A common question in the thread following the announcement earlier this week that Google was beginning talks with the City of Decatur to bring Google Fiber to the community was something along the lines of “Anybody know a way to provide support to the city on this?”

Well,the City of Decatur has responded with a list of things residents can do to help convince Google that they should bring Fiber to the city.  From the Decatur Minute…

Yesterday’s announcement of Decatur as one of 34 cities under consideration for the next round of Google Fiber expansion resulted in an outpouring of enthusiasm from residents, business owners and, well, just about everyone. City leaders and staff are busy taking the next steps in the joint planning process, and updates will be posted here as they become available.

Google wants to know that there is grassroots support for Google Fiber in Decatur. Here’s what you can do to help:

1)      Visit https://fiber.google.com/newcities/ and click on the “Get Updates” button. The more people who sign up for updates that live or work in Decatur the better, so be sure to use a City of Decatur address.

2)      On Twitter? Tweet your enthusiasm to @GoogleFiber and @Google using the hashtag #DecaturGA

3)      Express your support on the Google Facebook page in a comment that tags the Downtown Decatur Facebook page.

4)      Follow the Fiber Google+ page.

5)      Get creative! Google has a corporate culture that values forward thinking, so reaching out to the company in creative and innovative ways is encouraged. How would Google Fiber improve your life, your business or the entire Decatur community? Let Google know “Decatur wants Google Fiber!”

The city would like to hear how you creatively told Google “Decatur wants Google Fiber!” Share in the comments or email 

On the agenda for tonight’s Decatur City Commission meeting, Asst. City Manager Andrea Arnold proposes significant changes to Decatur’s much discussed public wi-fi, which has been around since 2008.

In suggesting $165,000 worth of upgrades to the already obsolete network, Ms. Arnold suggests pulling out of residential neighborhoods, with upgrades limited to downtown Decatur, the Oakhurst business district, as well as Glenlake, McKoy and Oakhurst parks.  As we know, single-family residential area wi-fi has been a big challenge for the service providers due primarily to our annoying tree-infested neighborhoods.  (That’s my humorous description, not anyone else’s.)

Additionally, Ms. Arnold notes that Decatur has never provided free wi-fi access and suggests a one-year pilot program in the outdoor public spaces listed above.

Operational costs for the network will be around $24,000 – $5,000 of which would be provided by the Decatur Downtown Development Authority.

From the City of Decatur’s Linda Harris…

The City of Decatur is developing a five-year Technology Strategic Plan. We want to hear from you to ensure that we are investing in the right technologies to continue providing high quality service within our fiscal limits. Please click on the link below to respond to the City’s Technology Strategic Plan survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Decatur_Technology

Questions include your experience with Wi-Fi inside the city limits, what city services you’d like to see online, and what city online services do you currently use.