Fibrant debt refinancing raises taxpayer’s concern

The Fibrant boondoggle is hemorrhaging money. How many municipal broadband projects have failed? If you google this subject matter, what a surprise one finds.

Provo, Utah, broke ground in 2001 and by 2006 had thousands of customers but was still losing money to the tune of $10 million per year. After many buyout attempts, it sold to Google in 2013 for one dollar.

Marietta, Georgia, spent over $30 million but later sold for $11 Million.

Burlington, Vermont, went $17 Million in debt and had their city’s debt rating lowered by Moody’s.

MI-Connection was a joint government project undertaken in 2007 by multiple suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina, racking up $90 million in debt in four years.

While politicians get glowing national press for their support, the FCC has incentivized them to spread even further. How does one stop politicians from scheming to bring broadband at the expense of the taxpayer?

Did taxpayers vote on this broadband?

— Jamie Moose Kimmer

Salisbury

Editor’s note: Salisbury City Council held a pubic hearing before voting on Fibrant. The city did not hold a referendum.

Mooresville and Davidson formed MI-Connection after the company that owned the local cable system, Adelphia Communications, went bankrupt. The towns spent $92.5 million to buy and upgrade the system.

McCrory’s oppressive moves

The writer is responding to a story about the  deposition toxicologist Ken Rudo gave last month as part of a lawsuit filed against Duke Energy by a coalition of environmental groups.

Toxicologist Ken Rudo was called to Gov. Pat McCrory’s office to discuss do-not-drink letters for well owners near coal ash pits. The McCrory administration has been a bit elusive in their dealings with coal ash, mainly stemming around their support of Duke Energy’s plans to cap these toxic sites. While capping these wet ponds full of heavy metals is a cleanup method endorsed by the EPA, the plan does not protect North Carolina’s wells and aquifers from being bombarded with toxins.

The support our governor is showing for capping the sites is the tip of a façade for caring for our waterways and the health of North Carolina’s inhabitants. Governor McCrory signed a bill to reduce the environmental risk rating for several coal ash sites across the state which completely diminished the responsibility Duke Energy had for cleaning the sites, a more blatant jab at the health of our citizens.

In lieu of Ken Rudo’s testimony, the McCrory administration has taken more oppressive and risky moves to quiet individuals who are working against their agenda. Ken Rudo has had an extensive 30-year career keeping watch on N.C. citizens’ public health as the state toxicologist. By not releasing the deposition, the current administration is almost systematically covering their tracks on this issue.

— David Terrill

Cary