The Brookhaven Board of Aldermen has unanimously approved a franchise agreement with C-Spire for residential fiber optic internet lines.

“The goal has been to get fiber optics in Brookhaven, and we are glad that’s going to happen,” Mayor Joe Cox said at the Board’s regular meeting Tuesday.

C-Spire will begin mapping of residential areas within the city, C-Spire Manager of Market Development and Residential Sales Chase Bryan told the Board. Those maps and other information will be posted and updated on cspire.com so officials and residents can see where the company is in the process.

“We have three Ds — Density, Demand and Distance to fiber,” Bryan said. “We look at how many people in the neighborhood or area want the service, how close they are to one another, and how far we would have to run the fiber to provide the service. Obviously, demand is the most important factor.”

Residents who are potentially interested in coverage should register on the website, Bryan said. Registering does not commit anyone to service, but lets the company know the desire for service exists, he said.

Project updates

Engineer Ryan Holmes provided several project updates. The Brignall Road bridge project has been advertised for bids, which will be opened Sept. 16 at 10 a.m. The bridge will be replaced with triple-lined concrete pipes.

The North Jackson Street bridge project is going through environmental checks, which began one week ago. This process is expected to take 60 to 90 days. The checks are necessary in order to be approved for Emergency Road and Bridge Repair funds.

“The plans are in a good spot, and hopefully there will be no major issues with the checks,” Holmes said.

A survey crew will soon begin work in Hillcrest Cemetery, gathering information to plan for expansion.

MDOT will move most of its work in the area to nights now, to avoid causing traffic issues.

“They’re far from done, though,” Holmes said of the work on East Monticello Street. “It’ll be nice. It’ll be first-class.”

Work is ongoing at the Brignall water well, engineer Mike McKenzie told the board. The water lines at Browns Loop have passed pressure tests, and results are pending on bacteria testing.

In other business, the Board:

• Hired Anthony Wilson Jr. in the Solid Waste Department as driver/operator at $12 an hour, pending drug test and physical.

• Hired Robert D. Powell Jr. in the Solid Waste Department as equipment operator at $10.74 per hour, pending drug test and physical.

• Accepted and approved two resignations from the police department — part-time patrolman Jamison Gordan, effective July 28; and dispatcher Jennifer Walker, effective Aug. 17.

• Approved a 15-year anniversary pay increase for Larry Sampson in the Street Department from $24.52 per hour to $25.52, effective Aug. 27.

• Approved the Law Enforcement Agreement with Brookhaven Public School District for school resource officers.

• Approved a fiber optic cable and appurtenant telecommunications franchise agreement between the City and C-Spire.

• Accepted the Brookhaven Fire Department report of 25 runs in the city and two outside the city during July.

• Appointed a committee to form a vehicle usage policy for all City-owned vehicles, consisting of Don Underwood, Andre Spiller and Jeff Henning.

The meeting was recessed until 6 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 30.