Essex County Council will move ahead with a project to improve high-speed internet, despite the misgivings of some around the table.
Kingsville Deputy Mayor Gord Queen calls it a significant investment at $1.1-million over five years. The county will have to pay almost $700,000 up front, and he was looking for assurances the project would be subject to all the checks and balances.
"I want to make sure we are going to get exactly what we're paying for," he said. "I did not have a comfort level to make sure that we were getting exactly what we were paying for."
Mayor Nelson Santos echoed the same concerns. He called the motion risky and premature without more information, but after some discussion and a new motion, he was satisfied council would not be investing blindly.
"We're going to be able to see measurables coming forward, continued updates, see an actual map of what that infrastructure will look like," said Santos.
The Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology project is expected to make Internet service more accessible and faster across the county. Councillors all agreed it is important for continued economic growth.
The county could be refunded the costs paid up front.
Work on the first phase of the project is expected to start next year or early 2019 and will cost more than $270-million. Senior governments have already pledged $180-million, and 18 municipal partners will split $20-million of the cost.
- With files from Paul Pedro
