Richland County commissioners OK ARPA funds for broadband expansion

The final piece of the funding to pay for the installation of broadband internet service in parts of rural Richland County is in place. The Richland County commissioners voted on Thursday to formally allocate $2 million of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds to Charter Communications, doing business as Spectrum, to help cover part of the estimated $8.1 million total cost.

Plans call for installation of fiber optic line with a one gigabit download and 5 megabit upload capacity to 748 addresses with a majority north of U.S. 30 along township, county and state routes. In addition to the county ARPA dollars, funding will include nearly $2.2 million from an Ohio residential broadband expansion grant and the rest covered by Charter, including $2 million in in-kind spending.

County Business Manager Andrew Keller explained that the grant program was created in 2021 when internet service providers around the state were invited to make application to service addresses — particularly rural addresses and rural routes — that were not cost-effective to run fiber optic to.

“The purpose of this grant program is to pay for what we call the ‘gap funding’ with the gap representing the difference between the cost to build out this connection amongst these addresses and what is considered cost-effective for the internet service provider,” Keller said. “In order to have a successful application, these internet service providers had to demonstrate that the addresses selected are not presently served with tier 2 internet access, which is defined as having a minimum of 25 mbps download speed and a minimum of 3 mbps upload speed.

Keller noted that the broadband project will just provide access to internet service. Customers still will have to subscribe or purchase the service themselves, although the Federal Communications Commission has an affordable internet connectivity program that offers a subsidy depending on income.

Broadband installation to be completed within three years

Officials were asked when the project will be completed. Keller and commissioners pointed out that federal regulations require all ARPA funded projects must be completed by Dec. 31, 2026.

Keller noted that Charter is doing a final tour of the service area to determine a final number of addresses and is working on agreements to attach lines to utility poles before starting installation.

On a separate but related issue, Commissioner Tony Vero said a local group that had been working with Broadband Ohio on the current program is also working with a ”process” to secure fiber optic cable in the areas all around U.S. 30 moving west from Mansfield that is heavily traveled and has been targeted for future growth.

"Development trails tech and it needs tech,” he said. “The hopes for broadband expansion in Richland County don’t end today. They start today.”

May proclaimed 'Drug Court Month'

Commissioners also issued a proclamation on Thursday declaring May as “Drug Court Month.” The proclamation was presented to Common Pleas Court Judges Phil Naumoff and Brent Robinson, who said the value of the program is “very immense.”

Judge Naumoff said 120 people are enrolled in the drug court program between the two courts and that more than 2,000 people have gone through since now retired Judge James Henson started what was one of the first five drug courts in the nation in 1997.

“When I was a defense attorney, we had a lot of people coming through with drug addictions and this was an opportunity for them to kind of save themselves before they went down that road,” he said. “The whole idea is just not to throw a human away. Most of these people with the right supervision, the right constant treatment, can be productive citizens and as a whole that’s important to us. For most of these people it’s a matter of getting some structure in their lives.”

Naumoff credited Chief Probation Officer J.J. Biddinger and his staff with being in frequent contact and communication with drug court participants and their families for the program’s continued success.

Robinson noted that there originally was some public “pushback” that drug court was being soft on crime.

“Now when you think about it, it’s low-level, nonviolent people whose criminal activity is based on their substance abuse and most of the people Judge Naumoff and I see are possessors,” he said.

Jail time still an option for offenders

Vero asked how officials can communicate with legislators who want to eliminate jail or prison as an option for people convicted of low-level felony crimes.

“If you make good choices in drug court or re-entry court, we’re going to reward you, but the converse of that is there have to be negative consequences for negative behavior,” Robinson said. “The national drug court conference says you have to have it as soon as possible if the program is going to work, so you have to have jails, you have to have prisons. There has to be a last option.”

The drug court month resolution notes that treatment courts are recognized as the most successful justice system intervention in the nation’s history, serving over 1.5 million people and saving an average of $6,000 for each individual served.

The local drug court will have its first graduation ceremony since COVID at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the Life Celebration Center in Mansfield.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Commissioners OK ARPA funds to extend broadband internet access