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Pulaski County hires Kimley Horn for broadband plan; resident survey open through Friday
Summary
County staff said Kimley Horn is surveying residents to map broadband access and costs; funding includes a CDBG planning grant and a USDA planning grant pending allocation decisions.
Nathan (county staff) told the joint meeting that Pulaski County received a community development block grant (CDBG) planning award and hired Kimley Horn to produce a broadband plan. He said the consultant is surveying residents about access (highest speed available), affordability and technology (including satellite service such as Starlink) and that the survey was live through Friday and had about 200 responses as of late last week.
Nathan said the survey is available from the county website’s bottom menu and has been shared on county and CDC Facebook pages. He asked commissioners and council members to consider appointing one commissioner to replace Chuck Mellon and one council member to replace Kathy Thompson on the county broadband task force; Kurt Dickey was named in the meeting as the task force chair and Leanne Wright as a task force member.
Nathan said the county also has a USDA planning grant with broader parameters and that staff will coordinate the allocation of USDA and CDBG funds after Kimley Horn’s finished plan so the two grants are not redundant. No formal action or appropriation was taken at the meeting; Nathan said the task force will reconvene with the consultant for next steps.
