the council Thursday.

Hermon residents have been offered free dial-up service for years through the school and the fixed wireless system was being seen as a more community-friendly alternative to commercial services.

But many questions remained, including whether they were investing in equipment that quickly would become outdated and whether one person could handle all the duties. Councilors finishing up their budget deliberations and trying to minimize increases, were also having trouble with the bottom line budget figure.

“I’m not sold on this from a financial perspective,” Council Chairman Michael Guthrie said.