At Tuesday’s meeting, Cottonwood County Commissioners discussed a memorandum of understanding with Federated Rural Electric, helping jump-start the process of pursuing grants for border-to-border broadband for the county.
Grants that are available are specifically designed to help bring broadband to areas that are unserved or underserved. The board noted Cottonwood County ranks 77th out of 87 counties in the state when it comes to broadband access for residents.
“Pursuing broadband might be the most important thing we can do for our rural residents right now,” Chairman Larry Anderson said. “The timing isn’t ideal, expense-wise, but I feel like we can make it work.”
The MOU calls for the county to pay up to $70,000 to write grants for the project, which the county would pay out of federal funds.
Once the proposed project is approved, work and payments would be spread over three to five years.
The board approved the MOU.
More from Tuesday’s meeting appears in the July 19 print and e-editions of the Citizen.
