Broadband intiative gets reboot

RITZVILLE – A Public Works broadband project to be funded by a grant from the state Department of Commerce and intended to bring high-speed Internet to Ritzville has undergone a change of direction.

Initially, the plan was to have the fiber-optic infrastructure installed by NoahNet.

But that would have left the city to operate the broadband network as a public utility, similar to water and sewer, with no staff or expertise, officials said.

Now, the city is working on a plan to include a publicly owned corporation, Petrichor Broadband.

Under the new plan NoahNet would still manage the installation of fiber infrastructure, but Petrichor would provide consulting services on the project, and manage and operate the public utility network as an Internet service Provider, on behalf of the city.

The current agreement with NoahNet calls for total costs not to exceed $20,435 for project management and application requirements to apply for the state Department of Commerce Public Works Board Grant.

The city intends to use pandemic economic recovery funding for expenses including grant matching requirements.

With no formal action to be taken, council members reached a “round robin consensus” to move forward with Petrichor.

Petrichor was founded by six port districts in the state, including the pors of Kalama, Ridgefield, Skagit County, Bellingham, Pasco and Whitman County.

NoahNet was formed by Public Utility Districts in the state.