It didn’t take much convincing on July 26 for the county board to grant Arrowhead Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI) $4 million from future proceeds of the county’s 1 percent sales and use tax, authorized by the state legislature for capital improvements throughout Cook County. The money will be added to a federal “stimulus” grant for the purpose of extending fiber optic lines that will enable the community to take full advantage of ultrahigh speed Internet.
Arrowhead Electric received a combination grant/loan of $16 million through the federal Rural Utility Service and will be borrowing another $5.4 million to fund the project. AECI Executive Director Jeanne Muntean said that the extra $4 million from the county would address increases in cost since the project was conceptualized and would allow them to use higher quality materials. It’s a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for Cook County, she said.
The resolution passed by the county board states, “…Given the county’s physical layout and special physical characteristics, AEC requires $4 million to ensure that the system is adequately robust, redundant, and long-lasting….”
AECI customer Bob LaMettry was at the meeting and pointed out that if the county granted the request, it wouldn’t own anything for its investment and would lose control of how that money was used. A letter he wrote to County Board Chair Jim Johnson stated, “I feel that the use of 1 percent tax dollars to promote the sale of AECI’s fiber optic services would be comparable to funding residential electric wiring to promote the sale of electric power by AECI.”
Despite the fact that the county won’t own the infrastructure, Commissioner Sue Hakes said, it will still have value to the county. The risk to the county would be less with Arrowhead Electric running the project than it would have been if the county had taken on the project itself, she said.
LaMettry said that when the 1 percent committee, comprised of elected officials from throughout the county, was considering potential projects to be funded by the 1 percent tax, the plan was for the county to own and operate the fiber optic network. County Attorney Tim Scannell and County Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers indicated that using the revenue for a grant to Arrowhead Electric could legally be done under the legislation that authorized the tax.
Arrowhead Electric’s application had this to say about its project: “This fiber optic cable network will be capable of delivering high-capacity Internet connectivity, video, telephone services and television services to every home, business, government agency or other structure that now receives electricity from Arrowhead Electric or from the Grand Marais Public Utilities Commissions.
“…The slowest speed offered on the Arrowhead network is projected to be 10 megabits/second upload and download speed. This will be roughly eight times faster than the best connectivity available to private homes and businesses in Cook County now. Uploads will be as fast as downloads, an important benefit for many businesses and others who transmit large files. For those who require it, Arrowhead will be able to provide speeds up to 1 gigabit/ second.
“…The capacity of the fiber cable Arrowhead will deploy is essentially unlimited, able to handle any foreseeable growth or improvements in broadband technology.
“…The project presented today for 1 percent funding is different from the project that received funding from the Rural Utilities Service. It is better. It now includes a number of value-added features that improve the system, including conduit casing for the underground fiber cable; fiber cabling to county communication towers; 1 gigabit connectivity for all public buildings in the county and the 100-megabit dedicated communications loop for those public buildings.
“…For the majority of county residents, who still must rely on dial-up connections or satellite Internet, with its inherent speed and capacity limitations, securing true high-speed Internet is a dream come true.
“For no group is this more important than the county’s resort owners. Many know they must have fast, reliable Internet connectivity to survive. Not only do their clients require high-speed, reliable Internet connectivity during their stay, but resorts also increasingly find that they must make sophisticated use of the Internet to develop successful marketing efforts in their highly competitive industry, which forms the backbone of Cook County’s tourism-based economy.
“…Of Minnesota’s 87 counties, Cook County ranks at the very bottom in broadband connectivity. The Arrowhead Electric broadband project is intended to change that by providing broadband connections that approach the speed and capabilities available in Minnesota’s urban centers.
“…What the people of Cook County make of the opportunities broadband presents will, of course, depend on them. …The potential economic and social benefits that can accrue to Cook County from Arrowhead Electric’s broadband project are almost beyond imagining.”
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