The town of Sidney will have access to broadband internet by about the third quarter of 2024 thanks to ARPA funds from the county and Kosciusko REMC/Kosciusko Connect.
Along with $302,798.45 to Kosciusko Connect for fiber construction for broadband for Sidney, the Kosciusko County ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Committee, Commissioners and Council in a joint meeting Tuesday separately approved $80,000 for a greenways and blueways trail master plan and $750,000 for the Chinworth Bridge greenway extension.
The funds for the trail master plan and greenway extension were requested by the Kosciusko County Parks and Recreation Board. A request from the parks board for $250,000 for a boat launch on James Lake was considered but no ARPA funds were approved for it at this time.
In starting the joint meeting of the three boards Tuesday, Commissioner Cary Groninger, who chairs the county’s ARPA Committee, explained the committee would look at the recommendations and then make the selections on the projects. The commissioners would then take action on the committee’s recommendation, followed by the county council.
“If you remember, this is a process we’ve been working on with HELP (Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program) now. We started in January of 2022, so we’ve been at this for a bit,” Groninger said.
Kosciusko County Community Coordinator Amy Roe has been the lead on the process as they try to get everything in order.
“Last year, we did vote to set aside ARPA funds for these projects, so these are not new funds. These are funds that have already been allocated, that have already been voted on by ARPA Committee, commissioners and the council, to set aside $1.2 million to fund the projects that are in the SIP (Strategic Investment Plan) of our HELP,” Groninger continued.
As part of the HELP, there’s a $1 million matching grant from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to be awarded to the county. During a prior joint meeting, the county selected projects to be moved forward in Mentone, Milford and Pierceton with the $1 million CDBG grant.
“We’re currently working with MACOG (Michiana Area Council of Government), walking through that process, making sure everyone qualifies from an income study that OCRA (Office of Community and Rural Affairs) needs to meet, as well as the projects we’re doing. It’s progressing, so we’re hoping to see some income studies about the ones that need that starting soon,” he said.
Tuesday’s meeting purpose, Groninger said, was to hear presentations from the County Parks Board and Kosciusko Connect on projects that were in the SIP and then for the three boards to select the projects that they would like to see move forward and utilize the $1.2 million that’s already been set aside.
The projects selected have to be in the SIP to be funded. For the county to receive the $1 million from CDBG, the county has to spend $1 million from its ARPA fund.
Parks Board President Rob Bishop presented on the greenways and blueways trail master plan for $80,000, while Parks Board member Mike Cusick presented on the Chinworth Bridge greenway extension for $750,000 and the James Lake boat launch for $250,000. Bishop noted the town of Winona Lake committed $30,000 from a grant toward the master plan.
Curt Barkey, vice president of technology and broadband for KREMC/Kosciusko Connect, presented on the fiber project to the town of Sidney. Since establishing Kosciusko Connect, a subsidiary of KREMC, in November 2020, he said they’ve built over 1,100 miles of fiber optic network through their service territory in Kosciusko County.
“Today, we are excited that over 18,000 locations now have access to the best technology and ... upload speeds available at affordable prices,” Barkey said. “Building fiber optic networks is expensive, and every rural customer that does not have access to fast, reliable broadband should have that access.”
That access is no longer a want, but a need, he said, and Kosciusko Connect is working with local, state and federal governments to get access to funding so they can expand their service to those areas and provide the necessary service to those customers who currently don’t have adequate options available to them.
As of Tuesday, Barkey said they’ve connected over 7,000 customers in Kosciusko County to their broadband service.
For the connection in Sidney, Kosciusko Connect plans to service over 90 locations. The town currently does not have great access, Barkey said.
On the scope of the project, he said they will build a fiber optic network to the town of Sidney to pick up the 93 locations. Kosciusko REMC will build that network, with Kosciusko Connect operating that network. The total project cost is $302,798.45 and is estimated to be completed in the second or third quarter of 2024.
After all the presentations were made, the ARPA Committee meeting was called to order by Groninger.
Councilwoman Sue Ann Mitchell said, in her opinion, the master plan was a “given” for ARPA dollars because there has to be a plan before the county knows where it’s going. She said she hoped the James Lake boat launch was one the county wouldn’t lose sight of.
On the KREMC funds, she said that request calculates out to $3,285.89 per location for those 90 or so locations included. While that’s a lot of money, she said she read a lot of articles where it costs more than that per site, so the cost seems to be “reasonable.” Mitchell also appreciated the fact that Sidney is not in KREMC’s area, but in Duke Energy’s area, but yet KREMC is looking to extend its broadband to Sidney.
Council President Mike Long suggested dividing the funds up by percentage, but Mitchell said the Parks Board’s plan is all on the county so the county would have to cover it anyway.
Roe said not every project in the SIP at this moment had to be funded today. The point of the SIP was to hold projects for future development as well.
After further discussion, for the ARPA Committee, Groninger made a motion to fully fund the trail master plan, greenway extension and Kosciusko Connect. Long seconded the motion and the committee approved it unanimously.
The commissioners approved the committee’s recommendation by a vote of 2-1, with Commissioner Brad Jackson voting against it. Groninger and Commissioner Bob Conley voted for it.
Jackson said that while he was one of the “biggest fans” of KREMC, he considers himself a constitutionalist, very conservative and had a problem putting tax dollars into business use.
Finally, the county council approved the committee’s recommendation by a vote of 6-0, with Councilwoman Joni Truex absent.