A public commenter asked the Lancaster County Broadband Authority on Wednesday for clearer information about where high‑speed fiber is actually available and whether the county could host small technology training projects for high‑school and university interns.

The comment came as authority members said construction tied to a state VADI grant (part of efforts to bring broadband to unserved addresses) is essentially complete and that federal BEAD funding remains pending. Authority members said All Points Broadband (APB) finished the VADI deployment in November 2024 and that 2,161 addresses were included in that grant, but APB cannot offer service beyond that approved list until state signoff is complete.

The public commenter identified himself as David Linoverby and said he is looking for a place to locate small projects and “hire like young interns, high school or university age” for AI‑application work. “We need fiber, internet and we need to know what the vector is for, what the plan is for housing and for distribution of Internet,” Linoverby said.

Lynn Overby, speaking on behalf of the authority, said the Lancaster County Broadband Authority is responsible for expanding service and described the current landscape of providers. “The programs that have been in place so far… the Federal Communications Commission is less specific. They only guide us with speed. And the current definition for broadband is 100 slash 20,” Overby said. He added the authority is agnostic about delivery technology and that the VADI work was intended to bring service to the homes identified in that grant.

Authority members and other speakers named the local providers likely to supply higher‑capacity service in commercial areas: Verizon (fiber for business customers), Breezeline (coax/DOCSIS for consumer and some business products) and APB (the VADI grantee). A school technology director who spoke at the meeting said local schools have multi‑gig circuits and that some industrial and commercial corridors already have higher‑capacity service.

The authority said it estimates roughly 92% of county addresses now have some form of wired broadband, leaving about 8% unserved or underserved. The group also noted that Virginia will receive a portion of federal BEAD funds; the authority said Virginia is slated to receive about $1,500,000,000 from the federal allocation and Lancaster County would receive a portion of that when state distributions are defined. Board members said they are waiting for state decisions and final signoffs before providers can expand service beyond addresses in the VADI grant.

On practical questions from Linoverby about where fiber is actually available on a given street, staff and board members said the presence of fiber cables along a right‑of‑way does not automatically mean a home can be hooked up unless it was included in the approved grant list or the provider elects to take a commercial installation beyond the grant scope. Overby said APB’s VADI construction added redundancy and new routes but that APB must finish administrative signoff before opening service to addresses not on the grant.

Linoverby also raised housing and workforce questions: he said his projects depend on affordable local housing for interns and on cooperative arrangements with local schools and training centers. Authority members suggested he follow up with county business development staff (John Bateman was named as a business development contact) and review links the authority circulated about the VADI mapping and the APB deployment.

Votes at a glance: the authority approved administrative minutes for January (chair called “Aye”; Russell was recorded as abstaining) and February (approved), and later voted to adjourn. The meeting record does not show formal recorded roll‑call tallies attached to the minutes votes beyond the abstention noted.

Members and staff encouraged follow‑up: Overby said he would continue to work with APB and with county business development staff to get clearer timelines for state signoff and provider outreach. Linoverby said he would follow up with the contacts provided.

The meeting also included routine administrative business (treasurer’s report, a resignation notice from a board member) and closed with an adjournment.

Ending — The authority emphasized that getting federal BEAD dollars and state signoffs will determine when providers can expand beyond the VADI list; members urged interested businesses or projects to coordinate with county business development staff and the VADI/APB contacts the authority provided.