Residents press county on broadband activation and meeting audio accessibility
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Residents asked when service will be activated in parts of the Sawyer/Chikaming area and raised complaints about the meeting sound system; Midwest Energy Communications said maps and construction updates are on its site and residents must sign up and pay a $100 hookup for service activation.
Residents used the meeting's public comment period to raise separate but civic issues: broadband activation in several rural areas and the public meeting's audio accessibility.
A commissioner relayed phone calls from residents around Sawyer, Chickaming and Weesaw who saw infrastructure in the ground but had no active service. Terry from Midwest Energy Communications (MEC) said the MEC website includes maps and construction updates and that residents must sign up on the MEC page with their contact information; once a resident signs up they will receive construction updates. "It is a a $100 hookup for the resident to connect to the property," Terry said. He explained that in some areas conduit and boxes are in place but fiber has not yet been pulled, and that a working hub or final equipment activation may not be in place yet.
Separately, resident Elder Hager criticized the meeting sound system and the commissioners'proximity to microphones, saying audience members could not hear. Staff offered headphones that are available for attendees to improve audibility at future meetings.