By John Raffel
Correspondent
ALLEGAN – Last week, the state MIHI office and the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity recommended funding the Allegan County Broadband expansion plan, county commissioner chairman James Storey said.
“The chosen contractor for this effort, 123Net, submitted a grant proposal for $35 million to extend high speed access to 12,000 residents and businesses,” Storey said. “The announcement was part of a statewide recommendation to grant funding to projects that would provide access to 106,000 unserved or underserved residences. The total amount recommended statewide is $238 million in federal funds from the ROBIN program.
“The announcement triggers a 45-day challenge period wherein verification of addresses to be served is undertaken. The ROBIN fund would match $17 million from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation and an equal amount from 123Net. The root of this transformational, positive step for individual Allegan County residents started when the 2021-2022 Board of Commissioners courageously voted to allocate the $17 million in ARPA funds for broadband expansion, overcoming a determined health department-county administration request for more funding to increase staffing.”
Storey said once the challenge period expires and the final grant amount is released, 123Net will start construction this year.