Albemarle County broadband authority hears project closeout, BEAD award changes; Brightspeed work resumed under VDOT probation

At a meeting of the Albemarle County Broadband Authority, members received progress and compliance updates on local broadband construction programs, state BEAD award changes and a recent VDOT inspection that suspended and then allowed Brightspeed to resume work under probation.

Authority staff said payments to Brightspeed have been made and reimbursements submitted to the state as part of the closeout process for the Valley/Value 21 project; the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will perform a final document review before the project is officially closed. Staff reported the project had settled approximately 1,420 locations for roughly $2.5 million in payments, and that remaining state and authority funds are expected to be reconciled as the closeout proceeds.

The authority also received a countywide construction update. Staff said Firefly’s backbone construction is largely complete in many areas but that the overall target for backbone completion has been pushed to December 2025, with some service areas now projected into late 2025 or winter 2026. The report named Beaver Dam and Saint John Road as newly in service and said Dominion Energy’s portion of the work showed design complete and about 171 miles recorded…