City Council approves agreement to extend fiber internet to water plant

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Council approved an agreement to upgrade the internet at the city’s water treatment plant during its regular meeting on Monday, March 17.

With the water treatment plant utilizing cloud-based services that require high speed internet at a consistency that its current service provider is not providing, the city received a quote from OmniTel Communications with several options for having fiber internet installed to the plant.

The most cost-effective plan is a $15,000 upfront fee for the installation of a fiber line from North Grand Avenue to the plant, along with a $150 per month fee for 750MB service.

The city is currently paying $250 for 150MB speeds and has been experiencing notable downtime.

Residents between North Grand Avenue and the water plant will be able to take advantage of the new build should they decide to sign up for fiber service.

In other business, Jason Luchtman spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting about the Best Budget Inn.

Earlier this month, the Charles City Board of Adjustment approved a conditional use permit that would allow owner Kevin Adelmund to convert the motel into a series of studio apartments.

Luchtman said he had concerns about the condition of the building and advised the city to be extra vigilant about making sure health and safety regulations are met.

In the business of the mayor, two proclamations were read declaring April as both Child Abuse Awareness and Sexual Assault Awareness month.

Renee Harris, representing the Floyd/Mitchell County Child Abuse Prevention Council, and Amber Hicks, representing Crisis Intervention Service, explained the importance of bringing awareness to each issue.

“It’s too bad we have you visit us as often as you do, but you’re doing great work,” said Mayor Dean Andrews.

It was noted that Crisis Intervention collects donations of used cellphones, which can be given to domestic abuse victims who need them for emergency contacts.

Functional phones that have been factory reset can be donated directly to Crisis Intervention or dropped off at the police station, hospital or public health office.

On a related note the council approved its regular annual allocation of $2,000 to Crisis Intervention for the fiscal year.

“We’ve just heard excellent reasons why this funding is necessary,” said council member Phoebe Pittman.

The council also approved a parking lot lease for Theisen’s for its springtime garden center. As in previous years, Theisen’s will use a 32-foot-by-110-foot portion of the parking lot to house its garden center from April 14 through July 1.

The council also set a public hearing date on its annual short-term borrowing for the April 7 meeting. As part of the regular budget process, the city uses a short-term general obligation loan to borrow funds for police and fire equipment along with nuisance abatements. For this year’s budget, the city will be borrowing roughly $188,000.