County sues builder of fiber network
Issues with construction contract still unresolved
Graphic by MICHELLE FARNHAM
David Corrado, chief executive officer for the Medina County Fiber Network, said the county has been unable to resolve some lingering issues with the network’s builder. File photo
MEDINA – County commissioners, the Medina County Port Authority and the Medina County Economic Development Corporation have filed a lawsuit against One Community for damages related to the Medina County Fiber Network.
One Community is the Cleveland-based non-profit organization hired to build and help maintain the fiber network in 2010. The complaint filed in Common Pleas Court Dec. 19 claims “a variety of breaches and misconduct” by One Community. The lawsuit also alleges “defective and delayed construction” by the defendant.
Common Pleas Court Judge Joyce Kimbler was assigned the case but recused herself and asked the Ohio Supreme Court to assign a visiting judge to hear the case. Kimbler’s recusal request stated simply she wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
David Corrado, chief executive officer for the network, said One Community has not completed all the tasks it committed to in its contract with the county to build the network.
“We’ve been working with One Community to resolve the remaining issues for a long time,” he said. “We think enough time has gone by and it’s necessary to take further actions.”
Corrado said unresolved issues related to such things as splicing and testing fiber and documenting network pole attachments do not hinder current functions of the network but could affect future expansion.
Corrado also contends One Community was offering its own services to customers instead of selling the use of the county network.
“We’ve had prospects call us to say that Everstream (a division of One Community) is selling them the same services we offer,” Corrado said. “They have permission to sell services here in certain cases, but these cases are outside the terms of the contract.”
In addition, the Port Authority is dissolving its contract with One Community to provide the network with monitoring and engineering services. Corrado said the Chicago company INOC will take over those services Jan. 1.
The high-speed communications network carries broadband services to businesses, government buildings and school districts around the county.
After years of discussions, construction of the network by the Port Authority was begun in 2011 with the support of county commissioners who created a bond reserve fund to guarantee payment on the $14 million worth of bonds issued to construct the public communications network.
The network did not go into service until 2013 after longer than expected negotiations to lower the fees Ohio Edison and AT&T wanted to charge the county to runs its fiber lines on existing utility poles.
The delay in launching services contributed to a slow start for the fiber network which has not been generating enough revenue to cover annual debt payments of about $1.2 million. As a result, the county’s bond reserve fund has been tapped to cover most of those debt payments over the last two years.
Corrado and Bethany Dentler, executive director of the Economic Development Corp., said the network is in the third year of a five-year plan for sustainability in which network revenue covers operating expenses.
The network is 150 miles of glass fiber stretching from Valley City through Brunswick, Medina, Lodi, Westfield Center, Seville, Wadsworth, as well as Sharon, Granger and Hinckley townships. The network was designed to be “fully redundant,” meaning it was built in a ring configuration, so if part of it is interrupted, like when a pole is knocked down in a car accident, the network reroutes itself and customers don’t lose service.
One Community is the Cleveland-based non-profit organization hired to build and help maintain the fiber network in 2010. The complaint filed in Common Pleas Court Dec. 19 claims “a variety of breaches and misconduct” by One Community. The lawsuit also alleges “defective and delayed construction” by the defendant.
Common Pleas Court Judge Joyce Kimbler was assigned the case but recused herself and asked the Ohio Supreme Court to assign a visiting judge to hear the case. Kimbler’s recusal request stated simply she wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
David Corrado, chief executive officer for the network, said One Community has not completed all the tasks it committed to in its contract with the county to build the network.
“We’ve been working with One Community to resolve the remaining issues for a long time,” he said. “We think enough time has gone by and it’s necessary to take further actions.”
Corrado said unresolved issues related to such things as splicing and testing fiber and documenting network pole attachments do not hinder current functions of the network but could affect future expansion.
Corrado also contends One Community was offering its own services to customers instead of selling the use of the county network.
“We’ve had prospects call us to say that Everstream (a division of One Community) is selling them the same services we offer,” Corrado said. “They have permission to sell services here in certain cases, but these cases are outside the terms of the contract.”
In addition, the Port Authority is dissolving its contract with One Community to provide the network with monitoring and engineering services. Corrado said the Chicago company INOC will take over those services Jan. 1.
The high-speed communications network carries broadband services to businesses, government buildings and school districts around the county.
After years of discussions, construction of the network by the Port Authority was begun in 2011 with the support of county commissioners who created a bond reserve fund to guarantee payment on the $14 million worth of bonds issued to construct the public communications network.
The network did not go into service until 2013 after longer than expected negotiations to lower the fees Ohio Edison and AT&T wanted to charge the county to runs its fiber lines on existing utility poles.
The delay in launching services contributed to a slow start for the fiber network which has not been generating enough revenue to cover annual debt payments of about $1.2 million. As a result, the county’s bond reserve fund has been tapped to cover most of those debt payments over the last two years.
Corrado and Bethany Dentler, executive director of the Economic Development Corp., said the network is in the third year of a five-year plan for sustainability in which network revenue covers operating expenses.
The network is 150 miles of glass fiber stretching from Valley City through Brunswick, Medina, Lodi, Westfield Center, Seville, Wadsworth, as well as Sharon, Granger and Hinckley townships. The network was designed to be “fully redundant,” meaning it was built in a ring configuration, so if part of it is interrupted, like when a pole is knocked down in a car accident, the network reroutes itself and customers don’t lose service.
