By: Lance Gaither
At the Richmond City Commission meeting tonight, multiple projects were presented on the heels of Mayor Jim Barnes announcing that he will not be seeking reelection for the position at the head of the city. The main street project was presented, which showed new areas that could be allocated for parking as well as additional walking paths throughout downtown Richmond. Also of note was the broadband project, presented by Terry Barnes with Solarity.
For the last 6 months, Solarity has been working to lay down new fiber optic cables for a network in Richmond. The project known as phase one is replacing current optic cable as well as adding new cable.
City hall will be used as a data center for the new network. The police and fire departments will be connected as well as other locations will be connected to the network and residents will have access to the network.
The estimated cost for the project is $1 million, which includes money already invested into the project.
It is estimated that the network will save money as it will be owned by the city whereas the current system is currently owned by AT&T and the city of Richmond pays for usage.
The city has not decided which provider it will use. A possible cause of delays for the project are high demand for fiber optic systems, causing a shortage of materials and workers. Although the exact date of completion is unknown, the project is expected to be finished by the end of 2018.
