Decorah may get a November 3rd referendum on whether to establish a Public Communications Utility

A citizens group that has been working to improve Internet service in the Decorah area is announcing that it plans to officially ask the Decorah City Council to approve a referendum on the November 3rd ballot that would lay the groundwork for the City of Decorah to have a public communications utility.  "Decorah Fast Fiber" has announced it will officially present those petitions to the Decorah City Council on Monday, August 17th.
 
The November 3rd referendum would only give the City of Decorah the ability to form a public communications utility—it would not fund such a utility.  A telecommunications utility would not use property taxes for its funds—it would rely on payments by customers, just as the current Internet providers in Decorah do.
 
Jim Fritz and Jarrad Walter, representing Decorah Fast Fiber, say representatives from Decorah Fast Fiber will meet Monday evening, August 3rd, with members of the City of Decorah's Utilities Committee to discuss the issue.  A meeting of volunteers will be held at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 4th, to organize the referendum campaign.  Decorah Fast Fiber will continue to collect signatures Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings at the Water Street Park, leading up to the August 17th Decorah City Council meeting.  Decorah Fast Fiber has also been doing door-to-door canvassing to get signatures.
 
Walter is a Google employee who depends on the Internet for his job.  He says there are many other Decorah residents who could use faster broadband for their work.  "Fast, reliable Internet service is important for economic development in our area," he said.  Walter says public communications utilities have been established in Cedar Falls, Waverly, Osage, Independence, Spencer and other Iowa communities.

(Note: decorahnews.com's Paul Scott is also a member of Decorah Fast Fiber)