Sundre's council unanimously carried a motion last week to begin public consultations to determine the level of interest in pursuing broadband Internet as well as whether residents would be interested in investing public dollars in such a venture.
The decision made during council's regular Feb. 27 meeting followed a detailed presentation outlining a variety of potential proposals to bring broadband to the municipality during the Feb. 21 workshop.
"The RFD (request for decision) in front of you basically asks permission to go to the public to conduct a public engagement program that would involve a survey, meetings, door-to-door ó that sort of thing ó in order to get the best image possible about the rate of demand by our public, and how open they would be to spending public dollars on such an endeavour if the demand existed," said Jon Allan, economic development officer.
Coun. Chris Vardas introduced for discussion administration's recommended motion to first determine the interest in bringing broadband, and second to gauge whether taxpayers are willing to invest in the infrastructure, which would eventually generate an additional revenue stream that has the potential to reduce dependency on taxation.
Coun. Paul Isaac told his colleagues that he had yet to hear any strong opposition following several discussions with residents throughout the week prior to council's meeting.
"It's all very positive," he said.
However, he stressed the importance of being as diligent as possible with details moving forward.
"The process on finding information is probably more important than the outcome, because if the process is not done properly, the outcome could be slightly skewed. And it's too much money to not have a proper outcome."
Allan unreservedly concurred.
"It's absolutely essential," he said about presenting accurate cost forecasts, adding administration will likely be requesting approval to use available funding previously allocated by council for broadband to cover the cost of employing a third party.
"We have lots of funds available for this, to be able to hire a third party to be able to lead ó under our direction ó the public engagement program to make sure that it is unbiased and comprehensive."
Vic Pirie, director of finance and administration, pointed out administration would present a tentative plan for public consultation to council during the last workshop in March.
Vardas expressed excitement about moving forward with broadband.
"Everybody I've talked to since the workshop is really excited about it," he said, adding business owners and neighbours seem keen on the possibility of astronomically increasing Internet download and upload speeds.
"It's about time Sundre come out of the Dark Ages, like I said before."
Mayor Terry Leslie reiterated a previous statement he had made about his belief that the broadband issue will be "the single biggest decision that we will make as a council."
The mayor added that courtesy of the efforts of administrative staff, the detailed information required to make a rational, logical decision is available.
"I look forward to the questions that will come from the public. And as you say, Paul, it'll be critical for us to have the answers for those folks who will ask those really good questions about whether this is sustainable, (and) how this opportunity might assist us in the future."
Every municipality has to develop ways to introduce new revenue streams to reduce dependency on taxation alone, he said.
"I think our ratepayers are kind of excited," the mayor said, adding he had not heard any negative input to date.
Coun. Nolan Blatchford pointed out that while he also has not heard any negative comments about the broadband proposal, the people he's spoken with so far have wondered how much the service would cost per month.
"You're going to have to come up with some kind of figure for people," he said.
"Because that's the first thing they're going to ask ó what's my cost?"
Since O-NET has expressed the most interest in working with the municipality to roll out broadband, Allan said that company's rates would be used as a guideline.
"They've indicated to us that they probably wouldn't want to have too much of a differential between a Sundre price and an Olds price," he said, adding the towns are in close enough proximity to one another that any significant price difference would undoubtedly lead to customer complaints.
Administration will seek permission from O-NET to advertise its rates as a hypothetical guideline. In the meantime, residents can peruse the company's rates on its website (o-net.ca), he said.
Additional information on Sundre's push for broadband will be made public as it becomes available.
