County happy with broadband plan

Talk about it

According to a recent marketing survey done on the possibility of broadband in Lake County, residents in the area are excited about the proposed project.

“The overall response was excellent,” said Chris Swanson, at a Lake County Board meeting this week. “They (Lake County residents) are very supportive of the project.”

Swanson, who originally proposed the project, estimated from the survey that the average cost a Lake County resident currently pays for Internet, TV and phone services is about $122 a month. National Public Broadband, the organization which would be implementing the broadband plan, believes they can go lower than that.

A question Swanson keeps hearing from the public is “Are the local taxpayers going to pay for this project?”

According to a fact sheet on Lake County’s Web site, the fiber optics network would be paid for by the operational revenue it generates. No debt would be accumulated for taxpayers if the project moved forward.

“The IT (information technology) people get and understand the value of fiber optics,” Swanson said.

For more information and a list of frequently asked questions, visit www.co.lake.mn.us.

In other county board news:

- An update was given on the Housing and Redevelopment Authority for the area.

One significant change for the HRA is the change to in-house accounting. The HRA has also appointed a committee to develop a set of bylaws. The purpose of the HRA is to provide affordable, decent, safe and sanitary housing to Lake and Cook county residents with incomes at or below 115 percent of the state median income.

- There was also a discussion on repairing a 140 G motor grader, with 12,000 hours on the machine, by Ziegler Inc. at the cost of about $40,000. Commissioners talked about getting other estimates before going proceeding with the project.

- Board members also discussed creating a new position of maintenance technician. The county’s facilities management requested the new position, which would focus on maintaining the county’s heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, maintenance duties and custodial support.

Tags: two harbors, news, broadband, lake county