Commissioners move ahead with fiber
By Melinda L. Lucas
Shackelford County commissioners gave the go-ahead for installation of fiber-optic cabling to the Courthouse and Shackelford County Law Enforcement Center during a meeting on Monday morning, Jan. 9.
The session was conducted by new county judge John Viertel, whose four-year term began Jan. 1, 2023.
County officials had discussed a proposal from FiberLight at previous meetings, but there had been no action taken until this week.
The installation of the fiber optic line was originally calculated into FiberLight’s three-year contract proposal of $2,825 per month, but at the county’s request, the company recalculated the monthly charge at $2,050 if a $20,000 installation cost was paid up front.
Viertel commented that even the original monthly proposal was a cost saver over the current AT&T service charges, but by not financing the installation, the county could see a savings of about $8,000 over the course of a 36-month period as compared to AT&T service costs.
The savings to the general fund is even more if American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money is used for the initial fiber installation, and Viertel’s research shows that the project falls in a prescribed area of infrastructure improvement.
In addition, the fiber will give “vastly improved bandwidth and potential improvement in service,” said Viertel.
Ace Reames made a motion to sign the service order to authorize FiberLight to start the installation of fiber-optics to the Courthouse and LEC. With a second by Steve Riley, the motion passed unanimously.
The project is expected to be complete in the latter part of 2023.
A few minutes later in the meeting, another motion was approved to use ARPA funds for two infrastructure projects in 2023, including the fiber installation in the amount of $20,000, as well as expected expenditures to repair the aging Courthouse boiler system.
Other Business
•Joe Stephens of the regional public defenders office told commissioners that the Abilene office should “be live” by June, possibly before.
•A $50,000 donation to the county from the Charles E. Jacobs Foundation was accepted. The funding is not designated for a specific use.
•A proposal from Silvano Alvarez was accepted to grind stumps on the Courthouse grounds.
•County officials tabled action on a cleaning contract for the Courthouse in order to clarify options.
