To ensure everyone has accurate information, your Select Board recently asked the newly formed Technology Committee to help get the word out about the Fiber Optics Article 14, which will be discussed and then voted upon at the Annual Town Meeting on June 15. To that end, we strongly encourage you to check out two links, the first one being a printed FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document, and the second link opening up the video of the public meeting where the Technology Committee members went into more depth on the FAQ's and answered questions from all those attending.

FAQ print version: http://www.town.rockport.me.us/index.asp?SEC=%7BA1AB215A-95AA-4E3F-97DD-...

Public meeting video: https://livestream.com/Rockportmaine/events/5459106

By way of background, for several years the Rockport Select Board has had as one of their goals a municipal broadband network that would provide every property in town the ability to easily subscribe to very fast and very stable internet connections. More than 400 other communities around the country have now recognized a broadband network as a necessary public infrastructure. And every single one of these 400-plus communities has seen its citizens save money on their internet bill.

Specifically in Rockport's case, building the network will add about $12.50 or less per month in additional taxes to half of the properties in town, or one that's valued at $300,000 (the median average is $273,000). A property worth $150,000 would add $6.25 per month, and a $600,000 house would add $25 per month. But having collectively paid for the fiber that runs throughout the town, your internet, TV, and phone costs would go down dramatically. This is one of the rare times that you could see your tax burden specifically save you money, sometimes even substantial amounts of money. (Again, more details are available at the links above.)

It's important to stress that the vote on Wednesday, June 15 is NOT to vote to install some version of fiber optics. It is a vote that ONLY supports... or not... a $300,000 engineering and design study that will help the town know exactly what the costs might be for a number of options. The study looks at where the poles are, where the buried conduit is, and what the exact distances are, so we can tailor a bond that will be much more accurate. It also will tell us the best way to go about bringing this service to the rural parts of Rockport at the same time and at the same level of service as the easier, more densely populated village locations. It is these rural areas that the private companies will not get to for years, if not decades. The Rockport Select Board has publicly stated that its primary mandate is to have ALL parts of our town benefitting from this effort simultaneously.

Please study the presentations. And then it is vitally important that you come to the Town Meeting on Wednesday, June 15, at 7 p.m. at the Rockport Opera House. There we will be able to answer more of your questions and then vote on the article.

Thank you for participating in our democracy.

Respectfully submitted by the Rockport Technology Committee

John Viehman, chairman

Steve Hand, vice chairman and secretary

Debra Hall, Emmett Sutton, Joe Sternowski, Ari Meil; Geoffrey Parker, select board liaison