BSCL met on March 4, 2021 for its monthly membership meeting.

Call to order, 7:32 pm, Deborah Wood, President

Minutes from February 4, 2021 meeting approved

Treasurer’s Report, Jennifer Lis:

BSCL still has $97k in the bank to cover maintenance, capital expenditures, and operating costs for the Community House. Cash flows are meeting expectations, which is to say that the lack of rental income means that the reserves will continue to be drawn down, perhaps by several thousand dollars this FY. We can afford to wait to reopen the BCH until the public health situation improves sufficiently.

Old Business

Brief report on the County Board’s final action on the Residential Parking Program (RPP). Thank you to all who presented our concerns about the impact the proposed actions would have on the Barcroft neighborhood to the County Board and Planning Commission. The two hour paid parking piece of the proposal, which attracted the most negative reaction from this and other neighborhoods, was not approved. Other elements will likely be enacted, such as fewer resident placards/stickers and higher fees for extras.

New Business

Program

ArlFiber for an Arlington County Broadband Authority, by Charles Head.

The supporting materials for the presentation can be read here. [Link broken]

Mr. Head spoke for a group of Arlington citizens unaffiliated with any outside corporation or advocacy group. They propose that Arlington establish a local Broadband Authority (BA) as Virginia state law allows. There are at least 27 such BAs in the state today, the largest of which are in Roanoke and the Eastern Shore. The BA in Arlington would build on the infrastructure already in place (ConnectArlington) that runs fiber to every County facility. ArlFiber claims that the experience of other jurisdictions indicates that internet access would be cheaper using a BA system, since ISPs would have to compete for this business rather than hold onto it by virtue of their owning the cable that runs through Arlington and to your house. (For a thorough discussion, check the ArlFiber site. There are upfront costs to amortize, and other services like television content and land lines were not addressed in the presentation.)

Alternatives to fiber were broached during the question period, like 5G. These don’t always break the proprietary hold that companies like Verizon have on the infrastructure. The issue of underground vs overhead fiber is not really part of the ArlFiber proposal; it can be done either way. It is acknowledged that there are substantial upfront costs that the County would have to assume for administration and buildout.

Barcrofters were encouraged by Mr. Head to sign the petition to let the County Board know of the support for a Broadband Authority here.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 PM.