After the 8-1 vote in favor of signing a contract with the company for fiber-optic broadband, Mayor Doug Lawson said he was excited. "I see great things happening to Joplin. We're already just that close to be the place to be a remote worker.
"It's going to put us over the top," Lawson continued. "And I share the concern that some neighborhoods don't have the access they need" to fast and reliable Internet service.
He and Councilman Chuck Copple thanked city staff, consultants and Allo for all the work to bring the service to Joplin.
Troy Bolander, the city's director of planning, development and neighborhood services, said the process of identifying Joplin's Internet service needs, issuing a request for information from interested providers, reviewing and narrowing down those choices, and conducting final background checks on the applicants as well as negotiations "was pretty involved."
He thanked a consultant who guided the work, Alvarez & Marsal. Those involved in the project first narrowed down suitable applicants to nine and then selected five for final consideration. That selection was made based on cost, speed of the system provided, and satisfactory customer response and service, he said.
"It's been a long road to get to this point," Bolander said.
He said it is difficult for smaller cities like Joplin to find competitive broadband providers. "You have larger cities where you have competition and you will have a choice," of providers, services and price, but there are not as many choices for small cities, particularly those smaller than Joplin, he said.
"Allo really stood out because they weren't asking us for any assistance" with the cost of building the system and providing the service in a manner satisfactory to city officials. Allo's president, Brad Moline, said at a previous meeting the company will invest $40 million in constructing the system.
LESSON FROM 2011
The city is providing $5 million in grant money, which Bolander said "was not at the request of Allo." The city's contribution is to pay for additional services city officials wanted to have in case another disaster occurred here.
Bolander said that after the 2011 tornado, city staff could not communicate because of the destruction that took out Internet services and utilities.
"We had to get out old CB radios to communicate. So we asked what it would cost to harden city facilities, schools and health institutions" so that they could continue to communicate by Internet if another serious event occurs.
Hardening will add precautions and equipment to ensure access to Internet and existing documents in computer systems that could otherwise be paralyzed in a disaster.
Other services the city will receive for its funding will be two central offices where circuits for the system will be located for Allo so that if one is damaged or destroyed, the other will be available.
"We asked that the backbone of the system be in the ground so it wouldn't be impacted by a disaster such as a tornado or winter storm," Bolander said.
A final vote on the contract will be taken at the council's next meeting.
Once the contract is ready, there will be a two-year timeline for construction.
Councilman Mark Farnham said he intended to vote against approving the first reading of the contract. He said he likes the speed and reliability of fiber-optic services.
"I may be the only person in this room that considers it a utility" that should be city-owned rather than owned by Allo. He said for that reason he would vote against advancing the contract.
Al Schroeder, director of outside plant operations for Allo, also spoke at the meeting. He said Allo believes in having fair pricing and not misleading consumers in advertising its fees. The company also does not charge for the needed equipment to bring Internet services into a house or business, such as modems, Wi-Fi or the equipment installation.
He said the company will have technicians to install and maintain services for customers and a storefront for customers to get information and ask questions.
"What Allo can do for you is bring that connectivity and competition," Schroeder said.
Councilman Josh Detar made a motion to advance the contract on first reading, with Farnham the lone "no" vote.
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