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Regional report: Little interest in joint Wi-Fi project
By Greg Stanmar
gregstanmar@insightbb.com
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STREATOR — Wi-Fi, the freeway of universal Internet access, has hit a bump in the road in LaSalle and Livingston counties while Streator and Pontiac officials try to resolve how best to provide the service.

Wi-Fi has become popular for some communities by providing wireless hookups to the Internet from virtually anywhere in town, much as currently exists for some businesses and coffee shops.

Former Streator City Manager John Kolata at one time envisioned cooperation from a number of area communities to make the service attractive to a private provider. The new city manager, Paul Nicholson, also likes the idea, but it has been difficult to find other communities that share his enthusiasm.

An initial meeting of communities interested resulted in only three towns being represented, including Streator and Pontiac.

“I don’t know if it was bad timing or something else,” Nicholson said. There will be one more meeting with area communities and with a Northern Illinois University consultant before deciding the next course of action.

“We don’t know what we want and what we can afford. Right now we’re in a holding pattern,” Nicholson said.

If it turns out only Streator is interested in Wi-Fi, then a feasibility study will have to be done to determine what the community wants and the cost of those services. The capability may eventually only be available for places like the library, schools and city hall.

Pontiac would also like to be part of a Wi-Fi cooperative, but that may not happen, City Administrator Bob Karls said.

“It seems like everyone’s needs are different and it is difficult to find common ground,” Karls said.

School sharing: The grade and high schools districts in Streator will meet in June to find other ways to share expenses. A joint curriculum director already has been implemented, saving money for both districts.

On again, off again: The Streator High School board has made several changes in recent months over how best to avoid several valedictorians.

The latest change last week will mean one valedictorian and one salutatorian, each a straight-A student.

After six students had straight-A grade point averages several years ago, the GPA was carried to several decimal points to eliminate that happening again. A change from that policy has been made and rescinded several times this year.

City hall hours: Streator is trying a new summer schedule that will provide service for more daylight hours and a half-day Friday. Beginning Tuesday and continuing through Labor Day, city hall will open one hour earlier, at 7:30 a.m., and close at 5 p.m. The exception is Fridays, when it will close at 1 p.m.

The summer hours will be evaluated to see if the practice will continue in coming years.

Wind turbine: The $450,000 wind turbine state grant request for Woodland in South Streator has been held up until more data can be collected.

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