Dark Fiber Network Proposed for Lakewood

[Lori Allen _]

At Monday night's council meeting, the mayor proposed to council a "new, self-sustaining dark fiber network" for the city, at a cost of roughly $900,000. I believe the mayor said that the proposed system would increase internet speeds for our local agencies and businesses and would "create a significant advantage for attracting new residents, businesses, and economic development in Lakewood".

I recall that in recent years, the city has already upgraded the telephone system at City Hall. Here are my comments and concerns, for what they're worth:

1. Living on a budget, when I hear approximately $900,000, the number one million immediately pops into my brain.

2. Although this new system may not be a bad idea, I feel that there are other things that should be attended to first. For example, a large amount of our streets have so many pits and potholes in them that you can barely drive down them without damaging your car. Drive down Brown, Richland, or Lincoln south of Madison and you should see what I mean.

3. It appears that at least one and sometimes two of our garbage trucks break down on a daily basis.

4. I seem to recall reading on The Deck last year that the city was unable to pay for the replacement of all of the broken/missing curbs during the Franklin Avenue resurfacing project. When the city accepted the bid for this job, I would have assumed that this would have included all curbs.

5. During the winter, I seem to recall several of our snow plows breaking down during snowstorms.

6. According to City Hall, there are not enough inspectors to see that sidewalks are clear of snow and other concerns that citizens may have (boarded-up windows, graffiti, etc.)

7. According to my observations, the city appears to be unable to maintain sidewalks abutting their properties (City Hall Annex and Celeste Park come to mind).

I have the lowest speed DSL and it works fine for me. Not only will we be paying almost $1 million of our tax dollars for this, I suspect our cable bills will be increasing.

I just feel that smoother roads and working city vehicles and equipment is much more important than a $1 million internet system.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Lori

The sad story is that over 6 years ago, some were looking at this, and it was sponsored and
free install, but that was coming from people not in league with those in power, so it was
passed on. Now one wonders who is getting what in the deal?

City Hall seems to be completely lost on what we can get for FREE, sponsored, paid in part
with and foolish.

But what else is new.

.