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