News

City, schools team for fiber-optic loop

By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Tuesday, March 1, 2005 10:42 AM EST

Dowagiac Board of Education, meeting at Central Middle School, and City Council, meeting at City Hall, Monday night approved a joint ownership agreement for a fiber optic network throughout the community.

Running an additional set of fiber strands to accommodate the city only increased project costs incrementally.

The consultant, Ancomm Telecommunications Inc., drafted a plan to utilize mostly city poles for the network.

City Manager William H. Nelson Jr. said, "At this point, it appears that if the projects were constructed separately, each would cost $250,000 to $300,000.

"By combining the construction into one project the cost is projected to be about $310,000," Nelson said, with the city paying about 55 percent of the costs, compared to 45 percent for the schools.

These proportions are based on the number of dedicated fibers run for each organization. The Wide Area Network, or WAN, excludes Kincheloe and Sister Lakes, which will be addressed separately by the school district. Total cost of the project is $307,578.23, or $169,168.03 charged to the city and $138,410.20 borne by the school district.

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