Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: October 7, 2025 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-a <br /> SUBJECT: Appointments and Amendments to the Charge of the Orange County Broadband <br /> Task Force <br /> DEPARTMENT: County Manager <br /> ATTACHMENTS: INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Appointment Applications Travis Myren, 919-245-2308 <br /> Robert Reynolds, 919-245-2276 <br /> PURPOSE: To amend the charge, appoint two (2) Commissioners, reappoint two (2) At Large <br /> members, and authorize the recruitment of three (3) new resident members to fill the vacant <br /> Orange County Resident — At Large seats. <br /> BACKGROUND: On November 17, 2020, the Board of Commissioners created a Broadband <br /> Task Force. The group included the County Manager, Information Technology Department <br /> Director, a representative from the North Carolina Department of Information Technology <br /> (NCDIT), Orange County Schools Superintendent, Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools <br /> Superintendent and five (5) Community members living in the unincorporated areas of Orange <br /> County who are underserved, including those with an interest in resolving the digital divide in <br /> Orange County. <br /> The Task Force's charge was to discuss broadband solutions that will improve the quality of high- <br /> speed internet services to Orange County residents and to recommend a plan to the Board of <br /> Orange County Commissioners to expand reliable high-speed internet services to all County <br /> residents and businesses. The work of the Task Force culminated in an incentive-based contract <br /> with North State Communications Advanced Services, LLC (now Lumos) to deploy broadband <br /> technology in rural Orange County. <br /> During spring 2024, Lumos began experiencing delays due to construction and budget issues, <br /> and much of the construction activity on the project slowed considerably. Lumos reported that <br /> those issues had an impact on the overall project schedule and drove the project well over budget. <br /> Lumos subsequently proposed to lower the number of addresses served from 6,370 to 5,852, <br /> completing 92% of the passings in the original contract. Consistent with reducing the number of <br /> passings, the amendment also lowered the total payment to Lumos from $10 million to $9.2 <br /> million. In response to the amendment, Commissioner Jean Hamilton petitioned that the Board <br /> reestablish the Broadband Task Force. <br />