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A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
The Thomson Township fire hall, garage and meeting hall will get an internet upgrade as supervisors agreed to seek a new provider after many glitches in online meetings the past few months.
Following months of spotty internet connectivity during board meetings during the Covid-19 pandemic, Thomson Township is investing in better broadband.
Since the state initially shut down community gatherings due to the pandemic, the board of supervisors has asked community members to attend virtually, either by calling in or using an online stream. The change has drawn attention to the Esko area's poor internet quality.
Township clerk and treasurer Rhonda Peleski said meetings have been marked by "participants dropped, issues with buffering, [and poor] connections." Depending on who was talking, sometimes only about half of the words in a sentence could be heard.
As a result, supervisors decided at an Aug. 6 meeting to change internet providers in an effort to bring better internet to the town hall, garage and fire hall. Better virtual access to meetings will allow training and safety sessions to take place in the garage and fire hall.
"We're working with the Northeast Service Cooperative from Mountain Iron," Peleski said. There is no timeline in place for how long it will take to switch to the new provider.
The cooperative's fiber network spans across eight counties in northeastern Minnesota including St. Louis, Lake, Cook, Koochiching, Carlton, Pine, Itasca, and Aitkin. It was designed to provide broadband to underserved and unserved areas.
The supervisors met Aug. 20 and heard from Matt Wilder of the Firefighters Relief Association, who proposed that pensions not be raised this year for the firefighters. The board listened to Wilder's presentation and took it into consideration.
Boy Scout Troop 152 leader Brent Hipp presented a plan for fundraising for the Esko group in "trying to find ways of bringing in funds without asking for donations."
"I want to hold a food truck festival," Hipp told the board. "Ideally, I would like to host it now."
But Hipp is aware of limitations on group numbers due to the pandemic response. He said placing a cap of 250 people might stay within guidelines.
Hipp was not looking for land use permission from the board. He was advised to prepare a proposal and present it at the next town hall meeting, scheduled for Sept. 3.
