OLDS — Mayor Judy Dahl expects that more “information-sharing” on the future of O-NET and the municipally-controlled corporation that oversees it will come in the new year.
She’s just not yet sure what that future will be.
In 2021, the town council of the day voted to turn Olds Fibre Ltd., which oversaw O-NET into a municipally-controlled corporation (MCC).
O-NET is a locally-owned company provides high-speed internet as well as phone and TV service. It was the brainchild of local businesspeople and volunteers.
The municipality is looking at an MCC as a way to solve a big problem: debt and a line of credit totalling $18 million.
The Town of Olds incurred $14 million worth of debt and a $4 million line of credit to help Olds Fibre Ltd. finance the installation of fibre optic lines in the community.
In a news release, the town said it had little choice but to create an MCC because it said there’s just not enough projected revenue to cover loan and principal costs.
During a closed-door meeting on Aug. 26, receiver David Lewis of BDO Canada Limited presented council with the summation of a report listing four main options to solve that problem, ranging from formal insolvency to refinancing or selling the assets outright.
In a couple of those options, it was estimated it could take as long as 28 to 30 years to pay off those debts.
However, council was told that advantages of an MCC could include enabling OIds Institute/Olds Fibre Ltd. to keep operating in some form.
This past fall, a new town council was elected – including Dahl. The future of O-NET/Olds Fibre Ltd. was a huge issue during that election.
A public hearing on a proposal to place OIds Institute -- which over saw Olds Fibre Ltd. -- into receivership and turn it into an MCC attracted a huge crowd which packed council chambers.
Many of those people spoke passionately about their desire to find a solution that kept the service in local hands.
During a year-end interview, Dahl was asked what will happen with the MCC and O-NET specifically.
"The new council’s getting familiar with the corporation, I think we’ve done a very good job of that -- to determine the steps for 2022,” Dahl said. "I believe that there will be more information-sharing coming in the new year.”
Dahl was asked if the assets of O-NET will be sold and if it will remain locally-owned and controlled in some way.
“That is the question that I don’t have facts on, no, I’m sorry,” she said.
But she expressed hope that more information on its future will come out early in the new year.
