County economic staff previews broadband push, seeks brownfield sites
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Summary
Washington County staff reported an RFQ for a coalition brownfields grant and outlined broadband workforce and fiber priorities; supervisors asked for site lists and regional grant timing.
Justin Birch briefed the Washington County Board of Supervisors on economic development work, saying the county issued a request for qualifications for a coalition brownfield grant and is assembling potential sites.
Birch said the county aims to “bring in about 1.5 for that over 2026” and is building a list of brownfield sites; he asked supervisors to email any candidate properties in their districts. He also reported meetings with Dallas market contacts that produced two leads and said the county will compile an economic development report “late November, early December.”
The discussion shifted to broadband. Birch said workforce shortages were the biggest obstacle in the county’s USDA broadband review for Leland, Hollandale, Winterville and Stoneville. He described a new partnership with Mississippi Delta Community College that included a $50,000 reinvestment for training, and said the state’s BEAD office is expected to offer two ISP grant opportunities in February–March. “Those should come out in about February or March,” Birch said.
Supervisors pressed for specifics on locations and technology. One supervisor noted residents on the BEAD list had not actually received service and cited South Main Street and areas within Leland as lacking high-speed access. Birch said the county is “pushing them to go further” and recommended underground fiber where possible. “This is only for fiber optics that’s within the ground,” he said, noting he had emphasized that option to ISPs including Optimum. He added many deployments in the county have been aerial, which makes service vulnerable to brief storms.
On brownfields, Birch defined likely sites as former industrial properties, service stations with underground tanks, or other parcels with environmental contamination. When asked about a specific parcel reportedly described as “radioactive” near Elizabeth community, Birch said to provide an address and staff would investigate environmental records but added, “it shouldn’t be radioactive in the Delta,” citing known nuclear sites as Grand Gulf and Pine Belt as more likely locations of true radioactive contamination.
Why it matters: the county’s brownfield work could unlock reuse of contaminated or underused properties, and broadband grants combined with local workforce training are central to expanding reliable high-speed service in underserved towns.
The county asked supervisors to forward candidate brownfield addresses to staff and expects the USDA/BEAD-related ISP grant rounds in early 2026.