County Looks For Broadband Grant

By Reagan ConnellyOn Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at the Jefferson County Commissioners’ meeting, Loren Duerksen and Randy Sandman of Diode, discussed broadband expansion with the commissioners.County commissioners have made broadband expansion a high priority, believing it necessary to provide economic advancement for the county and to encourage citizens to remain in the county who might otherwise leave for job opportunities by offering increased options for telecommuting.Sandman said that Diode has been working on a grant from the state of Nebraska to put towards expanding broadband.The application must be completed before July 1, but it is a long process and final decisions on the grants won’t be made until December 6, Sandman said.However, this period allows for any competing services who already serve the intended area to object to and challenge the expansion.Sandman said he doesn’t expect any challenges as the grant is only intended to service areas without any service currently.The areas covered by this expansion include areas south and west of Plymouth and areas south and east of Jansen. This will cover 46 miles and a total of 103 rural citizens of Jefferson County.The total project is estimated to cost around $1.468 million; the grant would cover 55 percent of that cost.“Our partnership would be 22.5 percent each. The 22.5 percent from Jefferson County would be the Arca funds that are earmarked for broadband expansion,” Sandman said.Sandman is optimistic the expansion will go smoothly. “We don’t have any concerns about any delays or anything like that, but again there’s plenty of time from when the application is filed until it’s approved for if there are any objectors or current providers to object to it.”Though it is impossible to tell if the prices will be the same when the project begins, Sandman said that is a risk they have to be willing to take. However, the $1.468 million estimation is simply the absolute maximum the expansion is expected to cost.“All we need right now from the Commission is a commitment to take that risk,” Sandman said.Sandman is confident they will get the grant, “I think we’ve dotted every ‘I’ and crossed every ‘T’ that we can,” he said.

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