Ottawa County awarded $16.5M in state grant funds for broadband project

Sarah Leach, Holland Sentinel
·3 min read

OTTAWA COUNTY — A push to bring easy access broadband to more Ottawa County residents has been complicated by delayed grant approval and a need to go before the board of commissioners — again.

On Monday, Nov. 6, the Michigan Department of Labor and Opportunity announced a second round of ROBIN (Realizing Opportunity with Broadband Infrastructure Networks) Grants. Ottawa County was awarded the $16.5 million it sought, though approval came later than expected.

More: Allegan County, 123NET receive $65 million grant for high-speed internet

ROBIN is a high-speed internet competitive grant program with $238 million in project funds from the U.S. Treasury as part of the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, according to the state's website. The program provides funds to internet service providers and public-private partnerships for the expansion of broadband infrastructure to unserved areas.

Although commissioners on the Ottawa County Board unanimously approved support for a letter of intent with 123Net, the company it partnered with to apply for the grant funding in March, discussion prior to the vote lasted several hours and new commissioners backed by the Ottawa Impact far-right fundamentalist group wanted to reduce the county's match to $3.5 million.

A push to bring easy access broadband to more Ottawa County residents has been complicated by delayed grant approval and a need to go before the board of commissioners — again.
A push to bring easy access broadband to more Ottawa County residents has been complicated by delayed grant approval and a need to go before the board of commissioners — again.

"I would say, in principle, this is a good idea. I just have questions on the numbers. ... The first thing that struck me was we were putting in more than twice as much as 123, even though we’re not making any revenue off it, so that was a little bit concerning," County Administrator John Gibbs said in March.

"That’s why I think having 3.5 (million) is a good solution."

The letter of intent, which commissioners directed Gibbs to sign, states the county is willing to use $7.5 million in ARPA funds to build the open-network broadband infrastructure. It also states 123Net will contribute $3.5 million.

If approved, the combined $10 million, plus the state's grant, would pay for the lion's share of the project, which is expected to cost a total of $27.6 million.

Douglas Weber, president of Urban Wireless Solutions, said in March having the $7.5 million financial commitment from the county would help the project “score” better in the highly competitive grant process. He also said the letter of intent was non-binding and “keeps the door open” for the grant possibility.

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If the county doesn't approve the project to move forward, it likely won't receive the grant money from the state, Weber told The Sentinel on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

In that eventuality, "it would be incumbent upon the county to find its own resources to build a broadband network if it so chooses," Weber said. "I don't think I'm understating it by saying it would be fatal to the project if the county didn't approve this."

If the project moves forward, the county plans to bring broadband access to nearly 10,000 underserved and unserved homes in the county.

In June, 123NET won an initial award of $65 million to construct an open-access, carrier-neutral fiber network for Allegan County.

— Sarah Leach is the executive editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at sarahleach@hollandsentinel.com. Find her on Twitter @SentinelLeach.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa County awarded $16.5M in state grant funds for broadband project