SULLIVAN COUNTY –– Earlier this month, Sullivan Broadband Local Development Corporation (LDC) Chair and District 3 Legislator Michael Brooks asked his peers about the possibility of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) monies or other funds going to the broadband effort. On Thursday, he got it. Legislators voted to give the LDC $2 million from the County’s Unassigned Fund Balance.

Those funds will be used to purchase the necessary equipment to outfit the remaining County-owned emergency towers to provide high-speed internet.

The LDC has been looking to secure federal grant funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), but the wait has been 17 months and counting. The County has already given the LDC $100,000 to get started, and Brooks previously told the Democrat that the LDC would pay that and any future stipends back.

Legislator Ira Steingart explained that if the funds came from ARPA, the LDC couldn’t pay the County back once they’re operating, but if it came out of their general funds, they could.

The funding is timely, due to the three-to-six month wait time on the equipment, which is manufactured and delivered from Israel. If orders aren’t placed immediately, the LDC risks losing another construction season.

While fielding questions from legislators, Division of Information Technology Services Commissioner Lorne Green, who is also the LDC’s treasurer and secretary, explained that when 10 percent of those an emergency tower can serve become subscribers, the projected average is $200,000 in revenue after expenses. If multiplied by 13 towers, that’s $2.6 million a year.

Outfitting the 13 emergency towers, phase one of the LDC’s efforts, will cover roughly 60-65 percent of the County.

Green talked about how in the 16 years he’s been attending legislative meetings, they’ve needed to make a lot of “have to” decisions due to various unfunded mandates. One example he gave was the State mandating that the County had to build a new jail.

“This is the first opportunity, since I’ve been here, that this legislature has an opportunity to vote on something to make a difference,” he said, explaining how access to the internet has an impact on one’s quality of life and things such as health rankings. “We have many areas of the County that are under or non-served. That's the bottom line goal and objective of this project, to make a difference.”

Green later noted that had the LDC used EDA grant monies, there would have been restrictions on what they could do with the revenues.

“You do this project in this manner, the revenues [are] open to be utilized in whatever fashion you see fit. There are no limitations. [With] the EDA grant, if you wanted to take the revenue that comes back to the County and reduce property taxes, [you] can’t do it. You could in this case.”

Near the end of the discussion, Legislative Chairman Rob Doherty asked Green, “Bottom line … we give you $2 million … When am I going to get a signal at my house? When is this going to happen?”

Green, showing a map of the projected broadband reach from the County towers, responded that within a year they’ll be broadcasting to certain points on the map, and by the end of the second year, it will be all of them (the 60-65 percent County coverage).

“And the revenue will start coming in for us to expand to cover the additional 30-40 percent,” said Green.