A work crew from WOW! cable is shown installing lines along Fawnbrook Drive in Mill Valley recently. After falling behind its installation timeline, WOW! crews now appear to be back on track to finish work in the area by the end of the year.
(Photo submitted)
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After officials expressed doubt earlier this month that WOW! Cable would finish installing local cable and fiber lines by next year, it seems the company may be back on track.
At last month’s Marysville Finance Committee meeting, Finance Director Justin Nahvi said, in talks with the city’s public service department, officials were unsure the company would meet its deadline of finishing by 2018.
In an interview with the Journal-Tribune this week, Marysville Project Manager Marc Dilsaver said that’s no longer the case.
“I kind of feel that in the past few weeks, they’ve picked up the pace,” he said. “I think that they’re really close to being back to where they wanted to be after they began construction.”
The company is working through Mill Valley and Scott Farms right now.
Dilsaver said initially, WOW! wanted to be in and out of the city by this month, which he said the city found “aggressive.”
He said aspects of WOW!’s design held construction up, and they ended up starting in February. It initially hoped to start about a month earlier.
As the city communicated with the company, it became apparent WOW! wasn’t pleased with its progress at first. Now that the project has made up ground, it might end up reaching its goal.
“As far as I know, we still expect them to be wrapped up by the end of the year,” Dilsaver said.
In an email from WOW! Cable quoting company vice president Greg Argetsinger, the company still plans on finishing this year, though said the “slight delay” was due to permitting with the city.
Jeremy Hoyt said he couldn’t be certain what the company was referring to, but noted there was a short hold-up on the placement of the company’s cable hub.
When the company came to the city, it promised to repair damage done to residential yards during the process. Dilsaver said they’ve received “a few” calls from residents unhappy with that repair work. Generally, though, he said WOW! has proven responsive.
Usually, repair crews are out looking over a yard within a day of a call coming in, said Dilsaver.
“They get on it pretty quickly,” he said. “Generally, they’re out there within the day to at least look at it, to get a game plan.”
WOW! has primarily laid underground cable and fiber, though Dilsaver said it has permits for eventually installing aerial cable.
According to Dilsaver, he’s never seen the City of Marysville work with a company on a cable project this extensive. He said in speaking with other cities in the area, a project like this is uncommon.
“It’s not real common for a brand-new cable provider, or a provider in general, to come in and build,” he said. “That’s a significant investment that WOW!’s made in Marysville. That’s a lot.”
Dilsaver said as far as he’s concerned, working with WOW! has been generally positive.
“They’ve been accommodating to us, they’ve been accommodating as far as what I’m aware of to residents as well,” he said.
It’s been a bit of a learning experience. Dilsaver said if they ever see a project like this again, officials would like to find more ways to simply get information out to residents. WOW! hosted neighborhood meetings in every quadrant of the city and put door hangers on doors.
“They really did get the word out,” he said. “I don’t know how we would get the word out any better, whether it’s us posting something on our site or something like that, but I’m big in trying to be proactive in communication. It think that stops a lot of heartache.”