CENTERVILLE -- Conduits for UTOPIA's fiber-optic network will be put into the newly approved Florentine Villas Subdivision in Centerville, a year before it comes to town. Even though the Utah Telecommunications Open Infra- structure Agency's phase II plan will not begin for at least another year in Centerville it is more cost effective to lay the conduit before the new subdivisions go in. "The conduit will be placed in the Florentine Villas subdivision at a fraction of the cost of what it would be if the conduit were laid after the homes are built," says Steve Thacker, Centerville City Manager.

"The total cost of installation is $31,075 including engineering. The city will be reimbursed for the conduit once UTOPIA starts phase II in the Florentine Villas. There will be 67 homes in this subdivision."

The Centerville City Coun-cil approved this interlocal agreement between Center- ville city and UTOPIA, late Tuesday night.The city will use the $50,000 in funds that were spent initially on the feasibility studies done several years ago. The studies determined that UTOPIA would be a good in-vestment; and then the funds were later reimbursed to the city by UTOPIA once the plan was approved.

UTOPIA will start work in Centerville once Phase II begins. Phase I has already commenced and includes six cities in Utah and SLC counties. The fiber optic network put in these cities is now available to 2,500 homes and will be available to 6,000 homes by the end of June, according to Thacker.

"In Phase I, UTOPIA has exceeded expectations. The number of people signing up for the UTOPIA fiber-optic network has exceeded its projections by 14 percent," says Paul Cutler, a Centerville city council member.

"Construction, to put in the fiber optic wires, will start in a year on Parrish Lane and then will be expected to move onto the Florentine Villas," Cutler continued.

Other subdivisions that have not received approval but are in the planning phase will also be reviewed by the council at a later date.

Meanwhile, last week Qwest filed a lawsuit against UTOPIA claiming unfair competition and the use of their telephone poles without their permission. Cutler commented in Tuesday's meeting that he was confident this issue would be resolved without much of a setback.

The Council did, however, decide the agreement would end after five years in case UTOPIA did not complete the job. This would allow the city to sell the conduit lines to another agency at that time.

Layton City also is a participant in the communications system.