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WARREN -- Trumbull County Commissioners moderated a discussion Tuesday that allowed elected officials from across the county to voice complaints from residents about the installation of fiber optic lines in their communities.
Residents for most of 2026 have been complaining that the fiber optic companies have been damaging existing lines that run through their properties and, when they are through with their installations, the companies are not restoring the yards to the conditions they were before the installers arrived.
Commissioners told representatives of Lumos/T-Fiber, OmniFiber, Brightspeed, Charter/Spectrum and Ohio Transparent Telecom(OhioTT) that their office has fielded hundreds of phone calls and other forms of communication complaining about the work being done.
Elected leaders from Vienna, Braceville, Bazetta, Warren, Hubbard, Champion, Howland and Weathersfield townships, as well as Girard city, attended the meeting.
Commissioner Rick Hernandez said commissioners have received a number of calls from residents who try to talk to members of the installation crews about their concerns, but no one on the crew speaks English.
"There has to be someone on the crew that can communicate with the residents," Hernandez said. "This is about the safety of the residents."
Hernandez emphasized there is very little commissioners can do to stop or even delay installation of the fiber optic lines because the work is mandated at the state and federal level.
The commissioner noted that a lot of the problems being faced by residents are on the subcontractor level.
Commissioner Tony Bernard said he had someone in the commissioners' office when he arrived at work Tuesday morning.
"When the subcontractors leave the area, it is the way they are leaving the grounds," he said. "Some of the residents are saying it is taking too long to clean up the area."
Jim Hyme, director of building engineering at Spectrum, said that within seven days of the activation of a project, a member of his team drives to the area to identify any torn up section of the ground to make sure it was done correctly.
He noted that most of his time is now spent driving out to every project done in the past 18 months to identify and fix what was missed.
Dominic Carroll of Omni Fiber said the company has a link to the company's internal system where complaints can be made.
"This should not be a burden on you, the community," he said. "It is our project. I want to make you a contact within our organization."
Trumbull County Engineer David DeChristofaro noted that residents get into a loop where they get nothing resolved.
Bob Padgett of Brightspeed said the company requires the subcontractors to go out and contact residents before work begins.
"Before we start construction, we require our construction vendor to go out and place door hangers on their doors with contact information on them," he said. "Once we finish construction, within a week there should be seeding and leveling the grounds."
He noted they do this type of thing every day across multiple states.
Nick Coggins of the Trumbull County Planning Commission noted that sometimes it is very difficult to find out which company is responsible for doing a particular project.
"Sometimes townships do not require permits to do work," he said. "Sometimes we don't have a resolution."
Hernandez said the important thing is for residents with concerns not to be silent.
"Residents just want someone to talk to about their concerns," he said. "Commissioners don't have those answers. The companies and subcontractors have the answers. We have to make sure companies are doing their due diligence."
Bernard said something must be done.
Coggins did say that when they have been able to find the companies that are doing the work, the companies have taken responsibility and fixed the issue.
Officials noted their residents are concerned about fiber optic installation, especially since there were gas lines struck in Cortland, Bazetta and Solon earlier this year during the installation of fiber optic lines. An explosion occurred in Girard earlier this year because of the fiber optic installation.
Vienna Township Trustee Phil Pegg described working with representatives of Howland and Kinsman, and wrote a permit that will outline what these companies must do to lay fiber optic lines in their communities.
"We have concrete drives that were seriously damaged," Howland Township Administrator James Pantalone said. "There is some serious miscommunication happening. This is an effort by all of us."
DeChristofaro said there are not a lot of companies doing this work, but there are a number of subcontractors.
"Let us know the number of subcontractors and where they will be working," DeChristofaro said.
Girard Mayor Mark Zuppo suggested that fiber optic companies should consider working together more so the companies can put in lines at the same time, so they don't have one company coming after another.
The companies are expecting the placement of the fiber optic lines should be completed within the next three to five years.
Bernard said safety and improved communications are the top issues that must be emphasized over the next several years while these lines are being placed.