The Cannon Falls Beacon reports…
The Goodhue County Board of Commissioners narrowly approved accepting a grant for rural broadband internet expansion…
Details on the broadband grant…
The board voted 3-2, with Commissioners Jason Majerus and Todd Greseth voting against, to accept a $3.21 million USDA ReConnect Program Grant for rural broadband expansion. The board approved applying for the funding in 2021 and partnering with Nuvera Communications to be the provider that will handle the fiber optic installation. The scope of the work was updated in 2024 due to rising costs and the grant term is for 20 years.
“I don’t support this. There’s a come-and-go living out in the country. Maybe you don’t have to deal with your neighbor’s dog, maybe the fire truck might take a little longer to get there and you may not have fiber optic in front of you. If you live on the side of a rock ridge and have a half-mile long driveway, it’s not feasibly possible,” said Majerus. “But you also have Starlink. You’re probably not using an antenna with TV, you probably have a satellite for your TV, because that’s the transition we’ve went to. Homes are seldom hardwired anymore because we have all the wireless.”
“We have a $40 trillion dollar debt at the federal government, I don’t know where the $3.1 million is coming from. I get it, I’m just not sure for 190 people, that it really makes that much sense. There’s a reason it hasn’t been done yet, that it’s not feasible, that the private sector has made the decision it’s not feasible to do it. Apparently the government has got the money to make the decision and says it makes sense for them,” Majerus continued. “If there were no options, I don’t know that it’s equivalent to electrifying rural America or getting everybody with a phone, it’s not equivalent. Because there are options. It’s very doubtful that any one of these 190 supposed homes don’t have internet access, that they’re not using Starlink, that they’re not using some sort of satellite version. It’s hard to justify the money but evidently somebody’s got it, I’m not sure which pocket they’re taking it out of.”
Greseth agreed with Majerus, but seemed to grudgingly support accepting the grant before ultimately voting against.
“That’s where these last dollar costs have just exploded over the last 10 years. It used to be $7,000 for that last mile and now it’s up over $30,000 for that last mile,” said Greseth. “I’m frustrated with it, but the program’s there, it’s not technically coming out of our direct pocket. I’m frustrated with it, but I guess for the advantage for these here, it’s one of those programs that is there and we have the grant for it.”