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On Second Thought: Chester Passes on Wifi Grant

A move to use a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant to install a wifi system in Chester center was reversed on June 15 when the Board of Selectmen (BOS) found too many uncertainties—and a significant annual cost—associated with the project.

The system used for emitting Internet connection via wifi would include routers or hubs connected to LED streetlights, with service provided by Comcast. The reimbursable $95,000 grant was marked as a capital expenditure originally approved as part of the town’s 2022-’23 fiscal year budget, while its specific extent from Main Street was left undetermined.

The uncertainty of its reach and other aspects of the grant were relieved when the BOS made a motion to send the grant back to the state.

Selectman Edmund Meehan brought up the future cost of the project, saying that each connection to attached hubs or routers could cost somewhere between $110 to $130 per month, and that a recent estimate brought forth to the BOS found yearly costs could range from $25,000 to $29,000. This is on top of additional costs of licensing fees, maintenance, and possible vendor services to perform analytics on the usage of the system.

“This is not an inexpensive venture to install,” said Meehan. “I have a concern about incurring future costs in a system like this. And we don’t know how many people are going to use it.”

Including the total costs of the system in mind, Meehan acknowledged that while the current wifi system in the town center is not totally satisfactory, he nonetheless is personally uncomfortable using a public wifi system, and moved to rescind the project.

“I’m suggesting to the board members that we respectfully request canceling the grant,” he announced.

First Selectman Charlene Janecek said she was unsure as to who was going to use the wifi and what its benefits are to the town. She and other board members agreed that such a system is intended for town visitors rather than residents, and noted that local businesses in town already have wifi installed.

The only example raised for the legitimacy of the system for widespread usage was the Chester Sunday Market, where customers who purchase products from food vendors have complained in the past over inadequate Internet connection when using only banking via debit cards to pay for food.

The motion to rescind the grant was approved.