I have been following the story, but it’s good to see the story of Connect Wilmar Initiative in the Minnesota Star Tribune…

The fate of a $24.5 million broadband project came down to one vote at a City Council meeting here on Monday night.

Seven council members faced a choice: forge ahead with an ambitious plan developed over the last two years to build a city-owned municipal broadband network, or heed a last-minute request from telecommunications giant Charter Communications to pause the project.

In a 4-3 vote, the City Council opted to continue work on the Connect Wilmar Initiative, a project to build an open-access, city-owned fiber optic network.

The project’s supporters said their goal is providing high-speed internet access to every home and business in Willmar, an agricultural city of about 21,000 known for its nearby lakes.

The network’s estimated $24.5 million in construction costs would be paid via bonds. Internet service providers would pay leasing fees to use the city’s network, revenue that Willmar would use to pay back the bonds, according to an explainer for the project.