Tag Archive for: #arpa

Franklin Continues Expansion Of Broadband Network

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-information courtesy of Franklin County Public Information Officer James Hicks

 

The Franklin County board of commissioners approved in May spending more than $430,000 to get a matching grant from Brightspeed to bring high-speed internet service to more than 1,400 homes throughout the county.

The money – $437,650 – will be coupled with $437,651 from Brightspeed as part of a $4 million Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant Phase II, according to information from Franklin Public Information Officer James Hicks.

The county will use ARPA funds to fulfill its commitment.

“This is an important milestone to celebrate,” said Franklin County Manager Kim Denton. “Five and a half years ago, the County began very focused efforts to improve broadband access and that work continues to move forward.”

Increased broadband access expands opportunities for education, healthcare, economic development and personal enrichment and entrepreneurship.

The locations of this deployment are in areas around Franklinton, Youngsville, to the east and north of Louisburg and in several areas along Highway 401 near Royal and to the west of Bunn.

A previous $3.9 million GREAT Grant – Phase I – provided high-speed fiber internet to nearly 2,000 homes in underserved areas of Franklin County. That project deployed fiber internet to 1,978 homes in the unincorporated areas of Franklinton, Centerville, Wood, Justice, Bunn, Green Hill, Laurel Mill, Montgomery, Firetower, NC 561, NC 56 East, Alert and Perry.

GREAT grants, established by N.C. legislature and awarded by N.C. Broadband Infrastructure Office, are provided to private broadband service providers to “facilitate the deployment of broadband service to unserved areas of North Carolina,” according to the Broadband Office’s website. For more information, please visit https://www.ncbroadband.gov/grants/great-grant.

Franklin County residents can find out more about broadband efforts in the County and see a map by visiting https://www.franklincountync.gov/community/broadband.php

 

Granville To Bring High-Speed Internet To Underserved Areas Of County

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Granville County Board of Commissioners have finalized a partnership with Brightspeed and the NC Department of Information Technology to provide high-speed fiber internet access to close to 2,000 homes and businesses in rural spots across the county.

Through the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant Program, Brightspeed will have two years to install internet infrastructure capable of providing fiber internet service to the approved locations. The NC GREAT Grant award totaled $4 million, and Granville County will use ARPA funds to kick in 20 percent of the more than $6.67 million project cost.

County leaders and elected officials continue to find ways to increase access to reliable internet service throughout the county.

State laws prohibit county and city governments from installing or providing internet infrastructure, but partnerships with internet service providers are allowed..

Board of Commissioners Chair Russ May said this project is a good start to provide more high-speed access to county residents. “Much like water or electric service, high-speed internet access is an essential utility for daily life, and we are thankful that the State of North Carolina chose to dedicate a significant portion of their ARPA funding to this project,” May said.

The areas served by this project are concentrated on the outskirts of Oxford, in western Granville County around  the Berea and Culbreth communities, and the northern Granville County communities of Cornwall, Oak Hill, Gela and Grassy Creek.

To view a full map of addresses served, click here: https://www.granvillecounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GREAT-Grant-Broadband-Infrastructure-Project-Locations-20230126.pdf

Vance County Logo

Town Talk: More On ARPA Funds, Jail and other items of County Interest

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Cities and counties across the country are figuring out just how to spend their part of the unprecedented $1.9 trillion in federal aid coming through the American Rescue Plan Act’s COVID-19 relief effort.

Vance County’s share is just more than $8.5 million, and county leaders are way ahead of the 2024 deadline to decide where those funds will be used: it’s all being allocated as “revenue replacement, which provides flexibility and allows the county to use the funds for general government purposes,” explained County Manager Jordan McMillen.

Of that total amount, about $2 million is earmarked for Phase 1B of the county’s water system, another $350,000 will be used to replace security doors and locks at the detention center and $347,000 was earmarked to pay employees premium pay back in February 2022, McMillen told WIZS News. The health department is set to get $250,000 as well.

All that doesn’t add up to the total slice of the trillion-dollar pie that’s promised to the county, but the infusion of ARPA funds into the county’s general fund should mean that next month’s scheduled audit presentation will show a fairly large surplus, he said.

McMillen said he expects that those surplus funds will be moved into the capital expense funds, which will allow the county to hold onto that money for future capital expenditures like a new EMS station, future needs at the county jail and more.

 

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TownTalk: Update On ARPA Funds

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The American Rescue Plan is infusing money – lots of money – into communities across the nation, one of the federal government’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the waves of economic havoc it has created over the past several years.

Marley Spencer, a regional project manager who works with Kerr-Tar COG, is someone who can help figure out how to best use the money allocated to various municipalities across the five-county region.

According to Spencer, Vance County is getting roughly $8.5 million in ARPA money; Granville County is set to receive $11.7 million and Franklin County is getting about $13.5 million of the $1.9 trillion – with a T – in ARPA funds.

She discussed with John C. Rose on Wednesday’s TownTalk some of the short-range and long-range planning that is involved in putting the money to use.

Spencer lends her expertise and training to help local governments to assess their needs, identify assets and infrastructure and then help them execute their plans for the ARPA funds, helping them “connect the dots and stretch those resources,” Spencer said.

The four main categories that municipalities can choose from are revenue replacement, negative COVID impact, premium pay for essential workers and infrastructure project – defined as water and sewer and broadband.

With those categories in mind, she said, municipalities have until December 2024 to designate where they want their share of ARPA funds to go; they have two years to spend the money – it all has to be spent by December 2026.

Simply put, ARPA funds can help municipalities “free up funds that they can use on other things to enhance the community,” Spencer explained.

Down the road, money from the ARPA-funded  Rural Transformation Grant also will be available to “enhance communities, revitalize downtowns and strengthen neighborhoods.”

 

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