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Public commenter warns Yuma County middle-mile broadband project may be underfunded, urges staff follow-up
Summary
A public commenter told the Board of Supervisors the county’s middle-mile broadband project has unapproved extensions and an apparent $2 million reduction in allocated funds; county staff were asked to follow up.
YUMA — During the public-comment portion of the meeting, Corey Mellon raised concerns about the county’s middle-mile broadband project, saying contract extensions for road work and tower-site work had not been approved and that the county had reduced the project’s budget by $2 million.
“Some key points... The extensions have not been approved. The Laguna Nam Road extension has not been approved. The roll to Texas Hill has not been approved,” Mellon said, and added that the county had “reduced that budget by $2,000,000 and spent that money elsewhere in the county repairing roads or whatever.”
Mellon urged the board to stay engaged with county staff and the project’s contractors to keep the middle-mile work moving forward. After the comment, the chairman asked county management to follow up: “Ian, would you follow-up on that, please?” The chair’s request signaled a staff follow-up direction rather than a formal board action.
No formal action was taken during the meeting; the comment was recorded during the public-comment period. County staff later indicated they were working with contractors to update change orders and pursue value engineering to address budget and scope issues.
