County supervisors press All Points Broadband over permit backlog, missed deadlines

All Points Broadband told the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 10 that a backlog of VDOT permit approvals and other site-level issues are delaying its Fiber-to-Home project and that the company has applied for a state make‑ready award that will require the company to front $10 million in construction costs.

The presentation from All Points representative Mr. Innes came as supervisors pressed the company for dates and evidence that it can meet contractual milestones after missing a December target for connecting a customer and warning that locations not served by the end of next month will begin accruing a 50% discount, according to the company’s update.

Why it matters: Culpeper County used American Rescue Plan Act funds as part of the local match for the broadband project. The county’s timetable and potential reimbursements are tied to All Points’ construction progress and to state make‑ready funding that the company says will reduce the county’s ARPA match to about 15% overall.

All Points said it has submitted what it described as the full set of underground permits for the county (a tracker the company provided lists 170 underground permits). The company said it currently has six to eight drill crews working in the county, is seeking permission from the VDOT residency to have as many as 80 miles of permits approved at once, and that once it has an 80‑mile permit cadence the company expects to finish construction in roughly four to six months.

“In the meantime, we have doubled down our investment and commitment,” Mr. Innes said. “We are putting up, we’re going to front an additional $10,000,000 of construction cost in the county.” He added that the applications to the State Broadband Office were successful and that the state will reimburse a portion of those costs after work is demonstrated.

Board members repeatedly questioned the company’s timeline and coordination. The board heard that All Points had one active customer at an initial cabinet and that it had not reached the contract’s December customer‑connection milestone. “As one member of the board, All Points has been an abject failure in my opinion,” Supervisor Rosenberger said during the exchange, adding that he did not favor extending deadlines or accepting underground funds until the company demonstrates better performance.

Supervisors and staff pressed several operational points: whether the 170 permits cover the full county underground scope; whether the company had coordinated with VDOT and county planning on locations that may be on prescriptive easements; and whether Dominion’s middle‑mile completion is aligned with All Points’ release‑to‑construction schedule. Mr. Innes said the permit tracker covers the underground permits and that All Points has provided construction drawings and monthly permit updates to the county and to VDOT.

Mr. Innes also told the board the company has 2,200 pages of construction drawings ready and that it is working to streamline inspection and traffic‑control plans with VDOT to speed approvals. He said one cabinet area (Culpeper 6) will start mailings to residents informing them how to register for service.

Several supervisors said the company had not coordinated successfully with county staff, planning and VDOT on site‑specific easement or right‑of‑way issues. “All Points has not coordinated with anyone — not with county staff, not with REC, not with VDOT, not with planning and zoning,” a supervisor said during the meeting. Mr. Innes asked board members to send specific addresses and easement information by email so his permitting team could follow up.

No formal action or vote on the contract was taken at the meeting. Mr. Innes said he would follow up by email on questions the company could not answer in the public session and that county staff could review the make‑ready addendum and other award documents before the county signs them.

What’s next: County staff and supervisors said they expect continued monthly updates from All Points. The company remains under the contract obligations described in the public briefing; supervisors said they will continue to weigh options if progress does not meet the board’s expectations.