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Resident urges Amelia County to review River Street broadband contract amid Starlink competition
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Summary
A resident told the Amelia County Board that River Street has not provided formal notice of construction required by its FTTH contract and urged the county to examine the company's VADi grant obligations; a board member said the broadband grant used does not cover satellite services like Starlink.
A public commenter told Amelia County supervisors the board should revisit the county’s contract with River Street Broadband, arguing the company appears not to have provided required construction notice and may be in breach of contract while satellite options such as Starlink have become widely available.
“From my understanding, to date, they’ve never given any kind of notice of construction,” public commenter Martin Konkle said, recounting language from a 2023 contract that requires River Street to document a construction‑commencement notice to the county. He urged the board to “double down and look a little harder at that VADI grant” and said the slow pace risks residents adopting alternatives: “neighbors…probably not gonna have customers by the time they roll through because everybody’s gonna be hooked up by Starlink.”
A board member replied that the grant program used for the county broadband project is generally not eligible to fund satellite services. “It’s my understanding that the grant program that we’re using for the broadband is not eligible for that,” the member said, adding that other localities have been told the same.
The board did not take formal action on River Street’s contract during the meeting. Planning or county staff were asked to follow up; no timetable for a staff report was set in the public record.
