Explore the vast range of titles available.

Randy Gschwind, the city's point person on the project, told a Common Council committee that the project has faced technical issues and bureaucratic ones. He said that Milwaukee-based Midwest Fiber Networks continues to work to get the system built. Gschwind noted that the city is mainly in a role of facilitating the project, which is being paid for by Midwest Fiber Networks and its backers. In fact, the city derives some financial benefit from the deal, such as for the placement of cables in the city's underground conduit system and antennas on street lights and other city-owned structures. Other companies could pursue a similar deal.

\"You really can't tell how a network will perform until you turn it up,\" said Cheri Grainger, a Midwest Fiber vice president. Grainger said Friday that \"under current procedures, meeting the March 2008 deadline is not a feasible option.\" \"By Saturday, it has to be up and operational,\" [Randy Gschwind] said. \"We have to define what 'operational' is.\"

Randy Gschwind, the city's point person on the project, told a Common Council committee that the project has faced technical issues and bureaucratic ones. He said that Milwaukee-based Midwest Fiber Networks continues to work to get the system built. \"I admit to some wild-eyed optimism at the beginning as to how quickly it would go,\" said Gschwind, who later added: \"This has been a long, slow slog. We're going to get there. I promise we will get there.\" Gschwind noted that the city is mainly in a role of facilitating the project, which is being paid for by Midwest Fiber Networks and its backers. In fact, the city derives some financial benefit from the deal, such as for the placement of cables in the city's underground conduit system and antennas on street lights and other city-owned structures. Other companies could pursue a similar deal.

Barring last-minute legal hang-ups, the first part of the Wi-Fi system should be operating by the fall, said Randy Gschwind, the city's chief information officer. The rest of the city would have access to the wireless network by the end of 2007. With attorneys still reviewing final documents Friday evening, Gschwind declined to name the company that would provide those financial guarantees. Nor was he able to identify the Internet service providers that have agreed to work with Midwest Fiber. Other companies will be able to build competing Wi-Fi networks. But to prevent competitors from \"cherry-picking\" the most desirable neighborhoods, Midwest Fiber's network must be in place before another company can set up its network in any area, Gschwind said.

One key stumbling block has been City Comptroller W. Martin \"Wally\" Morics' insistence that a larger company provide financial guarantees that the network would be completed if Midwest Fiber Networks could not finish the job, [Randy Gschwind] said. Gschwind said, however, that city officials remained hopeful that negotiations with Midwest Fiber Networks could be concluded within a week to 10 days. A lengthy debate on beefing up police staffing ended inconclusively, when the council delayed action for a month. Before reaching that point, aldermen first transformed a measure to spend $750,000 on hiring 40 more officers into a measure to spend the same sum on police overtime, then turned it into a measure to do both, then amended it to make hiring the officers dependent on a staffing study that may not be finished for months.

City officials hope to meet with Milwaukee-based Midwest Fiber Networks today to review their business plan, and more negotiating could happen Wednesday, said Randy Gschwind, the city's chief information officer. The city's initial proposal was valued at about $500,000 a year and included payment into a fund for helping low-income people get computers, as well as 50 free sites for anyone tapping into the system and other considerations. Gschwind said discussions now may shift to tying compensation to a scale, so that it would rise as the network is up and the company is able to generate profits.

And officials say they've prepared for any possible Y2K problems by making sure important systems will continue to operate once the calendar flips to Jan. 1, 2000. The league, which has 567 members including all 190 cities in Wisconsin, has offered workshops for city and village managers explaining how to ensure that systems are Y2K-compliant. In Milwaukee, officials are finalizing a plan to deal with any Y2K problems that arrive with the new year. The effort so far has focused on testing and fixing computer systems to eliminate, or at least minimize, any problems.

One key stumbling block has been City Comptroller W. Martin \"Wally\" Morics' insistence that a larger company provide financial guarantees that the network would be completed if Midwest Fiber Networks could not finish the job, [Randy Gschwind] said. Gschwind said, however, that city officials remained hopeful that negotiations with Midwest Fiber Networks could be concluded within a week to 10 days. A lengthy debate on beefing up police staffing ended inconclusively, when the council delayed action for a month. Before reaching that point, aldermen first transformed a measure to spend $750,000 on hiring 40 more officers into a measure to spend the same sum on police overtime, then turned it into a measure to do both, then amended it to make hiring the officers dependent on a staffing study that may not be finished for months.

The most recent target date for finishing the much-delayed system was March 2008. But Midwest Fiber already has signaled it probably couldn't make that target. On Wednesday, city computer chief Randy Gschwind told the Common Council's Public Works Committee that the network likely couldn't be complete until fall 2009. In an interview, Ald. Michael Murphy said city officials should seek other companies instead of Midwest Fiber because \"their promises have not been kept.\" The demonstration area, bounded roughly by I-43, U.S. Highway 41 and W. Canal and W. Vliet streets, is divided between Murphy's west side district and Ald. Robert Bauman's downtown district. Midwest Fiber is in talks with an unnamed Internet service provider to serve as the \"anchor tenant\" for the system, but that company also is evaluating the financial viability of the system, [Nik Ivancevic] and [Donna Raffaelli-Meyer] said. In other cities with Wi-Fi systems, city governments have agreed to be \"anchor tenants\" by using the networks for their own wireless business, guaranteeing a revenue stream to the companies building the systems, Gschwind said.

The most recent target date for finishing the much-delayed system was March 2008. But Midwest Fiber already has signaled it probably couldn't make that target. On Wednesday, city computer chief Randy Gschwind told the Common Council's Public Works Committee that the network likely couldn't be complete until fall 2009. In an interview, Ald. Michael Murphy said city officials should seek other companies instead of Midwest Fiber because \"their promises have not been kept.\" The demonstration area, bounded roughly by I-43, U.S. Highway 41 and W. Canal and W. Vliet streets, is divided between Murphy's west side district and Ald. Robert Bauman's downtown district. Midwest Fiber is in talks with an unnamed Internet service provider to serve as the \"anchor tenant\" for the system, but that company also is evaluating the financial viability of the system, [Nik Ivancevic] and [Donna Raffaelli-Meyer] said. In other cities with Wi-Fi systems, city governments have agreed to be \"anchor tenants\" by using the networks for their own wireless business, guaranteeing a revenue stream to the companies building the systems, Gschwind said.