Question Arises As To Who Pays For Community Internet Study
Falmouth Economic Industrial and Development Corporation on Tuesday, October 13, received an update on FalmouthNet from board member Art Gaylord. In November 2020, a feasibility study funded by the EDIC was conducted by CCG Consulting, and results showed that Falmouth is, in fact, a feasible area for a fiber optic network.
“We were very grateful that the EDIC stepped forward and provided $52,000 to fund that initial study that got things going,” Mr. Gaylord said. “Since then, a lot has been happening.”
He told the board that FalmouthNet is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Mr. Gaylord also reported that FalmouthNet is currently refining its design for the fiber optic network, having recently put out a request for proposals for an engineering design that will actually consider the street-by-street requirements of implementing the network. This phase of the project, he said, was largely funded by state legislators, Senator Susan L. Moran and Representatives David T. Vieira and Dylan Fernandes. Using a combination of on-site time and virtual assets like Google street view, the engineers will be able to determine specific needs of Falmouth in terms of implementing fiber optics.
“The goal is for [the engineering company] to come and basically do a high-level design study,” Mr. Gaylord said. “The whole point of this is to come up with a more refined design.”
After the presentation from Mr. Gaylord, Mr. Galasso had questions about the financial state of FalmouthNet.
“The EDIC put up a seed account for this,” Mr. Galasso said. “You formed a nonprofit, you’ve done some other things… When do you think you can pay us back our $50,000?”
Mr. Gaylord said he did not think that was ever part of the agreement, but Mr. Galasso disagreed.
“You’re out there raising money for expanding this,” Mr. Galasso said. “You’ve taken our study, which we paid for, in order to do that; you used our study to form your nonprofit. I think they’re all good, positive things, but that’s not typically how we work. Any money we put out for a study or predevelopment costs, we’ve usually stayed involved to some degree. And I feel that we’ve been on the sideline here and that we haven’t been asked to be involved.”
He continued to say that the EDIC should be at the top of FalmouthNet’s priorities, should they have the funds to pay back the initial $50,000, so that the EDIC can invest that money in other projects.
Board member Samuel Patterson was quick to dispute Mr. Galasso, saying that former executive director Michael DiGiano was very involved with FalmouthNet.
“You’re making an assumption that is not true,” Mr. Patterson said. “What’s the primary mission of an EDIC? Job creation. What do you think this is all about? People are going to be working from their homes more and more. What about our kids and their education? Look what COVID did to our educational program. Education of kids leads to more productive employees and more productive citizens. I think to pull $50,000 out of this initiative right now is to cut off the growth opportunity… I think it’s an excellent investment to promote the economic vitality of this community.”
Mr. Galasso said that he still feels as though the EDIC involvement with FalmouthNet has been inadequate, and he would like to at least see its investment returned at some point.
“If that was the case, that should’ve been stated at the time the money was provided,” Mr. Gaylord said. “There was no condition in that provision of money for repayment at that time. It was discussed [but] it was not included in that agreement.”
Mr. Gaylord said that perhaps at some point, years down the road, once things are more established, FalmouthNet would be able to consider repayment.