News : iVinton continues work on telecommunications

Vinton Municipal Electric Utility met last week with Mayor John Watson and Kurt Karr about the next steps needed to improve Vinton’s telecommunications infrastructure. The utility board authorized a study group of six to begin steps toward making recommendations to the utility board.

Members of the study group include one city council member, Ray Knopf, Jason Hicok, Kim Meyer, Kurt Karr, and Rick Ohrt. The group, which will continue as iVinton, will meet next with a member of the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities and hold a teleconference call with a consultant working on a municipal fiber network. The network would link several communities together to provide significant cost savings.

iVinton plans to meet with USA Communications from Shellsburg, representatives of IndyTel, the municipal telecommunications utility in Independence, and other public and private entities. One goal of the group is to investigate many different forms of partnerships to avoid duplication of resources.

iVinton will continue to provide updates on its work through the coming months.