Council eyes boosting internet access in city

In a work session with Cloquet city council members Tuesday, members of the Cloquet broadband committee shared their personal and professional experiences with internet access in Cloquet, with a common conclusion: It’s not good enough.

Their recommendation? Take the $300,000 the city has committed from America Rescue Plan Act funds and use that for an engineering study to identify a fiber system and costs for roughly $20,000, and use additional funds to secure and match larger grants that target broadband access.

All four committee members shared how the Covid-19 pandemic revealed the inequity...