The rest of the Broadband 7

It was too long for one post, so here's the rest of the introduction to Ground Level's Broadband 7, seven Minnesota communities that are trying to figure out how to get faster access to the Internet for more of their residents.

My earlier post covered Lake, Lac qui Parle, Todd and Redwood counties. Here are three more. Like I said, these communities vary on how long they've been at this, how much they've accomplished and how they are going about it. They'll undoubtedly vary in how successful they are in getting a broadband network up and running.

Our hope is that, taken together, they will over time shine a light on how communities talk to themselves in an effort to get something done.

(We're playing around with Google Fusion maps here at MPR News, so here's a map of the Broadband 7. Click on the county to see more information about each.)

Windom -- Pacesetter expands

Construction bids are due May 5, and Dan Olsen, who directs Windomnet, would like to be out digging holes in the ground for fiber optic cable sometime in June.

Windomnet is the community-built project that has been providing high-speed access to Windom residents and businesses for six years in southwestern Minnesota's Cottonwood County. It drew nearly $13 million in federal stimulus money to expand to eight nearby towns.

So far, Olsen says, plans are proceeding smoothly, but he does share some concerns with Kevin Beyer at Farmers Mutual, which is trying to launch a project in Lac qui Parle County. If the bids Olsen expects to get May 5 and May 10 come in high because of a federal prevailing wage issue, "there'll be some head-scratching," he said.

As in Lac qui Parle, the original application for stimulus money didn't take into account the requirement under the federal Davis-Bacon Act that workers be paid "prevailing wage rates." Wages required under the ACT are higher than what officials were expecting contractors to base their bids on.

Olsen also noted that oil prices have risen and could be reflected in the plastic pipes needed for the fiber project. He'll know more when he opens bids.

Cook County -- Waiting on a typo

Residents in Cook County in far northeastern Minnesota have waited a long time and seem more excited about getting a fiber network than almost anyone else in the state. Connect Minnesota says ONLY 48 percent of the county's residents have access to non-mobile, non-satellite service of 3 megabits per second.

The county's electrical cooperative, Arrowhead Electric, won a $16 million stimulus award and hoped to be awarding a general contract to build the network by now and starting construction in June.

But a mistake on material sent to the USDA's Rural Utilities Service -- a typo, says Arrowhead's Joe Buttweiler -- sent Cook County's paperwork to the bottom of the stack. Now officials are waiting, ready to send out a request for proposals to seven potential contractors once the government releases the money.

At this point, the earliest Arrowhead could start work is July, Buttweiler says. The federal government stipulated a three-year deadline to finish projects, but Buttweiler says he's breathing a little easier because the understanding is that the clock starts ticking when Arrowhead gets the money, not when the award was made six months ago.

Sibley -- Joining forces.

Sibley County in south central Minnesota didn't get in line when federal stimulus money was awarded. Instead, local officials and residents have been talking for months in meeting after meeting about building their own fiber network that would serve every farm and city residence in Sibley County and some in neighboring Renville County.

They have gotten as far as creating a joint powers board to push the idea ahead. The board has met three times and is moving cautiously to explore bonding and to prepare a marketing effort that would involve a couple dozen more community meetings to air the idea. Here's the project Facebook page if you want to keep track.

If the effort continues, the board would ask residents to indicate their support and ultimately put the matter to a referendum that would allow it to create a utility offering Internet, phone and TV service. As elsewhere, providers already in the area have raised objections, most visibly Frontier Communications, which would be a competing provider in some locations.

The project has been spearheaded by Winthrop city administrator Mark Erickson, but the board has now voted to hire consultant Doug Dawson from CCG Consulting to advise it. The next meeting is at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28 at the Winthrop City Hall.

You can read about the others among the Broadband 7--Lake County, Lac qui Parle County, Todd County and Redwood County--here.

And of course we have a wealth of broadband coverage on our Ground Level topic page.

• Annandale watches special session for broadband help
• DNR pushes ahead with its groundwater planning
• Broadband providers seek $44 million from state fund
• Shifting rain could be lowering groundwater