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County moves to de‑obligate most of state DSP broadband grant; retains county match to finish build‑out
Summary
Staff said state eligibility rules narrowed a DSP (difficult‑to‑serve properties) grant from an anticipated $1.1 million to about $47,000; commissioners authorized a hearing to de‑obligate only the state's portion while staff recommended keeping county funds in the project to complete build‑out where possible.
County administrators told commissioners on Aug. 26 that changes in state and federal guidance reduced eligibility under the state Difficult to Serve Properties (DSP) broadband grant, shrinking the state award tied to local Comcast build‑out work from an expected $1.1 million to roughly $47,000 for the addresses identified as eligible.
Ashley Staples Reed, special projects program manager in the Office of the County Administrator, said the Office of Broadband (OSB) applied new criteria, informed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, that narrowed the list of eligible addresses. "The constraints that OSB had throughout this whole process actually resulted in an extreme eligibility requirement that only allotted 22 homes to be added to this grant," Reed said, adding that the state grant's effective value was therefore reduced.
Reed asked commissioners to authorize a public hearing to de‑obligate only the state's portion of the DSP award and cautioned that de‑obligating the county match tied to the state's award could leave the county SIP (broadband expansion CIP) with a deficit that staff would later need to replenish. She recommended leaving county‑assigned funds in the SIP so Comcast could complete the remaining eligible addresses and said Comcast indicated the available county balance would be sufficient to finish build‑out for the addresses still reachable.
A commissioner moved and the board authorized staff to schedule a public hearing to de‑obligate only the state's portion of the DSP grant; commissioners asked staff to bring an updated agreement for execution after the hearing.
Staff said Comcast has completed much of phases 1–3 of the build‑out; 735 addresses were completed with 92 addresses remaining in phases that include harder easement or distance issues. Reed said some addresses will be removed from the project if required easements cannot be obtained from neighboring property owners.
Next steps: staff will advertise and hold the public hearing in September and return with an updated grant agreement and recommendation to the board.
