Taking fiber optic fight to Raleigh(2)

"They knew I was an advocate for the project and am a local, small business owner in the downtown footprint," he said. "They know we are a viable business, and have been doing business in Rowan County for around seven years."
Van Geons said RowanWorks wanted to get involved because of fiber's excellent reputation, and the draw it could have to businesses.
"From an economic development perspective, this type of broadband asset is an important addition to our economic development story," he said. "Ensuring our citizens are able to compete in the global marketplace is a real importance to us at RowanWorks."
Van Geons said he is aware of the different viewpoints on municipalities having their own broadband services. He hopes legislators will look at the big picture.
"I think there's a lot more discussion to be had about what access to this level of data could mean to N.C. as a whole, and smaller cities and towns across the state," he said. "For me, it's a story of innovation in our county. It's another thing we can sell on why this community is special and different, and a place of business a business and company should consider."
Paris and Kluttz asserted their opposition to the bill.
"For three years the General Assembly has consistently determined that House Bill 1252 is a bad bill," Paris said. "The committee took the time to listen to us on the issue and realized how bad of a bill this would be, not only for our community but for other communities across N.C."
Kluttz said Sen. David Hoyle planned to introduce legislation to further study the bill and possibly present a moratorium.
"He (Hoyle) said that whatever the outcome was, it would not impact the cities who are already implementing this," she said. "He specifically named Salisbury as one of the cities.
"I did have a personal conversation with him afterwards, and he did say the same thing to me. He was not interested in doing anything to hurt our efforts."
Although Salisbury and Wilson will be safe if the bill passes, Kluttz and Van Geons, worry about its effects on other municipalities.
"I feel like anyone who studies this is going to realize it is not a good bill, and, for economic development, our cities all need to have the opportunity to do this," Kluttz said. "Even if Salisbury is left out, I'm concerned for the others. Not only will it hurt the cities, it will hurt the state."
Kluttz said that although Hoyle supported leaving Salisbury and Wilson out of the bill, he was against any city getting into the broadband business.
Hoyle was unavailable for comment, as was Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, both members of the Revenue Laws Committee.
Kluttz said others spoke in opposition of the bill, including someone from Chattanooga, Tenn., where fiber has been implemented.
"They spoke of all the advantages of it," Kluttz said. "Volkswagen decided to locate there because of what they have done with broadband."
Vance Holloway, deputy state treasurer, spoke on behalf of the Local Government Commission against the bill.
"He spoke very confidently about Salisbury and the fact that we and Wilson, and other cities, have (pursued fiber) for economic development, not to be in the cable business," Kluttz said. "He felt very confident in what he had heard from us that we would be successful."
Kluttz said Kelli Kukura, director of government affairs with the N.C. League of Municipalities, also spoke in favor of broadband access.