We’re famous for the various bridges which have led to town over the years, but we are currently building a bridge unlike any we have had before. You may have noticed the long scar running down some of our streets lately. The scar lies on top of what we call “lightbridge.”
Lightbridge is a fiber-optic network which will one day connect all of our facilities. As of now, the network includes the Community Center at 201 Green Street and Sipe Center at 100 North Main Street. Connecting these facilities allows us to centrally manage door locks, cameras, and other devices. Having one network, instead of many, will save us money in a number of ways.
We will add Generations Park to lightbridge in a few weeks and the water-treatment plant will be connected next year. The law limits our ability to use lightbridge to provide data services to citizens, but the cable has plenty of “dark” (unused) fiber which could be leased to private parties.
And about that scar, it’ll be gone soon. We’re literally learning how to build a fiber network from below the ground up, and that includes learning how to patch a street cut by a fiber trench. But now we know, and we will make the scar go away this spring.
