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RAIN
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 2, 2016 3A
Minet seeks to improve Ungricht seeks
Company needs upgrades to system as it seeks to expand
code solutions
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
Monmouth Independence
Networks has seen increased
demand on its bandwidth
with the frequent use of
more devices and streaming
of data, said PJ Armstrong,
Minet’s technology manager,
at the Minet board of direc-
tors meeting on Thursday.
“Last calendar year, we
were probably hitting six
gigabits of traffic, some-
thing like that,” Armstrong
said. “What we’ve found, as
students have returned and
we’ve bumped those data
rates, we’re hitting our six-
gig cap, so what we’ve
found is a possible issue
with our core router. We’ve
been working with LS Net-
works, our upstream
provider.”
The issue isn’t in the serv-
ice itself, said executive di-
rector Don Patten, but
rather with equipment.
“We purchase the ability
to provide up to 10 gigs,” he
said. “We’re pulling all of six
gigs, but we can’t seem to
pull anymore, even though
we have the ability to pull
the full 10. We have some
limitation that had not been
previously identified in our
systems. Now that we’re
aware of it, we’re trying to
correct it.”
Bo a rd m e m b e r Mi k e
Lodge asked if Minet cus-
tomers were receiving throt-
tled service — meaning that
the more people are online,
the slower the internet serv-
ice is.
“Essentially, we are throt-
tling ourselves,” Patten said.
“We’re not intending to do
that. It’s our equipment.”
The issue impacts both
speed and capacity, Arm-
strong said, and upgrades to
routers should improve the
situation.
The passive optical net-
work also needs upgrading,
Armstrong said.
“We have engaged an out-
side consultant to guide us
in the process of an up-
grade,” he said. “We’re hav-
ing discussions with multi-
ple vendors. It’s expensive,
but we have discovered it
may be 20 to 30 percent less
cost than we thought it
would be.”
Patten said as Minet looks
to expand services to cus-
tomers outside the bound-
aries of Monmouth and In-
dependence, the company
needs to look at upgrading
through used equipment.
The talk of expanding
Minet’s boundaries came up
again during a review of the
intergovernmental agree-
ment that governs the com-
pany, signed by councils
from both Monmouth and
Independence to create
Minet in 2004.
Some of the language in
the IGA was outdated, board
54 th Holiday Fair
Friday & Saturday
Nov. 4th & 5th
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Polk Co. Fairgrounds in Rickreall
Over 125 Exhibitors
FREE Admission - Donations Accepted
Benefits Polk County 4-H
For more info Contact OSU Polk Co. Ext 503-623-8395
.03
.94
.38
.TT
.01
.14
.40
Rainfall during Oct. — 11.25 in.
Rain through Oct. 31 — 34.95 in.
Windermere’s 2016 “Share the Warmth” Coat & Blanket Drive is coming
up soon and this year we would like to get an early start on it! This year’s
donation drive will start on Monday, November 7 and go until Friday,
December 9. Seven Locations; Windermere – Monmouth; Windermere –
Dallas; Monmouth Fitness; Les Schwab – Monmouth; Independence Library
Les Schwab – Dallas; World Gym
chair Scott McClure said,
and needed to be updated.
Mark Theones, Minet’s fi-
nance officer, said he want-
ed more definition in the
IGA — the sole governing
document of Minet — about
what the term “surplus”
means.
McClure said that surplus
is defined by revenue after
the initial startup debt is re-
covered and operational ex-
penses were covered.
“That would be fine if you
weren’t working with a com-
pany with growth, but with
Minet, moving forward into
the city of Jefferson, there’s
going to have to be upfront
capital required, and it’s not
a small amount,” Theones
said. “Minet’s not going to be
able to go into these busi-
ness ventures without up-
front capital.”
Board member David
Ritchey pointed out that the
board of directors was the
one who would declare what
was surplus, according to
the language of the IGA.
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
FALLS CITY — Terry Un-
gricht, the mayor of Falls City,
said the biggest challenge of
his first term was figuring out
a solution to the lack of code
enforcement in his city.
His second term is ap-
proaching — he’s running
unopposed — and that
struggle continues, but Un-
gricht is hoping the city is
closer to a fix.
In October, the city had
its attorney review its nui-
sance code, and Ungricht
found that the Falls City
City Council is authorized
to review cases under the
current regulations. The
council is not authorized to
levy fines, Ungricht noted,
but that can be changed.
Ungricht said the city at-
torney suggested a qualified
code enforcement officer
should review the nuisance
codes to streamline the
process. He added he would
prefer that the city contract
with a code officer for the
purposes of identifying vio-
lations, issueing citations,
and presenting cases.
Ungricht said Friday he
hasn’t had any luck finding
an officer to help so far,
and still is trying to locate
the city’s former code en-
forcer, Bob Crowson.
“Then there’s still the ar-
gument about who will hear
the cases,” Ungricht said.
He said the council
seemed supportive of the
idea that the council could
hear the cases, but was de-
bating how that should be
structured. One suggestion
was to have two councilors
hear and vote on a case ini-
tially. If they disagree, the
case could be taken to the
full council.
Ungricht said restoring
enforcement isn’t to collect
fines, but to help residents
understand the code and
assist them in staying in
compliance.