LEHI, Utah — In just a few weeks, the city of Lehi hopes to start laying fiber and ramp up construction for its brand-new all-fiber high-speed internet network.
But a group of neighbors are still hoping to stall the project’s momentum. They say they were left in the dark in the planning process.
“For the last 12 to 15 years, there’s been cows grazing here,” said Kenneth Glade.
Gone are the cows, and in their place sits lots and lots of fiber-optic cables ready to be installed.
“No one wants to stop the fiber project, but we need to have some accountability here cause right now the city says we can do whatever, whenever we want,” said Glade.
Neighbors like Glade feel like they were not included in studies for the site-selection process. They also think the location at 1100 West and 1400 South is a safety hazard.
“1100 West here has two ditches on both sides, a school within 300 feet, and two LDS churches that serve a lot of people,” said Paul Binns. “And here we are with an industrial park with trucks that come in-and-out, all day, every day.”
The city’s power department director, Joel Eves, said the city plans to prioritize safety.
“We’re looking at thing such as curb, gutter, sidewalk, burying the ditch so we can widen the road and make it a much better site safer for pedestrian traffic,” he said.
At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Glade and Binns voiced their concerns, saying safety shouldn’t wait.
Mayor Mark Johnson assured them things are still not set in stone.
“There will be a site-plan application. It has to go through DRC, it has to go through the process,” he said. “I think we mentioned before we anticipate taking care of the ditch, putting in sidewalk, curb, gutter, all those improvements.”
Eves said that out of all the sites the city looked into, the land on 1100 West leaves the least amount of impact to neighboring communities.
They hope to have internet ready for some customers in the next few months, and the project complete by summer 2025.
“We feel that there are not enough choices in Lehi to provide those services and we want to provide more options,” he said.
The city is partnering with STRATA Networks, a Utah-based independent telecommunications cooperative and internet provider.
