Fiber optic installation concerns prompt local meeting

Local representatives from Bollinger County as well as other parts of southeast Missouri met Nov. 27 to seek guidance on fiberoptic installation.

Elected officials from Perry, Madison, Cape Girardeau and other counties, as well as a representative from U.S. Rep. Jason Smith’s office and Charter Spectrum were also in attendance for the discussion, which began at approximately 8 a.m. at the Patton livestock auction sales barn.

Bollinger County Road Department director Brad Gregg said the county doesn’t know where the installations are taking place, and often runs into unfortunate situations.

“If we hit a line, and it’s not 30 inches in the ground, it’s not our fault,” Bollinger County presiding commissioner Leo Arnzen said.

Jarad Falk of Charter Spectrum confirmed that this was the proper interpretation.

“The No. 1 priority is the safety of our roads,” said Tony Harbison of Arcadia, state representative-elect for the 144th District, which includes portions of northern Bollinger County as well as Wayne, Shannon, Madison, Reynolds, Iron and Washington counties.

Harbison said he understands many of the rural counties in Missouri have “narrow budgets to accomplish what we want to do.”

“We have to be able to provide for our roads,” Harbison said. “I don’t want to deprive anyone the opportunity of getting high-quality internet.”

“Bollinger County may be a Class 3 county but it should be treated like a Class 1 county,” said Debbie Colyott, who works in constituent services for Smith. “It seems like communication has been the big issue.”

“The communication with the county has been terrible,” said Travis Benfield, commissioner-elect for Bollinger County. “Who is in charge of quality control? If it has been let go this long, that’s a problem.”

The issue comes down to one of trust, according to Benfield.

“We’ve got to have faith in you guys,” Benfield said. “It’s shouldn’t be our job to babysit a nationwide operation.”

It was reported that Bollinger County has more than 500 miles of roadways to maintain. Of this total, approximately 123 miles of fiberoptic lines have been installed with another 83 miles pending, according to one of the Charter representatives.

Gregg said many places with the lines installed have them buried between 3-5 inches. This is not deep enough if the county uses heavy equipment to work on the roads, and when the installation crosses over portions of the road and is in the right-of-way, that also raises concerns, according to Gregg.

Bollinger County commissioners Tim Shelby and Chad Hulvey also were in attendance. Their concern is that the county may operate machinery and equipment on areas that have had fiber optic lines installed and the machinery then damages the installation. In many cases, the county doesn’t know where the installation work is occurring. After the Nov. 27 meeting, commissioners went on several site visits to see where the work had been completed.

Asked about the late November meeting earlier this week and the fact that less than 125 miles of lines have been put into place, Gregg said that shows the installs are taking longer than expected.

“That tells you how far behind schedule they are,” Gregg said.

In total, more than 20 individuals were on hand for the discussion, which lasted a little more than an hour.

In addition to Harbison and Colyott, from Smith’s office, state representatives Steve Jordan and Bryant Wolfin were also in attendance.

Two representatives were on hand from Charter Spectrum, which was awarded federal money through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund in 2020. The installation work is supposed to be completed by 2027.