Broadband Commission waiting on business plan to be completed

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Will Charles City’s $11.5 million broadband internet project take off or be grounded?

That question could be answered by the end of the month, City Administrator Steve Diers said after the Broadband Commission meeting on Thursday.

That means the commission is currently in a holding pattern.

Erik Lampland of Lookout Point Communications is  formulating a business plan that could help determine the fate of Charles City’s proposed broadband internet “fiber-to-the-home solution.”

Diers said Lampland is about a month away from finishing up the engineering and design phase that will conclude with his business plan — basically the nuts and bolts of the whole operation.

“It shouldn’t be too far off. It’s getting closer,” said Diers.

The commission will come up with a recommendation soon after reviewing that plan, and the City Council will vote whether the project moves forward.

Commission Chairman Mark Wicks said, “We need to find out what those numbers are and what the business plan says. There’s really no decisions we can make until we have that. This is basically going to be the “go – no go” depending on what those numbers come back as.”

The fiber optics broadband system would connect residents and businesses in Charles City with a triple-play package of high-speed internet, video/TV and telephone, with the objective of providing a fast, reliable and universally available network within the city.

The commission on Thursday brought in Kurt Karr, a marketing representative who is a member of iVinton. That’s a community group that helped pass a referendum in Vinton, a town of about 5,000 northwest of Cedar Rapids.

Construction could start there this June on a $9.7 million broadband internet project, said Karr, who also said bids have been let in that project.

The Charles City commission is considering Karr to help with a marketing plan for Charles City’s system if it goes ahead.

“The idea was to get a feel for Kurt,” said Diers.

The Broadband Commission wants to begin that marketing campaign to inform Charles City residents about pros and cons of the proposed broadband undertaking.

“We can work toward developing the community piece if we want, in anticipation of the (business) plan coming back that’s going to be workable,” said Diers. “We’re going to probably want to include pieces from that plan in our piece. I can see it making sense to wait until we get that back from Lookout Point.”

Karr talked about some of the hurdles that his group had to cross in order to sell the public on moving forward with Vinton’s broadband project. Karr said his community voted to use Vinton’s electrical utility to help fund and run the project. Charles City would not have that luxury as it would be the first town in Iowa to move forward with a broadband project without the backing and support of its own electrical utility.

Karr felt being forthright and explaining all the positives and negatives of his town’s internet project was a substantial factor in it moving forward.

“I really do believe the key element is to be transparent, to be honest and to treat your entire community with respect,” he said. “There will be people who aren’t as excited about this project. It’s OK. They’re citizens too.”