Council presses contractor, city reports increase in crews after months of stalled fiber‑optic yard restoration

City of Rockford council members on Sept. 2 pressed the administration and contractors over months-long delays in yard restoration following a fiber‑optic installation project. Alderman Bonnie read constituent complaints and asked for an update; the mayor and administration said contractors have recently increased restoration crews and are closing large numbers of outstanding tickets.

Alderman Bonnie said residents across several wards have reported open trenches, exposed conduit and unrepaired lawns months after crews installed fiber tubing. She read written complaints, including one from Kathleen O’Connell who wrote that tubes were left protruding from the ground and “piles of dirt remain nearly three months later.” A retired firefighter, identified in Alderman Bonnie’s remarks as Luke Vutera, told the council he intended to have his yard repaired at the city’s expense if the contractor did not restore it promptly.

Mayor McNamara and Director Sander (city administration) said they held a meeting in the previous two weeks that included the internet‑service provider identified in meeting remarks as “Syfy” and that company’s contractor, AUI. Director Sander said crews performing restoration work had been severely outnumbered by installation crews: AUI was operating only two to three restoration crews while 20 installation crews were active, which Sander said made catch‑up difficult.

Sander provided specific follow-up numbers to the council: the city submitted 317 individual address tickets related to restoration; about 150 of those had been closed in the two weeks after the meeting. He said the contractor increased restoration crews to seven and planned to add an eighth crew in the week of Sept. 15. The administration scheduled a follow-up meeting for Oct. 3 to review progress.

Council members repeatedly asked residents to continue submitting addresses of unrepaired sites so the administration can track how long sites have remained in disrepair. Alderman Durkee and others also reported that some restoration work done so far did not meet the city’s standards and requested that staff document substandard repairs as reopenable tickets.

The council did not take a formal vote on the matter but directed staff through public questioning to continue monitoring contractor performance, to track closures and to pursue additional restoration crews as needed.

The city said additional crews and higher closure rates in the two weeks after the administration’s meeting represent tangible improvement but acknowledged residents remain frustrated and that some repairs still fall short of standards.