Agenda 10-21-2025; 8-a - Minutes for September 16, 2025 Business Meeting and September 25, 2025 Joint Meeting with Schools

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23 1 appreciated Commissioner Fowler's comments and the feeling that their hands are tied. She 2 said broadband is not a regulated utility, and it is a shame. She said that this amendment is as 3 far as they can get with Lumos. She said that she supported reconvening the broadband task 4 force and pursuing any and all future options for service. She said that the County Attorney 5 described what they can and cannot contract to do. She said she had heard from many people 6 on how difficult internet access is, and this is a problem they want to solve. 7 Vice-Chair Hamilton said the comment that they are between a rock and a hard place 8 reverberates in her mind. She said part of the reason they are in this position is because 9 internet is not treated like a regulated utility. She said they have limited funds as a county to 10 meet the needs of residents. She said that she feels this is the best they can do at this time, 11 although she is not in favor of the installment plan. She would like to see Lumos receive 92% of 12 the funds when they complete all 665 homes. 13 Chair Bedford said she was in favor of the amendment. She said that if they don't spend 14 the funds, they go back to the federal government. She said that the proposal they negotiated 15 is for flexibility on the payment schedule, and it was not supported by the whole Board. She 16 said she supports moving forward with the proposal and not wait any longer. She said that the 17 county applies for many grants, but they are considered a wealthy county. She said they will 18 continue to work on it. She said they cannot put funds for broadband into the CIP, because it is 19 illegal. She said that is a General Assembly issue. She said she wanted to get 665 houses 20 served and get to work. 21 Commissioner McKee said they are dealing with a multibillion-dollar company. He said 22 their gross income was $81 billion. He said whatever they are losing is pocket change. He said 23 whatever they are losing is due to their lack of due diligence. He said the company was being a 24 bully because they decided to stop working when their margin didn't hit what they wanted. He 25 said if they had, they would have had over 600 of those homes done. He said it is an insult to 26 the county, and particularly because they are affecting people's lives. He described the ways 27 lack of internet affects families. He showed three lists of addresses that would be served, those 28 that are eligible for stop-gap funding, and those that are eligible for BEAD funding. He said that 29 BEAD funding is unlikely due to the county's status as Tier 3. He said that the ARPA funds 30 belonged to the taxpayers. He offered a different proposal, "Plan B", holding Lumos 31 accountable and force them to resume work the following week and complete the project by 32 December 31, 2026. He said if Lumos did not, they would move on without them. He said they 33 could then allocate $10 million of capital funding to serve the remaining 1,183 homes. He said 34 they could use that as an incentive payment. He said if T-Mobile wants to put fiber in the 35 conduits, he has no issue, but he wants T-Mobile to be in or out. He also proposed offering an 36 additional $3 million to T-Mobile to finish the project by December 31, 2026, as a "Plan C." He 37 said they made a promise to people. He said this is an equity issue. He said that regardless of 38 the outcome, he will continue to push this issue. 39 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked for clarification of Commissioner McKee's proposed 40 plan C. 41 Commissioner McKee said they would receive a total of $9 million when all the homes 42 on the list were hooked up. 43 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked for clarification of Commissioner McKee's proposed 44 plan B. 45 Commissioner McKee said Lumos would go back to work on Monday morning, and if 46 not, the county would inform them they were out of a job. He said the county would look for 47 another provider. 48 Commissioner Fowler said doing another RFP would put them farther behind. She said 49 she would prefer to get as much as they can from this contract and then move forward. 50 Commissioner McKee said he would have to have assurances that they would complete 51 the project by 2026.