Residents urged to check FCC maps

At the Dec. 20 Pierce County ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Ad Hoc Committee meeting, members voted to adopt an updated scoring matrix that will help them narrow down the number of projects requesting funding.

The updated matrix, proposed by Operations Data Analyst Greg Weaver, will help the committee deal with the $30.6 million in requests it has received, said County Administrator Jason Matthys.

“Everything is a priority to certain individuals and entities, but at the end of the day there’s a limited amount of funds that we have to appropriate,” Matthys said.

The county will receive $8.3 million in ARPA federal Covid relief funds, distributed by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Of that amount, the county has already appropriated the following:

• $119,000 to dredging and engineering costs for Nugget Lake

• $206,500 for a body scanner at the county jail

• $3.6 million captured by the county to be used for revenue lost Weaver’s recommendation, based off researching other counties, is to complete a three-step selection process. The first step is to identify funding priorities for the county. The second step is to allocate dollar amounts to each priority area (ie: broadband, tourism, infrastructure, workforce development, etc.). The third step is to select the project(s) based on the priority, benefit and preparedness level.

“What we want to do is try to establish priority,” Matthys said. “Answer yes or no and move to scoring criteria for those marked yes. Some projects may just be peeled off the list.”

So far the county has received requests totaling $30.6 million, but Matthys said that number will increase to $34 million soon. The courthouse dome has been leaking and there is damage to be repaired. Full restoration of the dome and roof is estimated to cost close to $4 million.

“Establishing priorities is huge,” Weaver said. “Other counties established budgets for priority areas. If the project isn’t quite ready for a request or not fully developed, it allows for rejection but resubmittal. Some requests were far left field, and if you don’t like it, just don’t recommend it.”

Committee member Dean Bergseng asked Matthys when the county will start using some of its emergency funds it has stashed away, for something such as the dome. Other concerns raised were projects having a chance to present to the committee, population affected being a priority, and other funding available.

“You want whatever you fund to have the biggest impact across the county,” said Chair Jon Aubart.

He pointed out that the county needs to take into account funding for the Carlson Dettman wage matrix changes that the county board voted to implement for county employees, who will all receive at minimum a 4% wage increase effective Jan. 1. Matthys said the amount of money needed is unknown, but the number should be concrete by the end of 2023.

“It could be potentially significantly in excess of $2 million over that three-year period,” Matthys said.

Pierce County Economic Development Director Joe Folsom suggested using funds as low-interest or no-interest loans, but Treasurer Kathy Fuchs said auditors have advised against such a scenario since it’s such a challenge to manage.

“Revolving loan funds is an allowable use (of ARPA funds),” Folsom said. “It could be managed in-house. We have no gap financing tools in our county, except for what is available through the Mississippi Regional Planning Commission which hasn’t been much.”

Bergseng, always a vocal advocate for broadband, said appropriating money to broadband could double or triple the funds due to funding matches through the state.

“Forty-eight percent of the population lives in the townships and broadband is what they want. ARPA money should be used,” Bergseng said at the beginning of the meeting.

Matthys said what the committee should have done out of the gate was to establish priorities for the funding before applications came in.

“We had a good faith intent to show people we had the money to share,” he said.

While the $3.6 million captured by the county hasn’t been fully spent, Matthys said many county projects need attention. The Nugget Lake dredge project could be north of $2 million.

“It affords the county the opportunity to be able to respond to certain issues that come up, such as this dome issue,” Matthys said. “But we could use other funds.”

Matthys said he doesn’t see this as the only matrix.

“We may have a secondary matrix that speaks to what the priorities are,” he said. “But this one will help us deal with the multitude of requests that are really all over the board.”

After voting on the matrix, Bergseng again brought up broadband, saying it would help a lot of people. However, Aubart said he hasn’t seen a plan from Pierce Pepin/Swift Current Connect or any other broadband providers.

