Star Journal

Top Menu

  • Contact Us
  • Hodag Star Journal E-Edition
  • Subscribe

Main Menu

  • Local
    • News
    • Business
    • Schools
    • Law & Order
    • Arts & Ent
    • Wedding Planner
    • Viewpoint
    • Sports
      • Sports News
      • High School Sports Scores
  • Covid 19
  • Outdoors
  • Wellness
  • Classifieds
  • Obits
  • Lake View
  • Northwoods NOW
  • Living On The Lake
  • Contact Us
  • Hodag Star Journal E-Edition
  • Subscribe

logo

Star Journal

  • Local
    • News
    • Business
    • Schools
    • Law & Order
    • Arts & Ent
    • Wedding Planner
    • Viewpoint
    • Sports
      • Sports News
      • High School Sports Scores
  • Covid 19
  • Outdoors
  • Wellness
  • Classifieds
  • Obits
  • Lake View
  • Northwoods NOW
  • Living On The Lake
LocalNews
Home›Local›County Board commits another $30,000 for broadband expansion

County Board commits another $30,000 for broadband expansion

By Star Journal
June 21, 2017
642
0
Share:
Dave Noel urges the Oneida County Board at Tuesday's meeting to commit $30,000 in matching funds for seeking a state grant to expand broadband service in the county. Photo by Kevin Boneske

Money designated for possible matching funds in grant application

BY KEVIN BONESKE

REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER

The Oneida County Board agreed Tuesday to commit $30,000 in its 2018 budget as available matching funds for a state Public Service Commission (PSC) rural broadband grant.

Supervisors, who agreed to support the county Broadband Development Committee’s grant application, heard from committee member Dave Noel of Sugar Camp on the details to expand broadband (high-speed Internet) service in the county with the grant.

To expand broadband service in the rural areas of the county, Noel noted the committee the past four years has worked with a local Internet service provider, Northwoods Connect, which provides service using fixed wireless delivery.

To date, Noel reported the system has 13 tower sites with seven operational and six under development with the project costing $491,986 with close to half of those funds in grant money from the state PSC. He noted the project was awarded around $180,000 in grant money last year.

“The grants require a match,” he said. “(The PSC doesn’t) tell you how much match you have to have, but we’ve come to learn that if you don’t have at least 50 percent of funds to match it, you’re not going to get the grant.”

To expand the broadband system’s footprint, which includes 9,278 households and businesses with 244 current home subscribers and 34 current business subscribers, Noel said five more tower sites are being proposed for the county in the grant application due the end of June.

The expansion plan calls for adding tower sites in Lake Tomahawk (town of Lake Tomahawk), Sugar Camp Chain (towns of Sugar Camp and Newbold), Malvern (town of Pelican), Pelican Lake (towns of Schoepke and Enterprise) and Pelican Lake East (town of Schoepke).

Given the $1.5 million now available in grant money, Noel said the grant application will seek $102,000 from the state PSC with $120,500 in matching funds for a total project cost of $222,500.

“We can’t continue to grow this system that is so important to the county and so important to our rural residents without support from the towns and the county and, in many cases, local businesses,” he said. “It’s a key service…. In order to continue we need at least a little bit of support from the county as we move forward.”

In addition to the $30,000 in matching funds from the county for the grant application, Noel noted $52,500 is being sought from the towns to be serviced, $7,500 from local lake associations, $3,000 from local businesses and $35,000 from Northwoods Connect.

Being that each tower provides broadband service out to a 4-5 mile radius away from a tower site, Noel said the addition of the five towers called for in the grant application would expand the coverage area to 2,665 households and 526 businesses.

The county provided a total of $23,670 in matching funds for the two grants previously received for the broadband system. Though supervisors supported another $30,000 in matching funds for the latest grant application, they debated whether to take money currently in the general fund or budget money in 2018 for that purpose, based on whether committing funds the county currently has would make it more likely to receive the grant.

County finance director Darcy Smith urged supervisors to include the matching funds in the 2018 budget, noting that continually taking money out of the general fund, which was also called for elsewhere on Tuesday’s agenda, could negatively affect the county’s bond rating.

“When we start taking money out throughout the year not through the budget process, we run the risk of affecting our bond rating, so that’s why I would say that we would wait until 2018, as a part of the 2018 budget process,” Smith said.

Given supervisors had no definitive answer as to whether taking money out of the general fund would improve the chances of getting the grant, they agreed to budgeting in 2018 for the matching funds, would could be carried over for future use if the grant wasn’t awarded for the broadband project.

TagsBroadband InternetFeaturedOneida County Board
Previous Article

County Board favors adding deputy for better ...

Next Article

The joys of childhood summers

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • Latest News

    National Day of Prayer focuses on unity    

    May 3, 2018
    By StarJournal
  • BusinessFeaturedNews

    Oneida County Board rejects buying Foster and Smith property

    April 17, 2019
    By StarJournal
  • LocalNews

    Rhinelander City Council to have contested race in District 4

    December 21, 2017
    By Star Journal
  • BusinessNews

    A fresh start

    June 30, 2017
    By StarJournal
  • Outdoors

    Outdoor Adventures: From small things big things come

    June 27, 2015
    By StarJournal
  • LocalNews

    Bark for Life event planned for Aug. 27

    August 19, 2016
    By StarJournal

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

About Us


Star Journal is published by Multi Media Channels LLC, N2919 County Road QQ Waupaca, WI 54981.

Timeline

  • January 15, 2021

    Chamber credits programs for increased local spending

  • January 14, 2021

    Sign up available for DHS newsletters on COVID, vaccine

  • January 14, 2021

    Hodags dominate in the Lakeland pool

  • January 14, 2021

    Hodag girls win two this week

  • January 14, 2021

    Girls Hockey: Northern Edge hosts Northland Pines

Find us on Facebook

  • Contact Us
  • Hodag Star Journal E-Edition
  • Subscribe
Copyright © 2020 Multi Media Channels LLC.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted without the prior written consent of Multi Media Channels LLC.
×