SANFORD — City officials say the design for SanfordNet Fiber is complete and the request for proposals to build the system is poised for release in early March.

City Manger Steve Buck told the Sanford City Council in his manager’s report Tuesday that the final design, including design of the connections to all 85 community anchor institutions is complete.

High speed broadband, proponents say, is an essential tool to attract business and industry from the Route 128 Massachusetts corridor and beyond.

SanfordNet Fiber — a 10-gig, 45-mile, municipal high-speed fiber optic network project — has been in the works for the past couple of years. It was developed with the thought that Sanford, which was not part of the 3-ring binder project designed to connect underserved parts of Maine, would build its own.

Sanford is building an open access, non-discriminatory project. That means, once the network is built, the city will set rates to lease space to other networks, and they, in turn, will roll it out to homeowners and others.

The estimated $1.5 million project is financed with $769,000 from the sale of the former Emerson School property on Main Street and through a matching $769,000 grant from the federal Economic Development Administration.

Sanford will own the system, and GWI, a Maine-owned, Biddeford-based internet service provider, will operate it.

A study conducted for the city in 2014 by Tilson Technology Management found that a new, high speed broadband system has the potential to inject $47 million to $192 million into Sanford’s economy over the next decade.

Buck told the council that all of the pole permits, conduit permits, Maine Turnpike Authority crossing permits, railroad crossing permits and other required permits have been obtained.

He said the construction request for proposals, or RFP, and other documents have been sent to the EDA for review and authorization.

“Vendors have been inquiring about an RFP release date,” he said.

He’s looking for an early March release, with substantial completion anticipated by September.

Sanford Regional Economic Growth Council Director Jim Nimon said project proponents are  “keeping our chin up and pushing forward” to get the job done.

“We’ll be wicked pleased if the RPF is out by the first of March,” Nimon said.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.