Hometown Source reports…

A grant program using federal dollars for projects to provide broadband expansion to underserved communities was revived by the Anoka County Board Oct. 22.

In the county’s budget for spending $69.84 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, $5 million was allocated for broadband (high-speed Internet) projects, but those dollars were eliminated by the board Aug. 13 because no projects had been proposed by municipalities and the deadline for having ARPA funds obligated is Dec. 31.

At that time, a couple of board members, Commissioners Julie Braastad and Jeff Reinert, expressed concern, but a majority of the board decided to shift the $5 million to the Emergency Communications Center project.

Since then, three to four municipalities in the north, rural part of the county have proposed broadband expansion projects, according to Cory Kampf, chief financial officer.

The board action Oct. 22 approves up to $1.6 million for the broadband program and authorizes the county board chairperson (Commissioner Mike Gamache) and County Administrator Jim Dickinson to enter into agreements with municipalities that meet the criteria for providing broadband expansion to underserved areas of the county.

The money will be taken from the ARPA pot allocated to the Emergency Communications Center project and any unused dollars at the end of the year will be moved back to that project, according to Kampf.

Under federal ARPA regulations, all obligated projects have to be completed by Dec. 31, 2026.