Cloquet offers broadband partnership

Broadband availability is a hot topic once again in Thomson township, with the Cloquet broadband committee seeking to include an underserved area of the township in their proposal to provide better broadband options to more households in Carlton County.

Township clerk Rhonda Peleski told the Thomson Township board of supervisors about the opportunity to join in on the project at their meeting Thursday, July 7.

According to Peleski, the city of Cloquet has partnered with telecommunications service provider CTC to prepare and find funding to provide more broadband opportunities. The partnership has put forward $500,000 to cover the project, but is still looking to secure further funding through a grant. Peleski told the board that the city of Cloquet believes that their grant application would be stronger if they included the underserved northwestern portion of Thomson township in the project. This area includes around 150 households.

The grant application is due at the beginning of August, but the board decided to take time to review the specifics of the project and get feedback from the community before making any decisions and, ultimately, pledging money toward the project.

John Bergman, a resident of northeastern Thomson township, had a message for the board about broadband coverage in the township.

In a letter Bergman wrote to the board, read aloud by board chairperson Ruth Janke, Bergman reminded the board of a similar proposal from CTC during a project with rural Proctor and Midway township in March of 2022. According to Bergman, this project sought to include the northeastern portion of the township, an area he feels is also underserved by broadband opportunities.

Bergman claimed that the northeastern portion of the township seems to get treated as an “orphan stepchild” during township politics.

Township deputy clerk and treasurer Leah Pykkonen told board and community members in attendance of the meeting that the township was never contacted by CTC during its project with Proctor and Midway township. The board had no further follow-up about the northeastern portion of the township, but will continue to discuss the proposal regarding the northwestern portion at their next meeting.

In other business, the board approved a few electrical projects for the fire hall in Esko. The main project includes a new automatic generator system, to replace the portable generator that the department has used in the past. Along with the generator system, the department will improve some plugs that were cited as problems by OSHA and light switch/sensor systems.

Although the 2021 audit and matters concerning the Cloquet Area Fire District were listed as new business on the agenda for the meeting, the board declined to discuss them since the township’s lawyer, David Pritchett, was not in attendance. The new business will remain on the agenda for the next meeting.

The board meets on the first and third Thursday of each month.