Hartsville City Council awards bid to Uptown Services

Mayor Mel Pennington called a special meeting of the Hartsville City Council on Thursday to approve the bid award for the broadband feasibility study. After much discussion, the council awarded the bid to Uptown Services LLC.

Of the three bids received for the feasibility study, all came in at the same price tag $50,000. One dropped out before council considered the bid award.

Before City Manager Dr. Jim Pennington described the positions of the two remaining bidders, Mayor Mel Pennington gave an update on the first round of federal stimulus spending.

The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration made $182.7 million in awards on Thursday with most grants going to public-private partnerships or 100 percent public projects.

“This is a good sign for us, not a guarantee but a tremendous step for us in the right direction,” Mayor Pennington said. He added that the majority of projects were similar to the one he is proposing, last mile or fiber to home, and were awarded to small and rural communities.

“New broadband access means more capacity and better reliability in rural areas and underserved urban communities around the country. Businesses will be able to improve their customer service and better compete around the world,” said Vice President Joe Biden in a press release concerning the awards.

Both of the two companies left, CTC Communications and Uptown Services, prepare feasibility studies, implement them or consult on these types of projects. CTC is in large cities based out of Washington, D.C., and has an excellent political arm. Uptown Services, a two-man operation based out of Atlanta, specializes in municipal broadband and has worked with a number of cities to get municipal broadband systems implemented.

City manager Pennington said both had favorable reviews from their clients and references. Both follow good methodology and generate high quality feasibility studies. He noted that Dave Stockton does a good job of communicating with council or the governing body. Another individual at CTC has been referred to as “hard headed.”

Another plus, both give the impression that the companies will disclose whether the project will work or not.

“The best advice I can give is that you as the city are the boss,” the city manager said. No matter who wins the bid, “you’ve got to tell them what you expect. You are the ones that are in charge.”

“It’s a tough choice,” Mayor Pennington said. “I have a gut feeling that Dave (Stockton of Uptown Services) was more reasonable in his approach.”

Mayor Pennington said CTC works mostly with middle mile projects, which lay a perimeter and make internal connections rather than connect individual homes to services.

While middle mile projects are great, “We’re talking about changing our lives,” the mayor said. The city can’t go wrong by adding this type of infrastructure, he said.

“It’s the best bang for our buck and the future for Hartsville,” the mayor said.

The mayor added that Stockton sounded more definitive in response to potential problems from local carriers like AT&T. The business headquarters is also closer in Atlanta as opposed to Washington, D.C.

“We have a blueprint sitting outside of our backdoor,” Mayor Pennington said.

Stockton worked with the city of Wilson, N.C., on getting a broadband system there. With it, the city offers cable television service, digital telephone and high speed internet service on the open market to city residents and businesses. He said about $7 billion in federal stimulus funding is currently available to assist in the distribution of broadband to rural communities.

“Wilson said they will exchange the blueprints with us even if don’t go with them (Uptown),” the mayor said. He added that council has been afforded the opportunity to visit Wilson, N.C., to see what other cities are doing. He said he was also impressed to see what the city did with housing.

Mayor Pennington said he spoke to the legislative delegation, which is on board with the idea. He added that the town of Lamar recently lost its Internet provider and could serve as a way to expand the program and earn more revenue for the city.

Public institutions that are broadband-challenged like schools and colleges and major industry supporters like Google and Microsoft will continue to push for rural municipalities to get broadband.

“There will people on our side,” the mayor said.

"Expanding high-speed Internet access is critical to improving America’s economic competitiveness," said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in a press release Thursday. "Unless we use the 21st-century tools at our disposal, America will never be as connected as it could be. And that connection is crucial for our economic future."

The feasibility study that Uptown Services will create will be a comprehensive view of the project with a detailed view of the costs, benefits and return on investment as well as other options. Every stage of the process will be covered with charts and graphs.

“It is a business plan,” the mayor said. “It will be a detailed view snapshot of what’s happening.”

The study will take a minimum of three months to complete.

After the unanimous vote to award the bid to Uptown Services, the city manager said he would contact Stockton and draw up a contract that would be ready to go at the first of the year.