Update: Critical Action Needed

This month, a critical decision will be made regarding which cities and counties will be part of the RS Fiber Project as it moves forward.

All 11 city councils and two county commissions (Renville and Sibley) have been asked to decide by the end of this month whether they want to be part of the bonding process as the project moves forward.

Their decisions will determine not only which cities will be part of the project, but whether the fiber network will be built out to the farms in Sibley and Renville counties.  If the county commissioners Vote NO, the rural areas will likely be left out, and the opportunity will be lost. It is imperative that you attend one or both of those meetings and be part of the discussion and/or contact your commissioners via phone or email.

• The Renville County Commission will discuss the project at a public work session on Tuesday, March 20th. The RS Fiber discussion is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the courthouse annex in Olivia.
• The Sibley County Commission will hold a public hearing on the RS Fiber project at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 26th in the basement of the courthouse annex.
• The various city councils will also be voting on if they want to be part of the RS Fiber Project.

The Critical Vote
The days  following the public hearings, at their regular commission meetings, the Sibley and Renville County Commissions are scheduled to vote whether their respective counties will be part of the project. The cities are scheduling their votes depending upon when they meet. The two county commission votes are the critical votes for the project with respect to whether the fiber network will be built out to the rural residents and businesses.

Critical to Rural Residents
To be crystal clear about how critical the vote on March 27th by the Sibley and Renville County Commissioners is for rural residents, if the counties vote not to participate and a fiber network is constructed in the cities, the opportunity for a rural build will probably be lost forever because of the high cost of building the rural areas. It’s really now or never for farm families. We strongly believe that including rural residents in the RS Fiber project will make the project stronger.

How to Help
We are asking you to contact your elected officials (especially your County Commissioners) and let them know how you feel about the project. If you think it’s a good project tell them so. The time is now to let our voices be heard.

Please Contact your Elected Officials now:
Renville County Commissioners
Sibley County Commissioners
City Council Members 

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