Village of Godfrey Board of Trustees: Public Safety, Finance, Board Meetings
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GODFREY – Godfrey officials are set to reconsider the proposed installation of a fiber optic network within the village as trustees say newly revealed information answers previously unaddressed questions.
Board members previously rejected a proposal from Socket Fiber to install a fiber optic network throughout the village on May 19, 2026. Trustee Rick Lauschke said he and Trustee Gerard Fischer met with Socket Fiber representatives before the board’s June 2, 2026 meeting and believe their proposal deserves reconsideration.
Lauschke said concerns he previously raised about fiber companies not installing in rural areas went mostly unaddressed during Socket Fiber’s May 19 presentation to the board. However, he said the June 2 meeting revealed new information to answer these questions.
“They’ve mapped out where there is no fiber connection today, and that’s where they’re going to go hit it. They are not going back where people have already gone into,” Lauschke said. “There’s a lot of remote areas that are not hit with fiber – that’s what they’re going to go after.”
He said the board likely would’ve approved their plans to install the network if trustees had known it would target areas currently without fiber internet.
“We probably would have accepted that instead of going back through everybody’s yard and ripping them up again,” Lauschke said. “If they can give our remote residents fiber, I think we should consider that.”
Lauschke suggested placing the item on the agenda for the board’s next meeting on June 16, 2026 and allowing Socket Fiber to present this new information. Village Attorney Bryan Dooling said the village is still legally within its time to reconsider the proposal and recommended placing the item on the board’s next agenda.
A full recording of the June 2, 2026 Godfrey Village Board meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
