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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Orr council considers high-speed Internet

Melissa Roach
Posted 11/14/18

ORR— Representatives of Back 40 Wireless were before the city council here on Tuesday, to talk about their plan to bring high-speed Internet access to the community. The city has lacked any new …

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Orr council considers high-speed Internet

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ORR— Representatives of Back 40 Wireless were before the city council here on Tuesday, to talk about their plan to bring high-speed Internet access to the community. The city has lacked any new Internet access for months due to limited investment by CenturyLink.

John-Paul Metsa and Troy Rasmussen, both with the southwest Minnesota-based company, described their plan to extend broadband capacity in the city and surrounding areas by using four wireless transmitters that would be installed on the city’s water tower. Metsa explained that he would manage local customer support.

Some councilors expressed concern that trees could limit access to the signal, since the homes served by the system would need direct line-of-sight to the transmitters. Rasmussen said that would be an issue, but could be mitigated through the use of directional antennas placed on other buildings working with sector antennas. The signal can then be rebroadcasted to areas the water tower can’t reach directly.

The company also offered the city free Internet for city hall and the community center if they approved the radio antennas on the water tower and allowed the company to connect to the electric service at the water tower. Rasmussen showed a recent copy of an electric bill, suggesting it would cost the city very little to have the radios wired into the city’s meter. Rasmussen said he would need about forty customers to make it worth the effort.

Meanwhile, another company has come forward with a nearly identical plan of its own for extending broadband access in the community. Nathan and Sarah Phillips of UniFi North had outlined their proposal in an email to Orr City Clerk Cheri Carter, but the council opted not to pursue the plan given their failure to appear.

The council took no immediate action on the Back 40 Wireless proposal, but are seriously considering the proposal, according to Carter. The company would like to have the new service up and running by the first of the new year.

Relatedly, councilors acknowledged the Grizzlies Broadband Community, which has received a $50,000 grant from the Blandin Foundation for continued high speed Internet connectivity work and education. Mayor Astleford thanked Randy Long for his involvement in the initiative.

In other business, the council:

 Approved a request from Liquor Store manager Chet Nieman to be paid for an additional three hours worked beyond what is reasonably expected.

 Approved a resolution authorizing the city to make a final application for Community Development Block Grant.

 Approved the purchase of a flow meter for the wastewater plant. Sewer and water manager Paul Koch clarified that the city has a flow meter, but is in need of a calibrated channel that the flow meter would work off of for an up-to-date calibration. The council approved the new flume at a cost of $3,200.

 Approved a request from the Ambulance Department to upgrade Lifepak unit to have AC power capacity for $3,604.80.

 Approved an Ambulance Department request to add remaining LUCAS to the service plan for all four machines at a cost of $570, and purchase of high visibility sweatshirts for 25 personnel, not expected to exceed $500.

 Approved a travel and training request from ambulance personnel.

 Approved having Purdy Electric install lights for liquor store signs at a cost of $571.46.

Mayor Astleford concluded the meeting by offering thoughts and prayers for the Zupancich family and the employees of Zup’s with the loss of the Cook grocery store due to fire. “It’s a terrible tragedy for our community,” he said.