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Council authorizes submission of $17.6 million EDA telecom grant application, commits 10% local match
Summary
The Ketchikan City Council approved Resolution 26‑3019 to submit an Economic Development Administration grant application seeking roughly $17.6 million for telecommunications infrastructure to improve resilience after a 2024 landslide; the city committed a 10% local match and will return with funding options if awarded.
KETCHIKAN — The Ketchikan City Council on July 16 approved Resolution 26‑3019 authorizing the submittal and acceptance of a U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration FY2025 disaster supplemental grant application to fund telecommunications infrastructure improvements.
Telecommunications division manager Matt McLaren told the council the application responds to vulnerabilities exposed by an August 2024 landslide. McLaren said the project concept would add a subsea cable from Mountain Point to Gravina Island and roughly 200 poles for aerial fiber to create a ring between Mountain Point and Point Higgins so an outage in one segment would not sever service for the entire system. "That would give us essentially a ring of fiber," McLaren said, summarizing the project design and how it would preserve service during localized failures.
McLaren estimated the total project cost at about $17,600,000 and said the program expects the applicant to provide some local match; the city would commit roughly 10 percent — approximately $1,760,000 — as part of the application. He said portions of the match could include in‑house labor and materials and that local matching funds can be spread over the life of the four‑year project rather than appropriated all in the first year.
Council members asked about funding sources, construction impacts and marine notifications for subsea cable landings. McLaren said the city can pursue low‑interest USDA Rural Utility Service loans and that detailed filings and charts identifying cable locations would be published so mariners and commercial fishermen are aware of the route. "We have to put out those diagrams so everybody has them before where the cable is," he said.
Council moved, seconded and approved the resolution by roll call. The motion directs staff to submit the application and, if awarded, to return to council with a funding plan and next steps. The grant application and local funding commitment do not bind the council to a final funding path until staff returns with specifics.
Next steps: staff will submit the EDA application, and if the city is awarded funds, the administration will bring funding and implementation options back to council for formal appropriations and project approvals.
