DYERSVILLE, Iowa -- The city of Dyersville is weighing what its role should be in the petition drive to discontinue Iowa Telecom's Extended Area Service charge for residents.
The Dyersville City Council in October voted to sponsor a petition drive to bring discontinuance to a public vote.
The council has returned the item to the Dec. 7 meeting agenda, and it will decide whether to use funds for an informational campaign.
"What's the appropriate position for the city?" Dyersville Mayor Jim Heavens asked. "Should we advertise (the petition)?
"We want to have a chance to kick (the petition) around to see if the city wants to spend some dollars."
Extended Area Service allows customers to call specific communities without long-distance charges, according to Iowa Telecom's Web site.
The EAS area for Dyersville covers the cities of New Vienna, Luxemburg, Worthington, Holy Cross, Earlville, Farley and Colesburg, according to Dyersville City Clerk Tricia Maiers. If the monthly EAS fee is dropped, calls to these areas from Dyersville would be charged long-distance rates.
The monthly rate, which is $4.74 per line for residential customer and $9.48 for businesses, is automatically included in phone bills; it is not an optional charge. Communities approve EAS by written ballot for inclusion in their basic telephone service.
Dyersville officials believe EAS has been charged to residents for more than 50 years. Councilman Mike English brought the item to the council's attention before the petition drive was approved.
Heavens, who would vote to discontinue EAS if given the opportunity, believes the economy has played a role in the petition.
"These are tough times, and everybody has to look at every expense they've got," Heavens said. "It's a good, healthy thing to examine this."
According to a letter sent by Iowa Telecom to the city, a petition of 310 signatures would be required to continue the process. Only one vote per household or business will be accepted.
The petition would then be sent to the Iowa Utilities Board for approval. The review process would take about 90 days.
The Dyersville Area Chamber of Commerce does not have a position on the issue, said Executive Director Karla Thompson.
