(1/9) The Thurmont Town Council appointed resident Elliot Jones as the chair of a newly-created municipal Internet Committee at their February 11 meeting, to investigate the feasibility and costs of establishing a municipally-owned internet provider.

Commissioner Marty Burns stated that Jones had originally suggested the idea when he was running for a seat on the Town Council. "‘Man’, I thought. That's a pretty neat idea," he said.

Burns said that the town was unlikely to see a commercial, high-speed fiber network within a decade, and that a municipally-owned internet provider is worth investigating. "We're not trying to make money off this. We're trying to provide a service when we're not being served well by the other entities," he stated.

The commissioner said Jones had conducted some preliminary research of municipally-owned internet services and found "a bunch of different municipalities across the United States who had already done this."

For example, Burns stated, Fairlawn, Ohio, started building its fiber, to-the-premise network (FairlawnGig) in 2015. "The first businesses were connected the next year, 2016, and by 2017, residents could also subscribe to the network," he said, noting that 50 percent of the Fairlawn residents are now connected to the municipal service.

The commissioner stated that, since Fairlawn established its service, "it has already led to new business growth and increased property values in the city," according to information provided by Fairlawn.

Burns suggested, if the commissioners ultimately elected to implement the concept, it could be done in phases, starting with establishing the service in the town office (for municipal use). "If it works and it proves beneficial, we can expand it," he said.

Mayor Kinnaird stated that Jones, as the chair of the committee, could first seek additional volunteer members, and set up meetings of the committee.