Last week I reported that Willmar was going to decide on $9.2 million investment in city owned broadband network. Turns out they didn’t. The West Central Tribune reports…

The Willmar City Council on Monday did not take any action on the Connect Willmar Initiative despite being informed April 29 during a work session that it would be asked to consider a number of approvals on May 6 to move the initiative forward.

The City Council was informed by City Operations Director Kyle Box that the operations agreement between Hometown Fiber and the city was not ready for approval, which is the first approval needed before moving forward.

City Attorney Robert Scott noted that the agreement is nearly 99% ready with a couple of blanks to be filled in and given final review by the city and Hometown Fiber. Box informed the council the goal is to have the operations agreement ready for approval within four weeks.

They talk about the project…

“This project is a public-private partnership; the city of Willmar will pay for, build, and be the sole owner of the fiber infrastructure,” Box said. “This model allows internet service providers to operate on the network and provide their services to the residents and businesses of Willmar — the city of Willmar will not be an ISP.”

And the need…

Box reminded the council that survey results reviewed during a work session in January showed that residents of Willmar “understand the importance of bringing this 21st-century infrastructure utility to their homes.”