Council shares pedestal concerns with Cabbage

At the Red Oak City Council meeting on July 1, Farmers Mutual Telephone Company (FMTC) representative Kevin Cabbage updated the council about the project’s progress.
Cabbage said that overall, construction has been progressing smoothly. FMTC is currently constructing the main fiber route by placing vaults underground as well as pedestals above ground, which are then connected to an innerduct. Once this is completed, fiber optics will be pulled through that innerduct.
Following his explanation of the construction process, Cabbage said the next step in construction is to “start constructing the fiber optic drop from the pedestal to their (the resident’s) home.” After this, FMTC will then schedule a time to turn on the fiber optic services and get residents connected.
“Of the years that I’ve been doing this, this is probably the best construction technique that I have seen as far as minimal disruption to the community and to the property,” he said.
Instead of using large pieces of equipment to install the vaults and pedestals, Cabbage said the FMTC workers have mainly been doing all the work by hand. He is also pleased to say that the project is progressing right on schedule.
Throughout the process, Cabbage said FMTC has been doing site surveys in order to review with homeowners where the fiber optics will be buried. He said these surveys also help FMTC to meet homeowners’ satisfaction by ensuring workers can get inside the home to install services with minimal disruptions.
“It’s also an opportunity for the property owner to make sure that they identify with us anything that’s buried on their property to make sure that we’re aware of that,” he said. “We do not want to disrupt anything that’s already in place.”
Cabbage got into the specifics of the project by stating FMTC’s initial plan was to construct half of the community in 2024 and do the rest in 2025. 482 people signed up to have construction in 2024, whereas a little over 200 are signed up for 2025.
“So total today, we’re at 696, roughly about 24% of the possible locations within the community have signed up to take our service,” he said. “Always hopeful that we can have more. People do have a choice.”
FMTC has been located in Montgomery County for over 100 years, and Cabbage said that over the years, this company has worked its way up to a position where it can expand into residential areas.
“The long awaited access to fiber optics is now becoming a reality with FMTC, with what we’ve been doing,” he said.
Mayor Shawnna Silvius added onto Cabbage’s explanation by stating that this service will be 10 gigabit, meaning that electronics within Red Oak are going to have a capacity nine times that of neighboring communities.
One final point Cabbage continued to emphasize throughout the meeting is that FMTC is not receiving any outside funding regarding this project.
“We are proceeding with this 100% on our own,” he said. “We are not receiving any broadband grants or loans from the federal government or the state government, and the city of Red Oak is not contributing any money toward this, nor is any other community that we’re looking to expand out into.”
Following Cabbage’s explanation of the fiber project, Councilman John Haidsiak asked him why FMTC has been installing pedestals when neighboring communities have vaults.
In response to Haidsiak’s questioning, Cabbage said that at the particular time when FMTC brought fiber to Stanton, “there was no difference in the cost between installing a pedestal and a vault.” However, once COVID hit and the cost of labor as well as material increased, so did the cost difference between installing the two.
“In Red Oak alone, that amounts to about a $1 million difference in cost,” he said.
Similar to during the council’s previous special meeting, Councilman Brian Bills said that he is against pedestals when they are placed street side, as he said it could be hazardous in the winter and is detrimental to Red Oak’s visual aesthetic.
In response to Bills’ concerns, Cabbage stated the reason FMTC is placing pedestals street side is because they are in a network, which calls for consistency in construction. Along with this, the materials to place pedestals and continue constructing in this manner have already been ordered.
Though Bills and Haidsiak are still opposed to pedestals being placed street side, Silvius continued to emphasize the importance of bringing fiber to Red Oak. Many residents have left the community because of a lack of fiber, and she said she doesn’t want to see this happen again.
Councilwoman Sharon Bradley added on to Silvius’ points by stating that if replacing the pedestals in the future is an option, she would like to look into it. However, she does not want Red Oak to go without fiber any longer.
“We’ve progressed so far, and I don’t want to go three years backward,” she said.
After a tense discussion between Bills and the FMTC representative, Cabbage said that FMTC will continue on with its engineering plan, as the company simply wants what is best for Red Oak.
“I sincerely apologize if this has created such a controversy in your community at a time where we should be rejoicing in the fact that you’re getting fiber optics within your community,” he said.
Though Bills was still opposed to the idea of FMTC continuing to place pedestals, Silvius chimed into the discussion by stating what would happen if the city were to turn FMTC away.
Silvius explained that to get fiber without FMTC, another company would have to build from their facility to Red Oak, which would cost millions of dollars. Plus, many council members believe the chances of another company coming in to do the job is slim.
At its last meeting, the council came to the consensus that it should reach out to Brianna Sorensen, the city attorney, before taking any action. Since she was present at this week’s meeting, the board asked about her perspective on the debate.
In response, Sorensen said that though she understands the drawbacks associated with the pedestals, an agreeable compromise between FMTC and the council is likely off the table.
“I think it would be very short-sighted of the council to make a determination based on the aesthetic impact of these pedestals when the benefit to the community and the investment that FMTC has made thus far is so substantially higher,” she said.
Councilman Tim Fridolph later said that the absence of fiber in Red Oak has cost the city far too much. He does not think the city can afford to continue moving on without it.
“Kevin, I thank you very much for the contribution you’re making to our community,” Silvius said. “For the long term, this is a very amazing asset for our community, our citizens, our future businesses and future economy of the whole county.”
This discussion will continue over the next few weeks. The next city council meeting will be held on July 15.