If you have been following us, you know that on February 7, the mayor announced on Facebook and Twitter that he proposes spending $80,000 in FY2020 and FY2021 to study the viability of a community network for Northampton. This will be done by adding the money to the city’s capital improvement plan. FY2020 begins on July 1, 2019.
This Thursday, the City Council will take up the plan and hopefully approve it. You can see the agenda here:
Before City Council meetings, there is a brief public comment period. The Northampton High-speed Community Network Coalition plans to be there to thank the mayor for including this money in the plan. It also gives us an opportunity to demonstrate that there is support for this initiative and hopefully coax any members of the City Council that might have qualms about it to support it too.
Can you attend? You won’t need to be there for the whole meeting, but for half an hour or so starting at 7 PM at City Hall in the City Council Chambers. We recommend getting there ten minutes early in case the limited space gets crowded. Presumably you have all been to City Hall but if not, it’s at 212 Main Street.
We will present petitions, or at least show our petitions, both signatures collected in person by us and online. If we have supporters there to support and applaud this initiative, it will go a long way. It’s a brief commitment of your time that could go a huge way toward moving this forward.
If you can’t attend, can send a brief note to the mayor voicing your support?
mayor@northamptonma.gov
We also recommend you write your ward and city-wide counselors to let them know of your support. A list of them with email addresses is here:
https://www.northamptonma.gov/1120/City-Council
If you haven’t, please check out our website too and catch up on other news. There have been a number of topical posts, including a discussion on why 5G technology probably can’t substitute for a community network.
https://www.northamptonma.net/
Thank you for your support! We’re a long way from getting a community network constructed and there are many pitfalls ahead, but many of them may fall away if we can demonstrate firm support NOW.