PC Fairgrounds to offer WiFi

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EATON — The Preble County Board of Commissioners is working on installing WiFi at the Preble County Fairgrounds.

To do so, they have enlisted the help of Independence Fiber Network. During a meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 12 Aaron Holtz and Nathan Zehringer met with the commissioners to discuss the project moving forward.

The project is already under way at the fairgrounds. To install the line, IFN and the commissioners had an agreement to bore to install the line, minimizing damage to surrounding areas.

However, the line was still trenched, which is the most utilized way of installing these lines, according to Zehringer.

IFN understands this was not the agreement and have agreed to fix any damages done.

“The installation was an open trench when it was supposed to be a directional bore. They open-trenched the entire project. It was supposed to be minimal open cut, directional bore,” Commissioner Chris Day said.

“I will have to get with our contractor and see. They were privy to all of these conversations, it was clearly put into the permit they were given as well. I’m not sure why they would have done that. If there are any cosmetic issues we will be sure to rectify anything,” Zehringer said.

“Just so you are aware, that is the standard way of constructing fiber. We’re always obligated to repair and restore the land afterwards. That being said, the agreement was to bore. I will have to talk to them. There must have been a miscommunication from their management down.”

Moving forward with the project, a free WiFi network will be installed, so all visitors will have the option to join the network at no charge. A premium network the county will charge for will also be created.

Vendors at different events will have the option to pay for the more secure network.

These two options will be open to all who visit the fairgrounds.

The Preble County Dog Warden will have access to the premium network at all times.

Independence Fiber Network will be working to get the WiFi up and running as soon as possible. In the future, the company will be setting up site walks with the fairgrounds staff.

By Kelsey Kimbler

[email protected]

Reach Kelsey Kimbler at 937-683-4061 or on Twitter @KKimbler_RH

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