Staff Writer United Services, Inc. is investing $9 million in the Richmond system, expanding 80 miles in fiber optic internet services locally. The company will break ground in early October, as the lease agreement was approved in a recent Richmond City Council meeting, superseding the prior lease and right-of-way agreement. Richmond City Administrator Tonya Willim explained United Services already serves a large portion of rural northwest Missouri, currently consisting of approximately 3,750 miles of the fiber line. New construction will be conducted by Sellenriek Construction Inc. United Services Director of Field Engineering Ken Smith and General Manager Darren Farnan of United Fiber presented information and showed build plans. “We wanted to go over our build plans, and I know we’ve been planning this for quite some time,” said Smith. “We have it all designed and it’ll be in four phases. The first phase will be in the central part of the city as a hub site. Phase one is…