Broadband Commission nearing a recommendation to give to City Council

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

The goal is a recommendation to the City Council before Thanksgiving and a possible vote no later than Christmas.

That’s the timeline the Broadband Commission is hoping to meet in an effort to get the ball rolling on the estimated $13 million fiber-to-the-home project in Charles City.

City Administrator Steve Diers is optimistic that the undertaking can be brought to the City Council for a vote before the year is up.

If approved by the council, the intent would be to break ground in the spring and lay down fiber.

The infrastructure built could potentially connect thousands of residents and businesses in Charles City with the objective of providing a fast, reliable and universally available network within the city.

“Right now the plan is to meet on the 12th (of November) and they might be ready to make a recommendation one way or the other going forward. That would then first be shared with the council on the 13th with potential action at the following meeting,” said Diers.

First, a decision needs to be made where to locate the nerve center of the operation, and a recommendation made to purchase that property.

“We’re close. There’s a few pieces we’re trying to iron out on this,” said Diers.

Commission members, along with city leaders, have gone into closed sessions in each of the last two meetings to discuss the purchase of property for a data center and to review proprietary financial information.

The commission is trying to come to a consensus on what services will be offered as well as the pricing for what will be a triple-play package of high-speed internet, video/TV and telephone.

On Wednesday, after coming out of a closed session, the board approved a motion for the city administrator to continue negotiating on a purchase option with a specific property, ” said broadband commission Chairman Mark Wicks.

Members of the board recommended to get an appraisal and look into an option to buy the Unggoy Broadband building at 800 N. Main in Charles City at a meeting this past August. The appraisal would run around $1,500 and that cost would be split with the owner and city. Diers said an option to buy would be around $1,000.

Diers would not state which property or properties were being discussed in the two closed sessions that have taken place this month, but he did say the commission is still looking at more than one property.

“We’ve got two or three in mind. That’s what we’re trying to figure out. If we can get one for the price that we’d like, then we’ll go that direction, otherwise we’ll look at a different direction,” said Diers.

A key factor this late into the construction season is the commission giving the design team enough time to map out what needs to be done if construction would start in the spring.

Lookout Point Communications, along with NewCom Technologies, is currently working on the business plan as a part of the design and engineering phase.

“At some point  — and that point’s not exactly clear — it could push us into the following year just by the way everything has to line up timewise,” said Diers. “We want to try and make this decision in November, possibly December. Certainly, we’re trying to get this done as soon as possible.”

Charles City is looking to become the first community in the state to fund a broadband project without using its own electrical utility as backing to fund the project. The benefit of also having a community utility is shared services with staffing and large amounts of liquid assets to fund the project or help borrow through the utility.

“There’s a number of communities across the state that have done these. They all have electrical utilities. They have some economies that they have by having that electric in place. That’s something we don’t have,” said Diers. “The projects are working that are going in.”

When voters approved the creation of a municipal telecom utility in 2005, they voted to have it managed by a separate utility board. Diers has stated that the board would need to be in place prior to the issuance of any revenue bonds that could fund the project.

“Our plan is to fund this thing pretty much completely with revenue generated from the project,” said Diers. “We don’t want to use tax dollars. The way it’s looking right now – we don’t know this with 100% certainty – we’re going to be able to do that.

“We’re going to be able to borrow the money to get started and as the revenues come in from selling subscriptions, that’s what’s going to pay for it. That’s what we’re seeing and that’s our intent,” said Diers.

Mayor Dean Andrews would form a five-person utility board that would be responsible for hiring a general manager to oversee the operation if the council approves the project. Diers said members of the current commission could be on that utility board.

The next Broadband meeting will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 4 p.m. in the council chambers.