The West Central Tribune reports…

The Willmar City Council will be having a work session on Monday, Feb. 10, to hear updates and information on the Connect Willmar initiative.

The public is invited to attend the work session, which will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Willmar Fire Hall, 515 Second Street Southwest.

The city for two years has been working on the Connect Willmar initiative, which will be a municipally-owned, citywide open-access fiber optic network.

The open-access fiber optic network will allow multiple internet service providers to use the network to provide internet services to the residents and businesses of Willmar. Internet service providers will pay a fee to the city to use the network.

The city plans to use general obligation bonds to pay for the construction of the network, and the fees it collects will be used to pay back the bonds.

Construction of phase one of the project is expected to take place in 2025.