3 months after Piscataquis refused broadband funding, the official could not communicate during the earthquake

DOVER-FOXCROFT – When a slight earthquake shook Sepik more than a week ago, the director of the Piscates County Emergency Management Agency was unable to get online to notify and update residents due to the choppy internet you live on. “I wasn’t able to get online from home just to refresh our webpage,” said Director Jaeme Duggan.

DOVER-FOXCROFT – When a slight earthquake shook Sepik more than a week ago, the director of the Piscates County Emergency Management Agency was unable to get online to notify and update residents due to the choppy internet you live on.

“I wasn’t able to get online from home just to refresh our webpage,” said Director Jaeme Duggan. “A lot of people heard it, felt it, and thought houses were exploding because of the suffocation in our area. [and] Lots of people jumped on Facebook.”

Dogan relies on the agency’s hotspot when she works from home, but communication was poor when the earthquake struck.

Rural Maine has long struggled with internet availability and functionality, especially in Piscates County with its mountainous terrain. On Tuesday, Duggan asked Piscataquis County commissioners to support Starlink’s use of emergency management personnel to do essential work remotely. She said the earthquake was an excellent example of the need for stronger resources for future emergencies, and Starlink would be the answer.

It said the purchase and installation of equipment such as the downlink and modem would be covered by the US Department of Homeland Security funds that the agency receives annually.

Duggan, Deputy Director Debra Hamlin and contingency planners John and Alsina Brinchtoll will use Starlink in their homes. Once the DHS funding covers equipment costs, the staff will cover the monthly expenses themselves, Duggan said.

“The costs have gone up since we first looked at it [Starlink] “In the fall,” she said. “The initial cost of the hardware was $599. The monthly cost is $110, which we as employees will pay for.”

Duggan is the only one who is able to manage the agency’s website, social media and other tasks from home because she is using the hotspot. Duggan said Hamlin has cable internet that runs slowly and doesn’t allow her to download and upload information.

Starlink is the logical next step because it is the most reliable option at this point, she said. Reliable communication is not only important for the agency to access the Internet, but also to communicate with emergency management groups at the state and federal levels.

The commissioners rejected a request in February for $5,000 that would have allowed the county economic development board and a consulting firm to move forward with a broadband expansion project. The commissioners said they would allocate U.S. bailout law funds to upgrade wireless communications for the county’s emergency responders rather than investing it in broadband.

“All of the problems you just mentioned are about the internet in all three of your homes — none were addressed in the original internet study,” President James White said, referring to a $60,000 broadband planning study in which commissioners expressed frustration. “None of them could be treated.”

Duggan agreed. It said the three residences would not qualify for the online discount program that commissioners implemented last month.

White said the Starlink is useful because it has mobility. For example, if a hurricane hits Pescatekis County, and equipment had to be moved five miles down the road to an area untouched by the natural disaster, the agency could do so, he said.

Commissioners gave the Emergency Management Agency approval to move forward with Starlink during Tuesday’s meeting.

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