Iola does not charge telecommunications companies to use its water towers for various transmitters and other pieces of equipment.
That may soon change.
The topic arose Monday after the owners of KwiKom Communications announced the company will no longer pay a franchise fee to Iola for its services.
Iola City Administrator Matt Rehder presented to City Council members a July 7 letter from JMZ Corporation, notifying the city it is immediately terminating its telecommunications franchise agreement with the city.
The agreement is not required, nor enforceable, because KwiKom is not a “telecommunications local exchange service provider,” but is rather a “telecommunications carrier,” wrote S. Todd Barfield, an attorney for the company, wrote in the letter.
As per terms of the franchise agreement established in 2018, the company paid the city $16,000 annually, with those costs passed directly on to its customers at a rate of $2.50 a month.
The city has similar franchise agreements with Cox Communications and AT&T, other companies that use city rights of way to provide services.
Rehder, however, said he had questions about the company’s proclamation.
Firstly, any termination announcement carries a 90-day notification, Rehder said.
“And I seriously doubt their ability to use our rights of way” without such a franchise agreement, he added.
Attorney Chase Vaughn, who also serves as the city’s counsel, noted there is a distinction between a local exchange service provider and a telecommunications carrier.
He told the Council he will look further into the agreement and the company’s proclamation. He also will visit with representatives from Osawatomie, who received a letter similar to the one sent to Iola.
Mayor Steve French wondered if the city needed to rewrite its ordinance, or take other steps.
“We can at least move forward to see what our options are,” French said.
THE DISCUSSION raised another issue Rehder said the city needed to address: neither KwiKom nor LaHarpe Communications pay any kind of rent to place their equipment on the city’s water towers. KwiKom has equipment on Oak Street and Gates towers, Rehder noted.
Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock said the city likely declined to charge rent to KwiKom because of a gentleman’s agreement in which the company instead agreed to provide free wifi access to public spaces around town, including the New Community Building at Riverside Park.
Still, it’s in the city’s best interest to charge rent, Council member Jonathan Wells said.
