MetroNet has revamped its safety measures and wants to begin installing fiber-optic internet lines in Zionsville soon.
The Evansville-based, high-speed internet provider halted work in central Indiana in September after the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission found it responsible for 10 out of 20 incidents that damaged gas lines in Carmel and Fishers this summer.
“We think that we went too fast in construction in our desire to provide choice to our customers in Hamilton County,” MetroNet President John Cinelli told the Zionsville Town Council during a special presentation at its Oct. 23 meeting.
MetroNet has not yet begun installing lines in Zionsville, although it has worked on construction of a service building west of Bennett Parkway on Old 106th Street. In February, the town council approved a plan to issue $1.5 million in Indiana Economic Development Revenue Bonds and use tax increment financing to help make it financially feasible for MetroNet to install 300 to 400 miles of lines in town.
Cinelli and MetroNet spokesman Steve Biggerstaff outlined some of the company’s new initiatives, including the creation of a director of customer service position, weekly safety committee meetings to discuss utility hits and increased use of water to loosen ground around buried utilities at sites experiencing drought-like conditions.
Biggerstaff said MetroNet is working more closely with municipalities and utility companies than it has in the past. He said work was scheduled to begin again in Westfield Oct. 24 with a construction kickoff meeting. Similar events will be planned as work resumes in other areas, he said.
Councilor Susana Suarez asked MetroNet officials if they had a plan for alerting residents that the company will be digging nearby and suggested they work closely with homeowners associations on notification.
Biggerstaff said MetroNet informs residents of upcoming work through letters, flags and signs and said the company plans to reach out to Zionsville HOAs.
“That’s one of the (things) that we wish we would’ve done more of in Fishers,” Biggerstaff said.
Biggerstaff said MetroNet also has updated its website, metronetinc.com, to make it easier for residents to ask questions and find answers.
“Our goal is that we will have no residents calling the town hall and complaining about what we’re doing. Our goal is to answer those questions prior to that,” he said. “We don’t want you to have to field those questions.”
