CARIBOU, Maine — As Caribou looks to expand broadband internet, a new city council committee will explore how to reach those goals.
Broadband has been a topic of discussion, and sometimes contention, in Caribou since councilors heard expansion proposals from several internet providers last year. Councilors in favor of partnering with Consolidated Communications or Spectrum have noted those companies’ current presence in the city and their desire to install high-speed, dark fiber poles in less than two years.
There is also the Caribou Utilities District’s planned five-year installation of a citywide dark fiber network. Officials from the utilities district, which is not a city department, have said that the project will begin with the rural outskirts of Caribou that they claim national companies largely underserve.
Last year city councilors publicly endorsed a charter change that allowed the utilities district to add broadband as a utility, but have not set aside city funds to help the expansion efforts.
Instead, a three-member committee will explore potential broadband funding opportunities and help the council decide whether to fully support the utilities district or partner with Spectrum or Consolidated.
On Monday, City Mayor Jody Smith appointed councilors Dan Bagley, Joan Theriault and Lou Willey to that committee. Bagley will serve as the committee chair.
Their appointments did not require a council vote since the committee is made up of councilors instead of community members, Smith said.
Councilor John Morrill disagreed with the committee’s formation, arguing instead that the city put their full support behind the utilities district.
“They’re the ones spearheading this issue, so we should see if there’s anything they need from us,” Morrill said. “This broadband thing has already become a drama fest and I don’t want to see the city get caught up in any more of that.”
Morrill referred to controversies that arose when Spectrum targeted Caribou residents with anti-utilities-district ads on Facebook. Spectrum also sent a letter to Caribou officials lowering the city’s project costs from $875,133 to $496,982 if they partner with Spectrum instead of the utilities district.
In past meetings Melinda Kinney, senior director of government affairs for Charter Communications, Spectrum’s parent company, said expanding broadband in Caribou would cost $1.4 million. A total of 294 unserved homes would be connected, expanding coverage by 74.5 miles, she said.
The utilities district was back in the spotlight in late 2022 after city councilors stopped the Cary Hospital District Board from donating $250,000 to the new broadband division. Councilors cited an alleged conflict of interest between two board members and the project. The utilities district board of trustees agreed not to accept the donation.
Willey noted that regardless of who the city partners with, a broadband committee is necessary for exploring how to best help unserved people.
“I don’t see this committee lasting more than a month or two,” Willey said. “We still have people, in 2023, who aren’t able to connect [to high-speed internet] and I think it’s appalling. If we don’t look into this, we’re making the issue worse.”
Theriault clarified that the committee does not intend to explore the utilities district’s project beyond what councilors already know.
“We’re looking at alternatives. The utilities district’s project is going to take years, so our job is to look at other projects and see if there’s something that would be quicker,” Theriault said.
In other business, city councilors set a public hearing about a potential Caribou Development Committee for their Monday, March 13 meeting.
If approved by councilors in March, the committee would include five members of the public that the City Council would appoint, one Caribou Planning Board member and one Caribou Economic Growth Council member. City Manager Penny Thompson and a city councilor would serve as non-voting members.
According to a proposed ordinance, the committee’s duties would include helping companies find appropriate development or expansion sites, strengthening the city’s entrepreneurship programs, promote redevelopment of underutilized land and working with the Planning Board, Growth Council and Riverfront Renaissance Committee.
The public hearing will be open to all community members who wish to provide comments or feedback on the proposed committee.
The next regular Caribou City Council meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 27, at the Caribou Municipal Building, located at 25 High St.
