BPW pitches plan to offer high-speed internet to every home in Holland

HOLLAND — Holland taxpayers could be asked in August if they will financially support building a city-owned fiber network to bring high-speed internet to every home.

The Holland Board of Public Works announced the Holland City Fiber initiative during a Wednesday Holland City Council meeting that was jam-packed with big news for the city.

The city also announced it is receiving two large donations: $1 million toward the construction of an ice rink and $5 million toward a recreation center. Both could be built in the next few years.

High-speed internet throughout Holland

The Holland Board of Public Works' plan, presented Wednesday, asks residents to support a millage to fund the build-out of an open-access, high-speed fiber optic network throughout the city.

Private internet service providers would be able to use the open-access infrastructure to offer broadband service at up to 10 gigabits per second to residents that connect to the fiber network. The Holland Board of Public Works may also offer its own internet service directly to customers, as the utility already does in a limited service area downtown.

Households would choose whether to opt in and pay for the connection from the home to the fiber network. The cost estimate presented to the council for a "drop," or a connection from the citywide network to a household, was $812. The city plans to offer payment plans, such as about $7 per month for 10 years.

An open-access model would encourage competition between internet service providers to offer better prices, city officials said Wednesday, and building the fiber-optic infrastructure reduces the barriers for new internet service providers to enter the Holland market.

“Similar to public ownership of city streets, the proposed publicly-owned broadband network would be open access, encouraging internet companies to offer fast internet for less,” said Holland BPW General Manager Dave Koster. “Given the success of our pilot project downtown, we are confident we can manage the infrastructure reliably and pass along the savings to our customer-owners.”

City officials are eyeing the August primary election for a millage question.

Under the latest estimates presented to council Wednesday, the project will take a $24 million investment to build the municipal network, which could translate to up to a 1.5-mill proposal. However, the council is considering using half of its American Rescue Plan Act COVID-19 recovery funding, $4.2 million, to partially fund the fiber buildout, which would reduce the millage amount for taxpayers.

The dollar amount for the millage ask has not been determined yet. Holland City Council is expected to receive a detailed ballot proposal for consideration in April.

City receives $1M to build ice rink

Retired schoolteacher Frank Kraai has gifted $1 million to the city of Holland to build a municipal ice rink, the city announced during the council meeting, with Kraai sitting in the audience.

The ice rink has been a passion project of Kraai's for years. He consistently donated money over the years totaling $116,000 over the years leading up to big donation announced Wednesday.

Plans to put an outdoor ice rink at Window on the Waterfront Park near 6th Street and College Avenue are in the development stage.

Representatives from the city visited outdoor ice rinks in South Bend, Ind., Elkhart, Ind. and Chicago to consult with engineers and parks staff about designing and operating a rink, and public engagement of residents who live near the park is next, with construction to begin as early as next year.

"I'll see you on your skates," Kraai, 86, told city council members at the end of the discussion.

Heeringa estate gives $5M to rec center project

Another big announcement Wednesday was the news of a $5 million donation from the estate of James P. Heeringa to build a recreation center.

A recreation center, still early in the planning phase, could include multiple gyms and provide a consistently available public space for city recreation programs that currently take place at schools and other locations around the community.

The city is looking at Fairbanks Avenue and 16th Street, near Bouws Pool, as a site for the rec center.

Heeringa, who was a longtime Holland resident and co-owner of Trendway Corp., was the lead donor for the renovation of the Holland Civic Center Place, named in honor of parents George and Lucile Heeringa, and also lead donor for Hope College's Jim Heeringa Athletic Center.

Long-term financial projections for the city government presented to council Wednesday were used to support the plans to move forward with the ice rink and recreation center, showing money set aside in the Municipal Capital Improvement Fund for the projects and a solid financial picture through the next ten years.

The council discussed the possibility of property tax limitations hitting the city's pocketbook starting in 2028. Michigan's various property tax limitation laws, including the Headlee Amendment, restrict the rate at which a city can grow its tax revenue year over year. The city could prevent Headlee rollbacks from reducing the city's millage rate by asking voters for what is often called a "Headlee reset," in which voters re-authorize the maximum millage for the city, undoing the rollbacks.

"With the help of these very generous gifts we know that financially we can do these projects," said City Manager Keith Van Beek. "But then we also are comfortable, when we take a look at our financial forecasts, that the incremental added cost for the staffing and the maintenance of those buildings is something that we feel comfortable recommending. Again, the reason is because we've done this long-term financial forecast, and that's why we're recommending moving forward."

— Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: BPW pitches plan to offer high-speed internet to every home in Holland