Government : Vinton Municipal Electric Utilities Making Plans for Fiber Optic Network

Vinton Municipal Electric Utilities has begun to take steps as they continue to map out a plan to bring fiber optics/broadband to Vinton. The process for getting this project off the ground has many steps. From building the network, determining what services to provide and who to partner with in order to make the services reliable and affordable to our subscribers.  Because of the magnitude of the project, VMEU recruited a subcommittee to help continue the planning for the various providers and services that will be available to area residents. This new subcommittee has been tasked with fielding questions, finding answers and making sure the VMEU board has all the appropriate information in order to make a final decision when the final design and financial reports are complete. The subcommittee is being led by VMEU board member Kim Meyer and others from the community that have had an investment in the project from the beginning as well as represent key stakeholders in the community. Others members include Nathan Hesson of the City Council, Jason Hickok, Rick Ohrt and  Gerald Horst. These are all volunteers from the community that will be lending their knowledge of Vinton's needs and their shared expertise to this effort. FARR Technologies out of South Dakota, is the company the board chose to help guide this project forward. They are in charge of the network design and build. At this point, FARR Technologies is looking at various places in the city to place the hub of the network. There are still many steps that need to be accomplished before high speed internet will be a reality.  At the recent meeting, it was discussed that the board hopes to have enough information by the end of the year or the beginning of 2019, to talk numbers with the public. Mike Elwick expressed a need for at least 60% of residents to participate to make this pay for itself.  When voting on the topic, results of the election showed that over 80% of Vinton residents supported this project. In other business, there had been discussion about the need for cement behind the light plant so that Hesco barriers could be placed there during any future flooding. The decision was made to place a cement sidewalk behind the light plant so that this could be done as the need arises. VMEU meets the  2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. 5:00 p.m. and the next subcommittee meeting will be Nov 7  6:00 p.m.