Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home City Council last week approved a deal with CenturyLink to provide fiber optic Internet service at the new City Hall and Comcast to upgrade Internet service to fiber quality in the city’s other three buildings.
The council met in a special session April 30 to consider proposals. It had previously held off on a decision over questions about whether a fiber optic line was available across Main Street from the new City Hall, 3225 Main St.
Comcast had proposed a cost of $24,000 to bring fiber to the new City Hall, while Councilor Dave Trask said it looked fiber was already available across the street. After the initial proposal, the city also learned that fiber had physically been connected to the city’s existing buildings, but it was not paying for or receiving fiber service.
The city pays approximately $2,000 per month to Comcast for a coaxial Internet connection and $1,381 for phone service. Included in that arrangement was a network connecting city facilities and local server.
As the city shifts to cloud-based software and data systems, the existing 10 Mb upload and download speeds would begin to “hamstring operations,” said Finance Director Brandon Neish. Currently, the city uses cloud-based services in numerous areas, including accounts payable, payroll, utility billing, Public Works work orders, building permits, email, Adobe and Microsoft software and website maintenance.
The current service costs $40,572 per year, including charges of $500 for each of four buildings.
CenturyLink proposed services at a cost of $32,428 per year, with a lower price for Internet on fiber and phone services.
Ray Towry said the city is under contract with Comcast, though, and canceling would result in a hefty termination fee, about $40,000.
Based on that, staff proposed three-year agreements with CenturyLink and Comcast, increasing the service level with Comcast to fiber at the Public Library, Public Works and the Police Department and using CenturyLink to connect the new City Hall using fiber optic lines.
Under the agreement, the cost of fiber Internet service to all but the new City Hall will each cost $748 per month, an increase of $248 per month. CenturyLink will charge the city $369 per month for fiber service, and CenturyLink will provide phone service across the city for $890 per month, a decrease of $491 per month.
The total cost of the city’s Internet and phone service will be $3,503 per month, an increase of $122 per month. The annual cost of the deals will be $42,036, an increase of $1,464.
The fiber connection is expected to take 90 days at the new City Hall, Mahler said.
Trask, who is a retired CenturyLink technician, abstained from voting on the proposal. Mayor Greg Mahler, Lisa Gourley and James Goble, a majority of a quorum, voted to approve the deals.