WILLMAR — The Willmar City Council marked an important milestone in the plan to build an open-access fiber broadband network in Willmar. The fiber use agreement between the city, which will own the network, and Hometown Fiber, which will manage it, was approved on a vote of 6-1 at the Aug. 5 council meeting.
"We're not asking the council to approve a project tonight, we're not asking you to call for bonding, we're not asking you to request bids," said City Operations Manager Kyle Box. "We are simply marking a major milestone, making the next step that we need to do to make this project feasible, and that is what this contract is." The only no vote was from Councilor Rick Fagerlie.
Councilor Tom Butterfield was absent. Both in the past have shared concerns about what overall is estimated to be a $25 million project. The approved agreement between the two parties lays out the use and management of the network, which will be built and owned by Willmar.
Hometown Fiber will manage the system, which includes signing on internet service providers that will operate on the network and provide customers high-speed fiber internet. "High-speed internet access can attract businesses, improve property values and stimulate local growth over time," Box said. "These benefits can generate substantial returns on the initial investment, potentially offsetting the upfront expenditure.
" Box led the City Council through an in-depth presentation of the agreement. The document of more than 30 pages.