The Sibley County Commissioners met today – and the short answer is the community fiber project is still waiting for the counties to vote. RS Fiber has been spearheading the community fiber effort. The current crossroad is getting the counties to agree to move forward. A vote to move forward was delayed about two weeks ago and planned for today. The vote has again been postponed.

KEYC reported on the story…

The work session was not about if the project was something the counties wanted, the question at hand was if the counties could legally provide the RS Fiber. It’s an estimated 70 million dollar publicly financed, privately managed projected that would provide high speed Internet and state–of the–art telephone and television service. Despite residents requests for the commission to move forward with approval the commissioners didn’t feel comfortable doing so without first getting approval from legal council. Sibley County Economic Development Director Tim Dolan says, “I think it has merit I think it certainly has legal merit to do it that way. You know I think there are selfish reasons why people might want to see the project move forward quicker, but you know we’re not going to be able to break ground on it until spring next year. So, I’m thinking there maybe time there still and we’ll go ahead. You know, I’m an optimist.”

The RS Fiber Facebook page also reports on the day’s activities:

After more than 90 minutes of comments and discussion, the commissioners decided to wait until a bond counsel opinion has been received before taking action on the matter. Commissioner Jim Swanson stated, “We all agree on the benefits,” but said that if it were put to a contingency vote at that moment, he would vote no. The meeting ended without a motion, and the consensus that the matter would be brought up again when there is something to act on.

It looks as if local residents are posting good questions (and getting answers) on the Facebook Page if you are interested in more info.