The second phase of the expansion project will bring high-speed broadband to communities in East Central, Northeast, South Central and Southeast Lee County.
At Monday’s meeting, the Lee County Commission voted to move forward with the next phase of the Lee County Broadband Expansion Grant Program. Up to $3.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded to Lee County will go toward this program.
In 2023, the commission approved a motion to allocate a total of $4.3 million for broadband expansion. More than $984,400 of these funds went to projects in Salem, South Central and Lochapoca.
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County Executive Holly Leverett said these projects helped the county identify other areas in need of services.
“Through that process and through the public communication we receive, it appears there are more areas in Lee County that are unserved or underserved,” Leverett said. “We are still identifying these areas on maps of different project areas where there is need. But there is no definitive map that covers the entire state where projects are underway.”
The photo above is a map of broadband access throughout Lee County, including the Phase 1 project area and other proposed areas. No specific projects or roads have been identified at this time. These are just the areas the Lee County Commission asked internet service providers to look into.
Provided by Sain Associates and the Lee County Commission
District 5 Commissioner Richard Ragland Sr. voted against the item Monday, and it passed on a 4-1 vote.
Applications for the Phase 2 grant program are currently being accepted on the Lee County website and the proposed project areas are East Central, Northeast, South Central and Southeast areas of Lee County. According to the funding notice attached to each project, each project “requires the construction of broadband infrastructure to provide reliable service at speeds of at least 100 Mbps download speed and 20 Mbps upload speed.” Masu.
Leverett said Lee County will work with the ISPs that win the grant to identify areas of need along with the county’s priority areas. Leverett said the IAC has created a new application at this stage, providing a copy of a map marking the county’s priority areas, but not simply listing projects the county would like to implement.
“So they will get creative and submit to us areas beyond what we recommend they consider. And we will work with Thayne Associates to ensure that they are in the service.” We will determine if they truly meet the Treasury Department guidelines for being underserved or underserved,” Leverett said. “My hope is that by our last meeting in June, we will be ready to award the remaining Phase 2 projects.”
Applications must be submitted by May 10th. At this time, the county has not identified any specific projects or roads.
Leverett said the county cannot respond because it is due to the RDOF program, a federal grant program that impacts rural areas that are considered unserved or underserved by the federal government. He added that there are several areas. She said the federal government funded her ISP for her RDOF project, which means the county cannot use her ARPA funds in these areas.
Leverett said the county won’t be able to spend the entire $3.4 million in the second phase, giving it time to move to Plan B or find a way to contract the funds before the end of the year. Counties must commit to ARPA funds by the end of 2024.
Other commissioned work
At the start of Monday’s meeting, Environmental Services Director John McDonald announced that Lee County will participate in Alabama PALS’ 2024 spring cleanup event, “Don’t Drop on Alabama.” The event will continue throughout April and will focus on cleaning up trash along the roads.
This event is a statewide effort. Anyone interested in participating in the program or looking for more information should contact the Lee County Department of Environmental Services at 334-737-7013.
The Committee approved two resolutions formally designating the ARPA Revenue Replacement Fund to the project. The first was the designation of a total of $1 million from the ARPA Revenue Replacement Fund to the Garbage Disposal Fund 140. According to the memorandum, this $1 million is needed to offset additional costs incurred due to a significant increase in the volume of collection sites during the waste disposal period. Pandemic.
The second resolution formally designated $250,000 in revenue replacement funds for the design and construction of Dojoupoka Park.
The Committee voted to approve updates to the FEMA Flood Damage Prevention Resolution to more effectively address the need for compliant floodplain development. Architect Eric Parten said the resolution shouldn’t have much of an impact on his department because it’s already doing what the resolution calls for.
The commission approved designating up to $43,287 to the ARPA Local Tribal Integrity Fund (LTCF) to cover the cost of updating the second floor courtroom cameras at the Lee County Justice Center. The approval includes a contract with DPS Group for work on the second floor project. The county has a total of $100,000 in LTCF funding, and the ground floor project proposal will be presented to the commission for approval as construction progresses.
The commission approved bids for more than 14 Chevrolet Tahoe emergency equipment units for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. The winning bid was made by Mobile Communications America for $148,127.
The committee unanimously tabled three issues before its next meeting, the first of which was an update on the planning director position. Former Planning Director Joel Hubbard retired Dec. 31, according to a memorandum in the committee’s agenda packet. County Engineer Justin Hardy asked the commission to add this item to the next meeting, which was unanimously tabled.
The commission also provided updated information on Lee County’s field rental fees. Lee County Parks and Rec sets rental rates for recreational leagues that want to use its fields, but the department recently received an inquiry from a 501c3 nonprofit about discount rates.
The Committee resolved to raise the matter so that detailed information regarding the specific request could be obtained. Hardy said the commission passed the fee schedule in November 2020, but discounted fees for nonprofits were not considered at that time.
The commission submitted a proposal from Leverett to update ProWatch access control technology to county buildings. Current electronic boards, cards and software are obsolete and parts will not be available if they break down, the memorandum said. This can pose a security risk to the building and current technology is not compatible with modern technology.
Leverett explained during the meeting that the department discovered a problem during construction of the Highway Department’s new building and that the commission had two options. Option one is to implement the changes in stages as the changes fail, and option two is to update all changes. With the current system, this process takes approximately 12 days in total. The new technology will also be installed in the Highways Department building. Option one is to install outdated technology in the Highway Department building.
Option 1 would cost $162,455 and Option 2 would cost $321,178, Leverett said. Leverett said he found out about the 2024 budget after it was passed and only recently received an estimate.
The Committee also resolved to hold a working meeting to discuss outstanding issues on April 8 at 4:00 p.m., one hour before its next meeting. The next Lee County Commission meeting is scheduled for April 8 at 5 p.m. at the Lee County Courthouse.
