By Jeremy Weldon

Batesville Mayor Jerry Autrey said an agreement with C-Spire to provide high-speed fiber optic internet is another chance to have the city improve the quality of life for residents and increase the opportunity for industrial growth and economic development.

“This is the beginning of a relationship where we will turn Batesville into a Smart City,” Autrey said. “A few years ago we were selected as one of eight cities in the state for this underground fiber and we never really followed through with it.”

“Years have passed and we want to get back into the game. This is going to be a little costly for about a year, but it’s something we need to do,” he said.

Austin Hobson, representing C-Spire, first proposed the fiber optic project several weeks ago, but aldermen were told last week that the deadline for signing the contract was passed and must be signed immediately to secure the discounted price of $80,000 for the boring and installation of the high speed lines.

Aldermen had asked Hobson to quote a price for running fiber optic line from the Downtown Square down Panola Ave. to the Wastewater Treatment Plant – approximately 5,000 feet. Hobson last month had the same type lines installed for the South Panola School District. It was during this work that city employees discovered C-Spire had bored through a city sewer line at the corner of Boothe and Atwell Streets and the fiber optic cable servicing the school district was running through a sewer pipe.

Hobson quickly had the line rerouted and repaired the asphalt and concrete damaged by the mistake, and offered the board the reduced price of $80,000 to run fiber optics to the treatment plant. He said the normal costs for such work is almost $300,000.

Hobson said his research showed that Batesville missed the chance to become a Smart City a few years ago because of a lack of public interest. “There wasn’t enough saturation, not enough people signed up initially,” Hobson said.

That shouldn’t be a problem now, he said, because of pubic demand for high speed internet access at an affordable price. Hobson said once the line is installed and franchise issues are worked out, residents will be able to have internet service for $50 monthly with additional costs for T.V. and other features.

Hobson said the plan is to obtain easements from the property owners on the west side of the square and bore somewhere close to that area. The lines would then go to Panola Ave. somewhere close to First Baptist Church and from there straight to the treatment plan using city easements.

He estimated the boring and running of the line will take three days. Each street corner will have a “hand hole” installed for later access when wireless boxes and circuits are installed that will make the high speed internet options available to all of Batesville.

The contract calls for the city to pay about $2,200 a month for three years, but Hobson said if he can recover the initial investment before then with residential customer contracts he would be willing to reduce that debt. The initial expense of boring and running the fiber optic will be a major investment for the company, Hobson said. “The deal I brought you guys was honest and fair,” he said.

Aldermen were in agreement with the plan and were willing to instruct the mayor to sign the paperwork when the fact that no one at the table had, in fact, read the contract was brought up. Aldermen asked for a week to have their counsel read the document but Hobson said the contract would have to be signed by Tuesday afternoon to get the discounted price.

Asst. City Attorney Colmon Mitchell told the board his schedule was filled for at least another week and he could not read the contract and make a recommendation. Hobson proposed the aldermen sign the contract with the understanding they could rescind the motion to accept it should Mitchell later advise them of problems.

“If you guys will move ahead with this today I will put in writing that if something is wrong with the contract I will cancel the whole thing,” Hobson said. “That’s how we do business, we do honest business, but this thing needs to be signed.”

Aldermen Stan Harrison said the board didn’t mean to be difficult, but thought any contract should be read before voted on. “In my business I wouldn’t sign anything until my attorney had a chance to say it was okay,” he said, and other aldermen agreed.

Panola Partnership CEO Joe Azar asked the board to sign the contract and secure the fiber optic service.  “I can’t tell you how bad we need C-Spire here,” he said. “No offense to AT&T because we are grateful they are here with some of these same fiber optic things already and especially what they’ve done in the industrial park, but bringing in competition is what this is all about. It lowers the price dramatically not just for city services but for residences and industry.”

“I can’t tell you how important it is to act on this today if you can, please,” Azar said.

Autrey told aldermen the city could control the project because boring and installation can’t proceed with permits issued by the Code Enforcement Office, giving the attorney time to study the contract and report to the board.

It was agreed on a 5-0 vote that C-Spire will wait to begin boring until the contract is read and changed if necessary, at which time the permits will be issued.