TDS gets Eau Claire's OK to build fiber optic network

Aug. 18—EAU CLAIRE — A Wisconsin-based broadband internet, cable TV and phone company got approval from city leaders Tuesday to build a fiber optic network that will serve homes and businesses in Eau Claire.

The City Council voted 11-0 in favor of a memorandum of understanding with TDS Telecom, a Madison company that has recently been expanding its presence throughout the state.

"The intent is to serve every address within the municipal limits of Eau Claire," Josh Worrell, TDS' business development manager, told the council.

He added that the company also would intend to reach farther to serve people living in neighboring communities of Altoona and Chippewa Falls.

However, he noted that in previous communities, TDS found spots where topography or other factors made it too costly to build there, leaving some locations without service. The company won't know if Eau Claire has any of those spots until TDS starts working on its network here, he said.

Building the $30 million network will take time — two to three years to complete, according to the company.

This year TDS will work with the city to identify the best locations for 13 pieces of equipment called nodes that will each be able to provide service for multiple neighborhoods. Starting to bury the roughly 300 miles of fiber optic cable that the network will consist of will begin in spring.

The agreement the city signed with TDS on Tuesday outlines the permits, approvals and other considerations to installing the network and equipment. There is no public money proposed to support the network.

Bob Nelson, the city's information technology manager, said what TDS is proposing is different from what other providers have in Eau Claire.

"This is a full-fiber network," he said.

Other networks in Eau Claire have fiber optic cable as their backbone, but lines that connect them to homes and businesses are older coaxial cable. TDS plans its entire network — even the connection right to customers — to be made of fiber optic cable.

Worrell said the vastly higher capacity possible through fiber optics will "future-proof" the network, allowing faster, more advanced equipment to be added when it becomes available.

TDS would not wait until the entire network is finished to start soliciting customers, Worrell said, but sign people up as the service comes online in specific neighborhoods.

"We will slowly light up customers as we build the network," he said.

Worrell also spoke about expected benefits to Eau Claire residents of having another broadband provider in the area, both in improving service and comparing prices.

"Competition is powerful," he said.

TDS is currently installing a similar network in the Fox Valley and is about to launch service in Wausau and Stevens Point.

Virtual meetings extended

Rising COVID-19 case counts and the threat posed by the highly-contagious delta variant prompted city leaders to extend their ability to hold public meetings online.

"We would much rather be in person," council President Terry Weld said. "It is not our desire to legislate in this fashion, but it is the right way for us to legislate right now."

The council voted 11-0 to extend its ability to conduct meetings via online videoconferencing software Webex to Oct. 26. This applies not only to the council, but also meetings of city boards, commissions and committees. Virtual meetings have been used by the city since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring as a measure to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

In a previous vote on virtual meetings three months ago, the council urged city staff to start making preparations for a return to regular meetings with the public in attendance at City Hall instead of watching on a computer or smartphone. COVID-19 case levels were low in the community then, but have risen since.

"It was a more difficult decision then — at least for me — because it seemed like we were making more progress then," Councilman Jeremy Gragert said. "But then the delta variant arrived and less people are getting vaccinated."

Earlier in Tuesday's meeting, Interim City Manager David Solberg gave an update on the local COVID-19 statistics.

Currently the community is averaging 28 new cases per day, which is five times higher than the rate reported in late July, he said.

Other business

A slight change in Eau Claire's ordinances approved in a 10-1 vote will allow the soon-to-open Hy-Vee grocery store to use its Class B alcohol license to both serve drinks at its in-store restaurants and have regular retail sales from its liquor department.

Hy-Vee, which is being built at the former Kmart site on East Clairemont Avenue, spurred the ordinance change, but other grocery stores can make use of it if they build in-store restaurants and have a Class B license.

Councilwoman Jill Christopherson cast the lone dissenting vote, stating that she couldn't support expanding the local ordinance given Wisconsin's well-known reputation as an alcohol consumption state.