An ordinance making it easier for utility and telecommunications companies to bury lines in the public right-of-way received second and final approval Monday from the Bartholomew County commissioners.
The new ordinance eliminates 33-year-old regulations that required fiber optic cable and other utility lines to be installed within the public right-of-way in a very specific and expensive way, Commissioner Tony London said.
“Basically, this is about the expansion of broadband internet into rural areas,” said London, who also chairs the Bartholomew County Broadband Initiative Committee. “This will drop the costs and lower the hurdles for providers installing fiber optic cable.”
But county attorney Grant Tucker stressed the new ordinance also applies to any utility or individual making a cut or laying a utility within the county’s right of way or across rural roads.
These revised regulations also attempt to streamline the permitting process by allowing the provider to do most of his business with the county highway engineer, commissioners Chairman Larry Kleinhenz said.
“I do believe this will make the process more manageable, and make us a little more attractive (for broadband providers),” Kleinhenz said.
However, the new ordinance still protects the public by increasing the bonds these companies must pay before they dig, Tucker said.
“Times change. Costs change,” Tucker said. “The bonding amounts were inadequate.”
In addition, the companies will also be required to get their plans approved before digging can begin, he said.
The new regulations also require the Bartholomew County Highway Department to be involved whenever a pipe or conduit is attached to — or removed from — any county bridge or overpass, Commissioner Carl Lienhoop said.
When asked if further changes in regulation can be expected to accommodate broadband internet providers, Kleinhenz said it is a possibility.
“But right now, I’m not prepared to speak to that,” he said.
What county officials are prepared to do is listen about the hurdles providers are encountering in the widespread effort to make broadband internet available all across Bartholomew County, London said. The new ordinance does address two of the bigger issues — permitting and digging in the public right-of way, he said.
Buried fiber optic lines will be required mostly in hilly portions of western and southwest Bartholomew County, which has the largest density of customers who need access to high-speed broadband internet, London said. He draws his conclusions from a survey recently completed by Dr. Roberto Gallardo, assistant director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development.
Four broadband providers have already been chosen through a federal bidding process to serve different areas of Bartholomew County.
Charter Communications, Inc. will be allowed to install high-speed internet to about 1,600 homes in southwestern Bartholomew County, while Jackson County REMC has been chosen to serve the broadband needs of a smaller portion of Sandcreek Township.
Meanwhile, Mercury Wireless will provide similar service to northwest sections of the county, while LTD Broadband of Minnesota has plans to serve northeast areas of the county, London said.
Other providers are being sought who can fill in gaps not covered by current or designated future broadband providers, he said.