“We’re not going to give money away without any kind of plan,” Aubart said. “What are we going to get Dean, if you give $3.6 million to Pierce Pepin? We have nothing to consider. Where’s the plan? If the plan is just to pay down the debt of Swift Current, that’s not a plan. That doesn’t serve Rock Elm or other underserved areas in the county. We have nothing.”

Pierce Pepin CEO Nate Boettcher spoke up and said the EDC made an ARPA request for broadband funds, but Pierce Pepin ha stood by waiting to hear if the county wants a more “drilled down plan.”

“I think it would be inappropriate for us to come here with a full-on plan when we don’t know how the project is going to be scored or prioritized,” Boettcher said. “It seemed a bit premature.” Aubart said a plan should be submitted showing how best the unserved and underserved people of the county would be helped.

“By the end of this year we’ll have built almost 800 miles of fiber,” Boettcher said. “Later today we’re connecting our 1000th customer. We’re moving quickly and we’re moving aggressively. If we had submitted a plan six months ago, it would have been outdated. It’s a timing issue.”

“What’s beyond that next phase?” Aubart asked. “Chippewa County is working with four different providers and it’s laid out more like a contract, essentially with specifics. I understand that wasn’t available six, eight months ago. But as we move forward, I think that would really be helpful, what the future looks like.

Boettcher said St. Croix County allocated ARPA money to broadband, opened up a portal, and allowed providers to apply for funds. He suggested Pierce County think about creating a funding pool for applicants, which would allow companies to be more specific.

Committee member Mel Pittman submitted a request to award $1,000 to each Pierce County Sheriff’s Office employee who worked through the Covid pandemic and had to use PTO when they had to quarantine.

“They did not receive compensation in addition to that,” Pittman said. “They were obligated to come to work, they couldn’t work from home. It would be a huge morale boost for this to be considered. When we think about where we could spend our ARPA dollars… our employees are probably our most important asset here in Pierce County. I think that’s a consideration we need to think about as we move forward with this process.”

Internet for All

Carah Koch spoke about the Internet for All initiative, which is funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The $1.2 trillion bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Nov. 15 will ensure that every American has access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet, among other things.

The NTIA will administer $48 billion through four programs that drive high-speed internet access, affordability and adoption, Koch said.

• $42.45 billion through the Broadband, Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) program, which is a program to get all Americans online by funding partnerships between states/territories, communities, and stakeholders to build infrastructure where we need it.

• $2.75 through the Digital Equity Act, which is comprised of three programs that provide funding to promote digital inclusion and advance equity for all.

• $2 billion for Tribal Connectivity Technical Amendments, a program to help tribal communities to expand high-speed internet access on tribal lands.

• $1 billion for Middle Mile, a program to expand middle mile infrastructure, to reduce the cost of connecting unserved and underserved areas. Each eligible entity, which includes all 50 states, will receive BEAD grants and distribute funds to subgrantees, which includes traditional internet service providers, electric co-ops, nonprofit orgs, public-private partnerships, public or private utilities, tribal entities or local governments, Koch said.

How much money in BEAD funds each state will get is based on new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) maps, which will identify unserved or underserved locations. The FCC opened the internet availability challenge process Nov. 18; those filed before Jan. 13 have the best opportunity to be processed and included in the map used to decide allocations. Citizens are asked to go to broadbandmap.fcc.gov/home to check their address and file a challenge if the internet availability listed is not accurate.

BEAD will prioritize complete coverage of unserved locations, Koch said. Next on the list will be underserved locations, then eligible community anchor institutions (schools, libraries, etc.)

“Each state is guaranteed $100 million based on the formula,” Koch said.

Boettcher encouraged residents to challenge the FCC maps (compiled with internet and put in Bergseng’s address as an example which shows he has connectivity while his son across the road does not.

“I would argue that prior to these maps being created, both were underserved,” Boettcher said. “We’re going to be shortchanging Wisconsin. I can point to thousands of examples like this that are concerning.”

Those served by satellite are not considered a reliable broadband service for the BEAD program and that includes Star Link, Koch said. Cellular services is also not considered a reliable broadband service.