Frontier fiber falters in Falls Village

FALLS VILLAGE — At the regular meeting Monday, April 10, the Board of Finance voted down a motion to recommend to town meeting a deal with Frontier Communications to extend fiber optic access to about 60 addresses in town for $350,000.

Frontier is in the process of building a statewide fiber optic network.

As explained by company representatives, some addresses in Falls Village are too remote for the company to extend the service without a financial contribution from the town.

There have been two public hearings on the matter.

On April 10, Board of Finance chair Dan Silverman noted a clause in the contract offered by Frontier that stated that the town would be liable for additional expenditures if an address proved to be especially difficult to reach. Silverman also said the contract allows Frontier to back out of the deal entirely and does not mention whether the town would get its money back.

A motion was offered to recommend the deal to town meeting if the contract issues could be settled in a manner satisfactory to the finance board. That motion failed, 4-2, with Silverman and Joel Jones in favor and the rest of the board opposed.