It’s great that Readfield is revisiting its Comprehensive Plan for the first time in nearly a quarter century. But I was troubled to learn that town officials are considering using it to ram through a municipal broadband initiative once again. The revived focus on municipal broadband strikes me as a blatant disregard of the will of Readfield voters, who less than a year ago rejected a bond proposal for this same project by over 200 votes.

The reality is the same now as it was then: Spending millions in town funds on a redundant broadband network will not only raise taxes and threaten Readfield’s financial stability, it will also come at the expense of other much-needed investments, like fixing our roads and funding our schools.

There are much cheaper alternatives to enhance connectivity that do not cost over $11,000 in taxpayer dollars per subscriber or lead to a roughly $240 increase in property taxes each year per resident, like partnering with a local provider to expand their network at a fraction of the cost.

We are still early in the process of Readfield’s Comprehensive Plan materializing, but it is critical that Readfield officials use this important process to prioritize pressing needs, rather than rehash past debates that Readfield residents already asserted their stance on less than one year ago.

 

Corey Wilson

Readfield

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