By Tilden Bowditch
Some Rockbridge County landowners are hesitant to sign easements allowing the Rockbridge Area Network Authority to install fiber optic cables on their roadside properties. RANA needs the permission of an additional 265 residents before it can begin laying the cables. Only 85 residents have signed easements since November, and RANA chairman Hunt Riegel says the authority will have to reroute the network if it doesn’t get all 350 signatures. Construction will begin in February, and June 2013 is the completion deadline. The cables are part of a network that will bring broadband access to Rockbridge County, Buena Vista, Natural Bridge and Lexington. Parts of the network will run underground, some crossing private property. Some homeowners are worried about construction on their properties that might require cutting down trees or changing the aesthetics of their yards. RANA volunteers are now going door to door to talk with landowners about their concerns.