After nearly a decade of discussions, Wilson, S.C., officials finally got a chance Wednesday to see their vision of a city-operated cable television system come to life.

City Council members were given a private tour Wednesday afternoon of the technical hub of Wilson's new Greenlight services, which will begin selling phone, Internet and cable services to city residents later this year.

Afterwards, several invited guests were also allowed to tour the 9,000-square-foot facility, which is part of the city's Operations Center on Herring Avenue. News cameras were not allowed inside most of the facility.

Visitors on the tour saw the head-end room, where Internet and television signals come into the building and are routed to subscribers, in a room lined with row after row of server racks. They also saw a demonstration of the optical network terminals that will be attached to subscribers' homes to distribute the television, telephone and data signals and the four-bay garage where maintenance vehicles will be housed.

In the NOC (pronounced "knock") or Network Operations Center, visitors saw the room where employees will monitor signals 24 hours a day and will be alerted about any network problems.

The new fiber facility cost about $800,000 to build and is an addition to the existing operations center.

City officials were effusive in their praise after the tour.

"I feel like I'm floating on Cloud Nine," Mayor Bruce Rose said at the reception. "This is a great day for the city of Wilson."

Councilman James Johnson III noted that City Council had first set aside money in the late 1990s to begin its own cable TV system. That idea morphed in recent years into a fiber-optic system that would allow all city residents access to the three services.

But all that talk became real Wednesday.

"Really, it hit me in the face when I drove up and saw the building," Johnson said. "Seeing what was inside, I was blown away."

"I was just amazed," Councilwoman Doris Jones said. "I don't know the words to express how I felt."

Councilman A.P. Coleman added, "I know just enough about electronics that I can appreciate the importance of it. ... I can hardly wait for it to start hitting the homes."

The city is already providing fiber-optic services to some businesses, including BB&T and the Wilson Times Co. It will begin selling residential services this year, but a launch date has not been set, said Dathan Shows, the city's technical services director.

The city also has not yet decided on its pricing and packaging for the services yet, Shows said. Officials have always contended the city services would be priced near, if not below, those offered by private providers.

The Internet service, via fiber-optic lines, is expected to be much faster than the DSL and cable service that has been sold here.

City Manager Grant Goings said, "The residents of Wilson will soon have an infrastructure that's among the best not only in the U.S. but in the world."

"Because we deserve it!," Councilwoman Gwen Burton chimed in.

Burton added that the cable television discussions began as Wilson officials had sought to make the city "a destination of choice." Council members had wanted to have the infrastructure and amenities that would help the city grow to more than 50,000 in population, she said.

"We wanted to raise the quality of life here," she said. "Seeing this is very gratifying, but it's just a beginning."

Wednesday's public reception was paid for by Uptown Services, which is the consulting firm the city paid $40,000 to develop the business plan for the fiber network.

The fiber-optic system, which could take three years to reach all areas of the city, is expected to cost $28 million when completed. The city's financial plan calls for that money to be repaid through subscribers' fees. Officials hope to recoup the investment in 12 years. No tax dollars are supposed to be used for the system.