may the force be with you

Lafayette voters turned out in surprising numbers Saturday for an election with a single issue. With a 27 percent turnout, they voted 12,290 to 7,507, or 62 percent to 38 percent, to proceed with the controversial fiber-to-the-home project.

"I am so proud of this community," said City-Parish President Joey Durel. "It humbles me a bit that Lafayette's citizens put so much trust in their leadership. Now, we need to prove them right and show that other 38 percent that they can trust us and look to us to move this community forward."

Saturday's vote authorizes Lafayette Utilities System to sell up to $125 million in bonds for a fiber to the home and business project. It will involve extending fiber optics cable down every city street, then offering residents and businesses the option of receiving high-speed Internet, telephone and/or cable TV service through LUS. City officials said they believe it can offer those services at lower prices than incumbents such as BellSouth and Cox Communications.

Fiber 411, the citizens group that opposed the LUS plan, took the loss as a victory.

"I think we won," said Tim Supple of Fiber 411. "We started off wanting to get people the right to vote. We accomplished that. We tried to get people to understand the issue. We accomplished that, I hope. We won."

Both Supple and Neal Breakfield of Fiber 411 have said they do not plan on pursuing or participating in any lawsuit to challenge the fiber project.

The next step for LUS is to work with the Louisiana Public Service Commission on its rule making, a move that can affect how much LUS can charge and could prevent LUS from guaranteeing the fiber bonds with revenue from its electric, sewer and water divisions. The matter may be taken up at a PSC meeting this week, said Terry Huval, LUS director.

Once LUS clears the PSC rulemaking, it will begin the process to issue bonds. Without delays, Huval said, LUS could have the bond money in hand in four to five months. Then the utility would hire an engineering firm to prepare engineering on every pole and lot in the city.

"Two years from today we ought to begin serving our first customers," Huval said.

It will take about another 1 1/2 years to bring fiber to everyone in the city who wants it. The voter turnout - bigger than the 15 percent expected, with at least two precincts at Thomas Park and Girard Park recording 45 percent turnout - is a good indication that residents want the services and the business plan can work, Huval said.

"I hope all the lawsuits and artificial hurdles are behind us," Huval said. "The people have voted. They ought to honor that."

Fiber supporters were pleased with the results and what fiber may bring Lafayette.

"This opens the door for every municipality in the nation to look at how they can do what we did," said Don Bertrand of Fibre911. "We deserve connectivity and as we did in 1896 with the electricity, if you won't bring it to us, we'll do it ourselves."

Benjamin Dorsey, 19, who attended several fiber town hall meetings, said fiber will be great for his generation.

"Lafayette's going to be on the world's map and the face of this city will change over time thanks to this project," Dorsey said. "We'll be able to stay here, and have high-paying jobs in science, software engineering and the medical field."

Jeffery Landry, government watchdog, said he had doubts about the project but voted in favor of it.

"I hope it will benefit everybody in Lafayette," he said. "The bottom line is I want everybody to benefit from it."

"Victory - that's what can happen when you get people together," said Gobb Williams of Citizens for Common Sense. "We will become Lafayette, Louisiana - not north and south Lafayette."

source:http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050717/NEWS01/507170362/1002