Broadband grant awarded to county

OLYMPIA – Adams County — including the cities of Lind, Othello, Ritzville and Washtucna — is among 13 proposed construction projects to receive Broadband Infrastructure Acceleration grants from the Washington State Broadband Office.

The projects are aimed at providing reliable high-speed Internet access to unserved and underserved communities across the state.

According to the state Department of Commerce, which oversees the grant process, Adams County is set to receive $10.3 million in funding for a project expected to cost $11.4 million on completion.

The county is required to match 10% of the grant.

The project is expected to be completed in December 2023, but could take longer due to manufacturing and supply chain issues for materials and a potential labor shortage, officials said.

The Broadband Infrastructure Acceleration grant comes after previous, separate grant applications, to the Public Works Board, from Adams County and the city of Ritzville were denied as a result of an objection from Desert Wind Wireless Internet, a service provider in Kennewick.

Those objections were not relevant in the Infrastructure Acceleration grant process.

The town of Washtucna did receive grant funding in the previous application, but is also included in the Adams County project. Proceeds from the previous Washtucna grant could be used as a partial payment match, required for the county-wide project. There will be ongoing discussions on that subject.

At a meeting Jan. 19, at the Adams County Courthouse, county Commissioner Dan Blankenship introduced Joe Poire and Kara Riebold from Petrichor Broadband, a consulting and network management firm providing assistance with the grant and outlined the project.

After the failure of previous grant applications, state officials suggested a request covering a broader geographic area and larger affected population, might get better treatment.

Blankenship , “So, the county and cities pursued the Washington State Broadband Office grant collectively.”

Contracts and specific requirements for the grant funding will be completed over the next few months. County Auditor Heidi Hunt, Treasurer Kayla Meise and Ritzville City Clerk/Treasurer Julie Flyckt attended the meeting to consider cash flow and other financial aspects of the project.

Petrichor was founded by six port districts in the state, including the Port of Whitman County.