Category Archives: Events

Wednesday night was the monthly meeting of the White City Community Council, and it looks like I'm going to have to appear to a higher body for some help. First, the rep from UTOPIA didn't show and I never got an e-mail or call to indicate such. This, however, is the minor setback. The major setback is that the future of White City's township designation might be in jeopardy based on what I heard at this meeting, so the council rightly must focus on issues other than broadband policy. I'm going to try and setup a time to present to the Salt Lake County Council to see if they'll appeal to legislators to re-write the law and allow counties to directly participate in UTOPIA.

The other option is to start a private company to bring UTOPIA to this area. I don't have the experience, time or money to do something that ambitious (but if any of you are, please let me know) so that seems like a dead end. It seems like I'm back to square one. 

I got to do a follow-up presentation on the financial aspects of UTOPIA at tonight's White City Community Council meeting. This included estimated participation rates and the impact on housing values. While it's not a slam dunk, it looks like a very solid picture for meeting the debt obligations by the end of the first year.

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Don't forget that the White City Community Council will be meeting tomorrow. UTOPIA is on the agenda and I will be following up with some answers concerning the cost and value of the project. I spoke with UTOPIA COO Roger Black yesterday and there may be a representative from UTOPIA on hand to help answer questions about the project. The meeting will be held at 7PM at Eastmont Middle School (at the intersection of Sego Lily and 1300 E) in room 105 on the lower level. The parking lot entrance is on Sego Lily (take the west entrance).

The day before the meeting, I got a call from the chair of the Council to offer the spot on the agenda I had been speaking. It was pretty short notice, but I was glad to have some real time to speak to them about bringing UTOPIA to the neighborhood. I quickly put together a PowerPoint presentation and drew up a map of the potential aerial run from the backbone along the UPRR to White City. It also helped that I was able to borrow a projector from work to show off my handiwork.

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Tonight I attended a meeting of the Utah Technology Commission to speak on opening up UTOPIA. The presentation went well, and I think it helped bring the shortcomings of the current law into the minds of the Commission. I also walked away with more ideas on where to go next.

One of the great suggestions from Rep. Dougall, the committee chair, is to explore forming a cooperative within my township, White City, which could then contract with UTOPIA to bring the service here. One big barrier to that is being surrounded by Sandy, a city that isn't participating. This means that even if we formed a cooperative, Sandy would either need to become a UTOPIA member or give permission to run the lines through their city. It's a good idea, but my little slice of the county would have some trouble with it.

I'm also going to see about making presentations to various community councils, the county council, and even a few city councils. I've got a few contacts right now working on getting business leaders involved in voicing their concerns about the lack of UTOPIA availability as well. As we gain more voices, we'll see greater adoption and increased availability of services.

Do what you can to help out. Write your representatives in government. Talk to local business leaders. Attend hearings and meetings to voice your concerns. Enough of us together can get things changed.