Pine Plains takes the lead: The big push for regional broadband

PINE PLAINS — It’s been more than nine months in the making, although it took more like an evening for the primary members of the Pine Plains Broadband Committee to pull what they had compiled into a  finalized report and actually write it up in preparation to present it to Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro. That’s exactly what committee Chair Steve Neil along with town Supervisor Darrah Cloud and member Matt Finley did in the hours leading up to Friday, March 26. Finley and Neil coauthored the report. Its findings were submitted to Dutchess County Legislature Chairman Gregg Pulver (R-19), of Pine Plains, last week. It will be handed to Molinaro in the next couple of weeks.

Other key committee members like John Forelle, Pine Plains Central School District (PPCSD) Superintendent Martin Handler, Jim Petrie and Michael Stabile participated in the lengthy process along with some past members and representatives from the neighboring communities of North East, Amenia and Stanford, who Cloud invited with open arms. Pine Plains also worked with some county and state representatives along with leaders from Columbia County — anyone it could to try to improve its broadband infrastructure.  

Broadband Committee goals

The goal of the committee was simple: To connect the “digital divide” created by the lack of high-speed internet access in those homes and businesses that don’t currently have broadband connectivity. 

“There was a recognition that this is a big issue,” said Neil, “and as the pandemic rolled along it became even more obvious how big of an issue. It’s even a bigger issue because of the pandemic. I don’t have kids, but trying to go to school from home, when you have no internet or inadequate internet, must be a nightmare. Working from home is the same thing except you’re dealing with adults. The problem needed to be addressed, and it was clearly an issue in Pine Plains that had to be studied, so here I am.”

Neil, an attorney who practices in New York City and lives in Pine Plains, said the committee started examining WiFi and internet access in Pine Plains only, but because it involved school Superintendent Martin Handler, it soon realized  it was a regional problem, and started to branch out to other towns.

The PPCSD includes nine towns and stretches across two counties. 

The crux of the matter

“I have an anecdote of how badly served we are,” said Cloud. “I have a kid friend in college, who is going to a wonderful college. He got sent home from school because of COVID. [He had an assignment], and there he is at the library, sitting outside in his car freezing. I’m thinking, this is terrible, it’s 20 degrees out. It’s not like he could sit on the steps and get Bluetooth. It’s in his honor that we kept going.”

“That epitomizes the issue,” said Neil, adding the library made WiFi available outside so residents could access hotspots in town, even if there was some discomfort involved.

Finley said he had learned that “Columbia County was ahead of us; they received a little bit of money when the last round of grants came around. We wanted to be ready when the next round of grants becomes available with a clear statement of need. That’s fortuitous right now.”

Possible stimulus funds

That’s because the committee believes Dutchess County could be in line for some stimulus funding that’s to be directed toward improving broadband access.

“I sat on two meetings with [U.S. Rep.] Antonio Delgado [NY-D-19] and he’s trying to understand how the Feds will roll out the American Rescue Plan and what they will require of those who get it this time,” said Cloud. “It will be the first time towns and villages will get any money… It’s all scary right now, but it looks like those two are definite: infrastructure and broadband.”

What’s not so definite is how much might be awarded, but Cloud said Dutchess could be in line for upwards of $57 million.

One thing that has made broadband access so difficult historically is that the government determines if communities are adequately serviced with broadband on Census block statistics. 

“If one household in a Census block has broadband defined as 25 megabits per second and if one household in one Census block has that available from one internet provider, the government considers the entire block as having internet coverage. You can see how that falls short,” explained Finley. “That’s why we did a survey; we wanted to explore and find out the whole truth.”

In fact, according to the federal government, 88% of the households in the town of Pine Plains have broadband internet available. Knowing that to be inaccurate, the committee conducted a survey in late September of 2020; it started collating results one month later, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it’s continuing its efforts. It still hopes to go door to door once the health crisis ends.

A collaborative effort

Cloud said like Pine Plains, neighboring communities are discovering they are in need of better internet service as well.

“In Amenia, they’re just getting started with their survey writing, town Supervisor Victoria Perotti told me. She said that it was shameful; that was the word she used, ‘shameful,’ they don’t have this,” said Cloud. “Until recently, they didn’t realize they don’t have it because of COVID.”

Cloud said she was happy to reach out to other towns, as “we didn’t want them to have to do all the work we did.”

Cloud also worked with the adjacent town of North East, which just released its own broadband survey on its municipal website on Friday, March 26 (for more on that story, turn to Page A2 and read this week’s editorial on Page B4).

“All neighboring towns are in the same boat,” agreed Finley, adding “we think it’s a county, regional approach.” He noted that to the south, in areas like Westchester County, communities are better off because they already are wired for fiber optic, which is faster, more reliable  and more secure. “They’re about two years ahead of us,” he said.

“We really need to get everyone wired,” Finley added. “It makes a difference in real estate values. Why would anyone run a business from a place that didn’t have broadband? They probably wouldn’t. And I wanted to add one thing: We, as a community, really need to credit Darrah and the Town Board for their foresight to recognize the problem and for pulling the committee together.”

Neil agreed, adding, “I don’t know of anybody else in Dutchess County” that has been so progressive in forming a committee, writing a report and pursuing broadband so aggressively.

The benefits

While Finley said he didn’t know other communities had the need to do so, Cloud said doing so has made the town a much more attractive place to live.

“You can work from home and go into the city one day a week,” she said. “I think it would really benefit a lot of people here; it would benefit the businesses here, the supermarket would benefit, the hardware store, we are working on the trail system here — I’m really excited about that. People are going on the trails, stepping in for coffee in the cafe, it is a walkable town and I feel like we’re just this jewel and people can’t take advantage of it because we don’t have high-speed internet.”

“How many people did we lose who didn’t move to Pine Plains this last year because we didn’t have high-speed internet and they went to Gallatin instead? asked Finley. “We haven’t blown it yet… it’s all there in the report. We want fiber optic.”

Cloud said it will cost roughly $30,000 a mile to install fiber optic wire, though Finley said if service providers like the cable company Altice face some competition, the price could go down dramatically.