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Jefferson County accepts state ARPA broadband grant; Blue Mountain Networks to design and deliver fiber project
Summary
Jefferson County approved a state ARPA broadband deployment grant agreement and confirmed Blue Mountain Networks as the project partner; county will own infrastructure and contractor will provide service, with a five‑year service requirement and a September 2026 completion target for service locations.
Jefferson County commissioners authorized acceptance of a state ARPA capital projects broadband deployment grant and directed staff to work with Blue Mountain Networks on design and delivery at the March 19 meeting.
Staff and commissioners said the project identifies just over 1,600 service locations and carries a state-mandated completion timeline for service activation (service locations live by September 2026). Blue Mountain Networks, selected previously through county procurement, will perform design and construction; the county will retain infrastructure ownership while the contractor will operate and provide service under grant terms that include a five‑year low-cost service commitment for subsidized rates (county referenced a $30 monthly affordable service cap in staff remarks).
County staff noted the state reduced the grant award pro rata to reflect service locations that could not be included in the county’s original application; staff said Blue Mountain has invested in preliminary design work and will complete detailed engineering and permitting as the next step. The county’s contract with Blue Mountain (to be executed following grant paperwork) and the grant agreement include reimbursement schedules and reporting requirements.
Why it matters: the grant brings federal ARPA dollars to county broadband deployment and will extend fiber to rural addresses where private investment has been limited. The project is the county’s largest active infrastructure program in recent months and requires close schedule management because of the state’s ARPA spending deadlines.
Next steps: staff will finalize the grant agreement and county-to-contractor contract, submit required reimbursements for design work, and move into permitting and construction scheduling. Commissioners singled out the need to coordinate right-of-way permitting and to monitor supply-chain and contractor scheduling risks. The county’s finance director and broadband project manager will track grant reimbursements and vendor invoices.
