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Franklin County OKs up to $5 million ARPA broadband deal with Tombigbee Electric Cooperative
Summary
At its Oct. 16 meeting the Franklin County Commission unanimously authorized Chairman Barry Moore to sign a funding agreement committing up to $5,000,000 in ARPA revenue-replacement funds to Tombigbee Electric Cooperative for a fiber broadband expansion in designated county priority areas, with payments tied to construction milestones and Treasury reporting requirements.
The Franklin County Commission on Oct. 16 unanimously authorized Chairman Barry Moore to sign a funding agreement that would commit up to $5,000,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) revenue-replacement funds to Tombigbee Electric Cooperative (TEC) for a fiber-optic broadband expansion in county-designated priority areas.
The agreement, approved by motion of Commissioner Chris Wallace with a second from Commissioner Jason Miller, lays out a Project Plan, reporting and monitoring requirements and a three-installment payment schedule: $1,000,000 following execution for pre-construction costs, $2,000,000 at 50% construction with an engineer's verification, and $2,000,000 at project completion with engineer attestation. The contract document requires TEC to participate in the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program and to comply with Treasury reporting and speed/latency testing requirements that mirror guidance in the ARPA final rule.
Why it matters: the county previously allocated up to $5 million in ARPA funds for broadband expansion and this agreement identifies TEC as the subrecipient responsible for designing and building fiber in unserved and underserved areas identified in the county's broadband application. The agreement includes explicit deadlines tied to Treasury rules: all funds must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, and spent by Dec. 31, 2026, and projects started before Nov. 28, 2022, are ineligible for these funds.
The contract also requires quarterly reporting during construction and an updated Project Plan and independent speed/latency tests after operations begin. The document attached to the agenda includes a Project Plan estimating roughly 205 miles of fiber and line-item budgets for design, construction, permitting and testing; the Commission packet also contains a county broadband map identifying priority areas.
The agreement was signed on behalf of the county by Judge Barry Moore and on behalf of TEC by Britton Lightsey, CEO, and names county administrator Leah Mansell as the ARPA project monitor. The motion in the minutes did not record separate roll-call votes for individual commissioners; the minutes show unanimous approval by the five-member Commission.
Next steps: the county will execute the agreement and TEC will submit an invoice for the initial $1,000,000 pre-construction payment; subsequent payments require verification statements from an architect or engineer attesting to milestone completion as specified in the contract.
