City manager outlines under‑lake fiber plan offering 1 Gbps to municipal buildings for seven years; commissioners press for environmental and lease details

City Manager Little briefed the Benton Harbor City Commission on a proposed under‑lake fiber project presented by PFN, which aims to bring a high‑capacity fiber connection into the city with a permanent easement and a long‑term ground-lease arrangement.

Little said PFN has completed much of the permitting and permitting-related environmental work at the state level and previously conducted a test at Jean Clark Park. He told the commission the company offered one gigabit-per-second service to municipal facilities — including the water plant, public library, city hall and public safety facilities — free for seven years, and that PFN would incur roughly $320,000 to run cable to those buildings. “They have agreed to give to us service… 7 years of 1 gigabyte high speed Internet service to each of these buildings free for that 7 years,” Little said.

Commissioners pressed for more detail. Questions included what would happen if facilities named in the agreement are later decommissioned, who would hold the executed agreement (the manager said the city clerk would retain the contract), and whether the city would have the option to resell service at favorable wholesale rates after the initial seven‑year period.

Concerns also arose about the long-term lease and the permanent easement. A commissioner asked why PFN is proposing a 75‑year lease and requested clarity on financial terms beyond the initial installation and seven‑year service. Another commissioner asked for the local soil/boring study and any environmental reports conducted for ground boring at Jean Clark Park — the manager confirmed that state-level environmental work had been done for the under-lake route and agreed to pass along local boring/soil information available to the city.

Several commissioners questioned the geography and ownership of the Ridgeway Street water plant (the manager said the plant is within city limits except for the mailbox/entrance location) and sought confirmation of addresses used in the PFN materials. The commission did not vote; staff were asked to gather the environmental/soil evaluation and provide further contract and easement detail before final action.