11-20-13 wireless internet project

A project to bring wireless broadband to the rural areas of Fond du lac County is moving forward, but at a slower pace than first anticipated.  The Fond du Lac County board was apprised of the progress at their meeting Tuesday night…a year after giving the okay for the project.  County executive Al Buechel says the company has leases with the county for two towers and plans to construct a total of 12 towers.  But Buechel says the permit process has been slower than expected.  "In the town of Ashford, this was on a landfill site and there were concerns about contamination.  This whole process has taken longer unfortunately just to get approvals through the federal government, local government and through the DNR,"  Buechel told WFDL news.  "There's a lot of people involved, a lot of steps involved not to mention you have to find the property in the first place and you have to find a willing seller."  The company is using Midwestern Disaster Area revenue bonds to help finance the multi-million dollar project.  Buechel says there is a great need for reliable high speed Internet in the rural areas of the county.