From the Salisbury Post (9/26/10): When Salisbury City Council last week took up the issue of what to charge the public for broadband, it was not the first time members had seen the proposed rates. They had met, two at a time, with city staff to go over the figures in advance. That way, they could avoid violating the state law that requires any gathering of a quorum — three or more members — to be public.
The council walks a fine line on such matters. As the city moves forward with its public fiber-to-the-home network, Fibrant, it may not be able to find that fine line as easily. Likely, the city will feel considerable tension between its public responsibilities and competition with private industry — tension that may test adherence to the public records law. Fibrant has to be transparent.
The city of Wilson, which operates a similar network called Greenlight, found that out the hard way.
Last year Wilson applied for $19.58 million in federal stimulus dollars to build out its cable, Internet and telephone service. The city manager soon received a letter from the N.C. Cable Telecommunications Association. As reported in The Wilson Times, members of the cable group wanted to see the city’s Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program application so they could weigh in during a public comment period. Among the interested members was Time Warner, which also operates in the Wilson market. The group questioned the validity of Greenlight’s application, since that particular grant program was supposed to extend services to unserved and underserved areas.