Last‑mile fiber work has water staff locating lines; hydrant painting and band tests planned

Unidentified Speaker (S2), a water department staff member, told the board crews have spent most of their recent time locating underground lines while Pine Belt and other contractors run last‑mile fiber lines from Pine Hill and North Clark Industrial toward Gates Drive and other corridors.

"We've been spending 99% of our time locating lines throughout the system," S2 said, describing three crews north of town and additional crews along Rural Road and Highway 43. The speaker said the work has been time‑consuming and has limited other maintenance activities.

The presiding official said the incoming fiber is intended to expand capacity and redundancy and bring fiber‑to‑the‑home service to areas outside the town limits. "This is the last mile ... this can go to homes and rural road area out north," the presiding official said, adding that planned backbone looping should improve redundancy after past fiber cuts, which he said were often outside the local area.

Staff also described planned hydrant maintenance: several volunteer fire department members offered to help paint and service hydrants, and staff will test new reflective bands to replace weathered bands used to indicate hydrant flow (color codes from red to blue). Officials said the tests will determine which bands stick and are cost‑effective to replace.

Board members did not vote on any contract or utility agreement with broadband contractors at this meeting; the remarks were operational updates about locating, maintenance and a pending infrastructure assessment.