Saturday, July 18, 2009
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Jim Hoppel, Columbiana County Commissioner
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Penny Traina
LISBON β The Columbiana County commissioners plan to join a coalition to bring more broadband Internet service to the county.
Commissioners Penny Traina and Jim Hoppel said Friday they plan to vote to next week to become one of 32 counties to apply for funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Hoppel said the plan is that internet cables would be installed in populated portions of the county. Then equipment would be added to give people in rural areas wireless internet access.
Portions of the county have broadband, but many rural parts of the county do not.
The deadline for applying for the funds is Aug. 13, according to Traina.
The application form is 150 pages long, she added.
The commissioners would not name the agency that would receive the application.
But Traina said that the application had to be made by one group, or it would be thrown out.
βItβs a comprehensive broadband application,β she said.
There is a possibility, she added, that the county may not get any money.
The commissioners said they expected that joining the coalition would prevent any problems with competing efforts to install broadband service in the county.
Tom Fritz, executive director of Connect Ohio, an initiative to expand broadband, said there are three or four groups that are trying to recruit communities to be part of larger groups pressing for broadband service.
Some portions of the county, such as Knox Township, are looking at service from commercial broadband providers, such as AT&T.
The commissioners said they expected to take more action on the plan when they meet Wednesday. They declined to say what the action would be.
Ohio Department of Education spokesman Scott Blake said that he was not aware of the program. Money given to the education department goes toward education, and would not go for the proposed system, he added.