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24 <br /> 1 Chair Bedford said she planned to make a motion to approve the amendment as written, <br /> 2 and to reinstitute the broadband task force. <br /> 3 Commissioner McKee said he did not trust them. He said would vote against the <br /> 4 amendment. He said he wanted to make sure 600 homes are not left behind with no recourse. <br /> 5 He said there are other people in the doughnut holes who are also not served. <br /> 6 Chair Bedford said she was not willing to give up $6 million in federal funds. <br /> 7 Commissioner Greene said she received information earlier in the day that there are <br /> 8 some providers who tentatively have BEAD funding for Orange County, which included Bright <br /> 9 Speed, Spectrum, AT&T, Starlink, and Amazon. She said it hasn't been approved. <br /> 10 Commissioner McKee said that was not the information he had heard earlier. He asked <br /> 11 Robert Reynolds for confirmation on this and for stop-gap funding. <br /> 12 Robert Reynolds said they don't have a firm commitment for stop-gap, but that the state <br /> 13 office believes Orange County would receive $4 million. <br /> 14 Commissioner McKee asked how many providers bid on stop-gap. He said Lumos is <br /> 15 not bidding. <br /> 16 Robert Reynolds said that was correct. He said for BEAD, there are potential awards, <br /> 17 but they have not been evaluated by NTIA. He said it takes 90 days for those lists to be <br /> 18 validated. <br /> 19 Commissioner McKee said two days ago, he thought only Bright Speed and Spectrum <br /> 20 had bid on BEAD <br /> 21 Robert Reynolds said that was the information that he had at the time. <br /> 22 Andrew Stevenson said the stop-gap program had not officially launched yet, so no <br /> 23 provider has bid for the funding. He said Orange County was not eligible for the programs that <br /> 24 support NC Great and NC CAB programs, but those rules do not apply to BEAD. He said <br /> 25 Orange County would be eligible for that $4 million. He said although Lumos did not participate <br /> 26 in BEAD, the stop-gap funding would be an opportunity to get service to those 579 homes. <br /> 27 <br /> 28 Chair Bedford made a motion to approve the amendment to the Network Development <br /> 29 Agreement for Broadband Deployment with Lumos and give the Manager the authority to sign <br /> 30 the amendment and any other related documents and to reinstate the broadband task force. <br /> 31 Commissioner Carter seconded the motion. <br /> 32 <br /> 33 Vice-Chair Hamilton asked to separate the motions. <br /> 34 Chair Bedford made a motion to the amendment to the Network Development <br /> 35 Agreement for Broadband Deployment with Lumos and give the Manager the authority to sign <br /> 36 the amendment and any other related documents. Commissioner Carter seconded the motion. <br /> 37 <br /> 38 VOTE: Ayes, 5 (Commissioner Greene, Commissioner Carter, Chair Bedford, <br /> 39 Commissioner Portie-Ascott, Commissioner Fowler); Nays, 2 (Commissioner McKee, <br /> 40 Vice-Chair Hamilton) <br /> 41 <br /> 42 MOTION PASSES <br /> 43 <br /> 44 Vice-Chair Hamilton made a motion to reconvene the broadband task force. <br /> 45 Commissioner McKee seconded the motion. <br /> 46 <br /> 47 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> 48 <br /> 49 <br />