Resident urges Bellbrook to press Alta Fiber to move junction box from future build site

A Bellbrook resident who identified himself as Brad presented diagrams from an Alta Fiber master plan and said the company placed a junction box where he plans to build on Lot 2A. He said he purchased the lot for $110,000 and that the junction box sits "pretty much right in the front yard of the buildable site," leaving him no recourse to move it after conversations with the fiber company.

Brad said his conversations with the company "go nowhere" and that the issue has been escalated to the company's "tier 1" support, which left voicemails saying the location has already been moved and there is nothing more to do. He told the council the master plan was presented to and approved by the city but that it was "deemed to be too big to share with the public or put on the website," which limited his ability to object before the work started.

Council members expressed empathy and urged the resident to follow up with them directly. Councilman Havens said he has seen similar 12-foot easements in the city and invited the resident to contact him; he offered to look into options but cautioned private easements are common. No formal motion or directive to staff was made at the meeting.

Why this matters: placement of utility equipment in easements can affect property buildability and value; the resident is asking the city to intervene with a private broadband provider to relocate a network junction box from a planned home site.

The resident provided diagrams to the council and said he would continue escalating the issue with Alta Fiber while seeking council assistance.