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Washington County allocates $2 million for investments
By Nealy Corocran editor@countrymessenger.com
Apr 22, 2022
In an effort to improve internet speeds and accessibility, the Washington County Board of
Commissioners has allocated $2 million for investments in broadband within Washington County.
Cities, Townships and broadband providers are invited to apply for funds.
“Washington County’s source of funding for the broadband grant program are funds from the
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA),” explained Jan Lucke, Deputy County Administrator for
Washington County.
The Broadband grant program will provide one-to-one matching grant funding to cities, townships
and broadband providers for the expansion of high-speed broadband. Eligible project areas include
any unserved or underserved area within Washington County.
“All cities, townships, and providers with a project that meets the funding criteria may apply,” said
Lucke.
For purposes of the ARPA broadband grant, an unserved or underserved household or business
that are not currently serviced by a wireline connection that delivers reliable broadband service with
a minimum speed of 100Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload.
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Completed projects must allow enrollment in a low-income subsidy program. Recipients may use
the funds to cover limited costs incurred for eligible projects.
Upon completion of the project service shall reliably meet or exceed upload and download speeds of
100 Mbps (unless it is impractical due to geography, topography or excessive costs) in which case
100 Mbps download speeds and 20 Mbps upload speeds are required.
“We have not received any applications so far, however, the City of Scandia is contemplating a
project.”
Ken Cammilleri, City Administrator for Scandia explained, “The city’s goal is to provide High Speed
Internet coverage to the citizens of Scandia quickly at the lowest cost to the city by leveraging grants
from both State and Federal government, and funding from current service providers with
infrastructure in the community, and the city.”
“Internet service of download speeds 1000 Mbps and 20 Mbps upload will be delivered wherever
financially practical first,” he said. “Areas with significantly higher construction costs will come later
and may require a combination of wired and wireless solutions to achieve our goal of achieving
approximately 200 homes per year.”
Over the last couple of years, Scandia has made some significant progress towards increasing
the number of households that have access to internet.
During the 2020 and 2021 construction season Scandia added 426 homes.
For 2022, the city expects to add 161 homes.
“But this number may go up once the construction plans are finalized,” said Cammilleri. “When this
year’s project moves ahead as planned our 3-year total will be 587 homes added, only a bit under
our goal,” he said. “After the 2022 construction is complete, we’ll have a total of 1,439 Scandia
homes connected to high-speed broadband.”
Up until recently the city of Scandia had been projecting the number of households to be 1,800, but
the city has determined that the number may need to be refined to reflect a more accurate number,
which is relatively close to 1,800 to a little over 1,900 households.
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“We are trying to reach all houses including seasonal residences, not just households. Either way
we need to add between 200 and 220 homes during the 2023 and 2024 construction seasons,” said
Cammilleri.
“This should be doable given the increased county, state and federal funding expected to be
available in those outlying years, but will be dependent on what scope of build out our internet
service providers will be able to complete within a construction season and the distances between
service locations.”
“Our understanding is that MidCo is participating in low-income subsidy programs that includes
unserved or underserved households or businesses that are not currently served by a wireline
connection that delivers a reliable broadband service with a minimum speed of 100 Mbps download
and 20 Mbps upload,” said Cammilleri. “This includes any area with lack of broadband and lack of
reliable service”.
“Midco has chosen, the “Oak Hill Road” project in Scandia since many of the homes in this area
have speeds below the minimum threshold, typically around 25/2 Mbps it is expected to meet the
criteria. Scandia residents who qualify would be able to participate.”
According to Cammilleri, MidCo is in the process of preparing an application to the Washington
County program for internet expansion.
The total proposed expansion cost for 2022 build out in Scandia is $578,763. Midco would cover
$259,736 in costs. The City Cost share of this will be between $316,000 and $216,000. The City’s
cost would potentially be $216,000 should the Washington County Grant cover $100,000 as
proposed for the grant.
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If the grant from Washington County is successfully applied for and awarded, the City would be
responsible for 37.3%. MidCo 44.9% and Washington County 17.8%. Otherwise, without County
funding the share would be 45% MidCo and 55% Scandia.
“The City and County’s funds are an attempt to address the growing cost per house to build, which
is estimated for this year’s project to be at $3,595 per home. Utilities typically complete build out at
$2,000 to $2,500 per house, which more closely fits their timeframe for return on investment,” said
Cammilleri.
“Costs that exceed this range tend not to move forward without additional financial assistance, so
our financing is intended to help close that financial gap.”
The total build out for this year’s project is estimated to be 161 homes,” he explained.
“There is a possibility as in previous projects that a small amount of additional homes may be added
at additional expense by MidCo, as with previous projects due to proximity and the opportunity to
connect.”
Applicants may apply at www.co.washington.mn.us and search ARPA. Applications are accepted on
a first-come first-serve basis until the County Board’s allocation has been depleted.
Applicants may apply at www.co.washington.mn.us and search ARPA.
For more information about MidCo’s Federal Assistance programs visit
https://www.midco.com/internet-assistance/
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