Photo by Rhonda Kinley
Among the business conducted on Feb. 9 by the Bradford County Commissioners was the presentation of a proclamation to David Keeler (above, second from left) and Nancy Keeler (second from right) of Wyalusing for their years of service to the Wyalusing area and the rest of Bradford County.
Story by Rick Hiduk
The Bradford County Commissioners voted unanimously on Thursday to spend $319,950 in Act 13 funds on a feasibility study that will precede the installation of new cable lines and towers to boost internet service across the county. The endeavor is a partnership with the Central Bradford Progress Authority and the funds will cover the cost of an engineering study, legal costs, and administrative fees.
Considering how much of the county is developed, Commissioner Doug McLinko stated, “It is an insult when you look at how bad our internet service is.” The technological deficit is holding back the entire county, he insisted.
“In an ongoing attempt to try to get good internet service in areas that are not (adequately) served,” McLinko continued. “We started a discussion of what we can do as a county without stepping on too many toes in the private sector.”
“It’s a public safety issue,” added Commissioner Ed Bustin, noting the lack of infrastructure to support the county’s 911 services and the fact that many gas wells cannot not be reached by current services. An early element of the project will be the completion of an overlay map that will show which gas pads are currently not reached by cell or internet service.
“Public safety is why we’re doing this,” Commissioner Daryl Miller concurred. “In order for us to function properly, we have to have adequate towers. We need that fiber (cable) to be able to do that.”
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The money will not be spent on the actual installation, Bustin made clear. “This is more of an engineering study to tell us that it will be successful.” One result of the feasibility study, he added, will be an analysis of how much the project will actually cost the county. Even then, the county would only be covering the installation of the primary lines and towers.
“We’ll let the private sector take it from there,” said McLinko.
In the past, the commissioners have implored the private sector to take the lead on improvement of internet coverage, citing countless complaints from residents about poor service from communication companies like Frontier.
“There is fiber throughout the county, but nobody works together,” McLinko lamented. “There’s no coordination to bring it together to work for all of the citizens. The right hand is not looking at the left hand. People can’t even get online to pay their bills.”
The work the county does now to ensure the efficiency of 911 and other emergency management systems will benefit the rest of the county as well, McLinko maintained.
“It will be a duplicitous system,” said Miller, “with more hard lines and better cell phone service.”
“We’re going to try to make it move as quickly as we can,” McLinko added, noting that work will begin in a corridor west of Route 220, because the county already has a number of towers there. This includes Towanda, Athens, Gillett and Troy.
The installation project will also likely be covered with Act 13 money, though the commissioners are mindful that, impact fee funds fluctuate annually. Additionally, efforts by some in Harrisburg to replace Act 13 with a severance tax could greatly reduce the amount of money funneled to the rural communities most impacted by natural gas drilling.
“Despite where Act 13 or the Severance Tax are going,” said McLinko, “we still have to make plans.”
There is currently about $23,000,000 in the county’s impact fee account but Miller noted that some of that is tied up in the replacement of the courthouse roof, which is ongoing, and more of it is earmarked for a new 911 center and related communications upgrades that should get underway in the summer.
The Central Bradford Progress Authority, represented at the meeting by Tony Ventello and Chris Brown, will administer the project, and Hunt Engineering will coordinate the study. Hunt was represented at the meeting by Darin Rathbun and Ryan Garrison. Garrison related his experience in helping to improve internet and cell service for numerous school districts and government agencies in New York state.
Keelers Honored by Commissioners
The meeting started with a proclamation read by Commissioner Daryl Miller, acknowledging the accomplishments David and Nancy Keeler of Wyalusing. Longtime publishers of the Rocket-Courier newspaper, which covers the Wyalusing area and a radius that extends to Towanda, Tunkhannock, Montrose and Dushore, the Keelers were recently named Wyalusing’s Citizens of the Year.
In response to the proclamation, a humbled David Keeler thanked the commissioners and remarked, “We live in a great little community with great people,” and noted that many more Wyalusing residents are worthy of such recognition.
Ag Conservation and Preservation
The commissioners approved the distribution of the $14,034 in interest from the 2016 County Clean and Green rollback tax penalties for the Agricultural Conservation Easement program. The funds are allotted to county farmers who apply to have certain portions of their land protected against development and retained for agricultural use. The county has provided a match for the funds at various times in the past but did not do so this year.
Additions to the Bradford County Land Preservation Board were also announced, with Krystle Bristol being appointed as a ‘contractor member’ and Annette Schultz as an ‘at-large member.’ Both terms are for one year. Appointed to three-year terms were ‘farmer members’ Roy Thomas, Bill Houseknecht, Brian Moyer, and Brian Zeidner. Also appointed to a three-year term was ‘elected official member’ Marvin Meteer, who serves as a Wyalusing Township Supervisor.
The Bradford County Commissioners will meet again at 10 am on Thursday, Feb. 23 in the board room in the courthouse at Towanda.