By Kimberly Gasuras

Several people wrote letters and one local business owner addressed council on the issue of if the city administration will renew a contract with Wavelinc owner Kurt Fankhauser during the Bucyrus City Council meeting Tuesday evening.

Fankhauser’s 10-year contract with city officials to use the city’s two water towers expires in April. Mayor Jeff Reser and law director Rob Ratliff have said that the use of the towers may go up for bid, leaving Fankhauser in limbo along with his customers that reside within the city limits.

Natalie Norman of Norman’s Niche said that her business, like many others throughout the city, relies on the Internet service provided by Wavelinc.

“Customers want to be able to use free Internet when they are eating dinner or having a drink,” Norman said. “I need to be able to provide that for them.”

Norman said larger companies such as Spectrum and CenturyLink cannot provide service that is strong enough to provide Wi-Fi service for customers while operating her store’s credit card machine.

Dr. Roy Harris sent a letter to council imploring city officials to continue Wavelinc service.

“The only options we have for internet service are Spectrum and CenturyLink through DSL services. I have experience with both and they are severely understaffed and as a result, it takes days to get service, should the need arise, and it did and took days,” Harris wrote in his letter. “That is simply not acceptable with my use of electronic health records and electronic prescribing.”

Harris said that losing the service would cause a hardship for his patient base of more than 2,000 patients.

Tyler Jacobs, director of the Bucyrus Area Chamber of Commerce, also sent a letter to council in support of Wavelinc.

“I would like to express my support and the support of the Chamber for Wavelinc Communications and their continued presence on city-owned towers,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs said Wavelinc offers affordable services to non-profit organizations as well as businesses and provides exceptional customer service.

“I cannot stress enough the importance of taking care of our local businesses,” Jacobs said.

Brentwood Street resident Ken Cameron also sent a letter that was read by council clerk Todd Hill during the meeting.

“My wife and I have been customers of Wavelinc for a few years now,” Cameron said.

Cameron said too many young people leave the area to open businesses and that the city should promote homegrown businesses whenever possible.

The issue is currently with the council’s public lands and building committee led by Dan Wirebaugh. The committee’s next meeting is at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Bucyrus City Hall during council’s joint committee meetings.

Wirebaugh’s daughter and local Girl Scout, Sydney, also addressed council but for a much different reason: to promote the sale of Girl Scout cookies.

“Through cookie sales, I am learning five important skills for success: goal setting, decision-making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. Tonight, I’m learning about public speaking, too,” Sydney said. “Will you support me in my goal? If you would like to buy cookies, there are many options for ordering.”

In other council business, Ratliff did not have a formal report for council, he did inform the public that convicted triple murderer has filed a lawsuit against the city for violation of his human rights.

Ratliff said he was recently served paperwork regarding the issue by US Marshalls.

Crawford County Now will have more on the story in the near future.

Council passed a resolution for a .5 mill levy to be placed on the ballot May 8 to benefit the Bucyrus Public Library along with resolutions for material bids and airport improvements. Ordinances were passed for various appropriations and enterprise fund reimbursements.

The next council meeting is Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. in council chambers.