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Broadband rollout in Point Roberts awaits interagency sign-off; PUD seeks pole agreements
Summary
Project contacts told the committee Whitbytel has not recently responded and the broadband effort is awaiting state, federal and tribal interagency determinations tied to a USDA RUS grant; Whatcom PUD reported progress on franchise agreements and will work to resolve archaeological compliance bottlenecks affecting some customers.
At the meeting speaker 6 reported limited progress on the USDA RUS broadband project: "we await state, federal, and tribal interagency determination on how we will be able to proceed with the fiber USDA RUS grant project in Point Roberts." (speaker 6) Whitbytel had not provided a recent update and the project website showed the last public update in August 2024.
Whatcom PUD (speaker 10) said the district recently obtained a county franchise that should help pole-access negotiations with Puget Sound Energy and that staff are discussing outstanding pole contracts. PUD staff also flagged an archaeological compliance issue that left some households unserved; the PUD will ask county staff to help resolve the compliance bottleneck for affected residents.
