City to go high tech

Two weeks ago, the City of Milledgeville was awarded $862,500 from the Wireless Communities Georgia Program to help establish a wireless network throughout the city.
“I think it is great that Milledgeville will be able to make downtown wireless. How can this not be positive?” said Paul Grigsby, a junior English major. “I hope it sets an example for the rest of the state. It’s a great idea and I love it.”
Governor Sonny Perdue proposed the program earlier this year and the Georgia General Assembly allowed $4 million to fund the project.
Milledgeville, along with 17 other communities across the state, submitted a strenuous application by July 21 of this year. Only six of those communities received funding and Milledgeville received the most.
One of the major parts of the criteria of the application was the number of state agencies that are within the communities. Milledgeville is full of state institutions such as GCSU, Georgia Military College and several branches of the Department of Corrections and Veteran Services.
Mayor Richard Bentley said this really helped Milledgeville receive the money.
“I think that the fact we would be able to serve so many people as far as state agencies and others that were interested helped garner that money for us,” Bentley said. The “others that were interested” are the Oconee Regional Medical Center, the Milledgeville Police Department and other emergency responders who could use the technology for communications and research in the field.
Bentley also said that the Governor’s decision made the city of Milledgeville look better to surrounding communities.
“I think it’s great for us,” Bentley said. “ This certainly puts us in a leadership position with our peer cities. The governor, with the advice of the committee, made this decision, and to me, that speaks volumes, as far as Milledgeville is concerned.”
The announcement came at the beginning of the month. The city will receive the money in a lump sum and have two years to use the grant money to install the wireless networks, Bentley said.
Milledgeville City Planner Russell Thompson said the next step would be drawing up a technical plan for the city’s wireless network and then opening the door to vendors to come bid on installing the equipment.
It seems like a long process, but Thompson said that, even though there is no specific time frame for the project, the City is moving strongly.
“GTA (Georgia Technology Authority) wants a pretty aggressive movement on our part,” Thompson said. “All I can tell you is that the balls are moving and we’re ready to go.”
The City hopes to utilize the wireless network in the downtown, historic district and industrial areas of the city.
Bentley said that he particularly wanted students, from both GCSU and GMC, to be able to use the technology.
“I like the idea of a student being able to leave the campus and still be connected to whomever they wish and be able to download information,” Bentley said.
Another upside to the wireless network is being able to use it as an economic growth tool. Having a large wireless area in the city will help attract more businesses.
Bentley is happy with just making the city an innovative place to be.
“It shows the potential this community has to be a leader in the state,” Bentley said.
Other communities to receive wireless grants are Augusta, Decatur, Dublin, Gwinnett County and Thomasville.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 20 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry