Compiled by The Bedford Citizen
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- April 1: Rationale for Supporting the Town & Schools Communication System by Soraya Stevens
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I’m on-board with the need for a dedicated high-speed, high-capacity network. I concur that we can’t wait. (If a few years copper lines will no longer be supported.) I understand that residential fiber optic is not a comp. What I’m not sold on is that doing ourselves is the most cost effective approach or that we have the staff to do it. The case presented was weak, i.e., maybe having the town do it IS the best choice but the argument in favor was not well-supported. If memory serves, the expected cost of installation was $500k higher for the town to do it. The savings would be realized over time by lower internet access fees and maintenance costs. IIRC, projected savings was about $200k/year after the network is installed. 2.5 years to break even would be fine but I didn’t come away with a warm fuzzy feeling about the numbers presented. It felt like the numbers were tossed up on a chart without much (any?) analysis behind them. It was a very thin proposal given a $1.4M request. I’m undecided but leaning against. We’ll see what Monday night brings.
This letter makes total sense. I also worked in the computer networking field before I retired and was trying to write a similar letter.