Le Sueur County News reports…
For Le Sueur, this grant would make it possible for the county to connect approximately 417 unserved households, 88 unserved farms and 59 unserved businesses to internet speeds of 1 Gbps download and 1 Gbps upload, exceeding the 2022 and 2026 state speed goals. This would be made possible through the construction of a fiber-optic network running through Derrynane, northern parts of Lexington, parts of Lanesburgh, southeast of Heidelberg, and the northern edges of Montgomery Township.
They go into further details of the project…
The grant comes after Le Sueur County joined with internet service provider (ISP) Bevcomm in September to craft its grant proposal for a fiber-optic network connecting the county’s rural townships to the internet. The ISP currently serves southern portions of Derrynane, stretching from St. Thomas Lake in the west, to Clear Lake in the south, to areas just outside city of Montgomery limits in the east.
The state is covering half the costs of what is estimated to be a $3.7 million project. The remaining $1.8 million would be split three ways with Bevcomm, Le Sueur County, and the townships served by the project paying $300,000 each and Bevcomm covering any additional costs.
(One correction – the townships will pay back $150,000 over ten years on a per household basis.) The article also details the benefits…
“What’s really exciting is that this grant is very competitive and the county and townships all partnered together on this grant to make it achievable,” said Barbara Droher Kline, chair of the Le Sueur County Broadband Coalition.
Kline, a former Health and Human Services Director with Le Sueur County, began working with the county on the project after experiencing her own frustrations with internet access in the county. She recalled having to pay out of her own pocket to get her home and business connected to the nearest fiber optic network, which was just 1,000 feet away. She eventually reached out to Commissioner John King to get rural high-speed internet projects rolling.