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Planning commission flags cell and broadband gaps; board debates draft wording
Summary
Consultant told the board that cell infrastructure and telecommunications ranked high in outreach; selectboard members pushed back on broadband coverage statistics and urged the plan to reflect current gaps and support near‑term grant opportunities.
The town plan update identifies telecommunications as a major outreach priority, the planner said, and recommends signaling support to providers for appropriately sited cell towers. "One of those big priorities was cell infrastructure," the planner told the board as he walked through the draft telecom policies.
Board members questioned a draft sentence that said "roughly 85% of residents have access to Internet," arguing that local experience and ZIP‑code differences make that figure misleading. One board member urged replacing absolute wording with phrasing such as "a majority" or "a large majority" and recommended clarifying definitions (e.g., federal broadband speed thresholds) before adding a figure to the plan.
Members also discussed the removal of copper infrastructure by providers, the urgency for backup power at critical sites, and the potential to use plan language and maps to support grant applications for improved coverage. The planner said the plan can be used in grant applications to show demonstrated need and community support.
The board directed staff to refine the telecommunications language, consider mapping scenic views to protect from inappropriate tower siting, and note telecommunications as a near‑term priority to help with grant eligibility.
