“So that [will improve Broadband service to] over 1,000 households. With 2.6 users per household. That’s 2,600 users. That’s a big ‘win.’ Second, it doesn’t require any increase in taxes, or any bond issue…”
The above quote is from the sales pitch by former Community Development Corporation (CDC) chair, Jason Cox, during a joint meeting of the Pagosa Springs Town Council and the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners on October 23. Mr. Cox promised that the effort would not require higher taxes, but he also noted that the Town Council and BOCC would each need to divert money from other necessary government services to fund the program. The three-year program would improve Internet service to about 2,600 people, Mr. Cox told us. With any luck — and consistently winning DORA grants — the local share would be around $500,000.
We’re not yet clear what public services would be cut, to improve local Broadband services for some people and to provide better profits for local Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
The $500,000 in requested local taxpayer funding has resulted from a study done by the Lindblad Group, who won a contract with the CDC to develop a plan for improved Broadband services. We don’t have high-speed Internet available in all areas of Archuleta County. (We also don’t have running water in all areas of Archuleta County.) And in the areas where high-speed Internet is already available, it might not be affordable to families or businesses. (We also have a shortage of affordable housing, and high-speed Internet is rarely available when you’re living in a tent or camper trailer. But that’s another story.)
The Lindblad Group won the contract in response to a 2018 Request For Proposals (RFP), which began with this paragraph:
The Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation requests proposals from qualified parties (individuals or organization) for the project of Archuleta County Broadband Services Plan Coordination. The Coordinator will provide analysis of broadband services and future expansion plans and will create a financial model for plan development for the Town of Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County , Colorado. The CDC endeavors to assist the Town and County in providing affordable, reliable, universal high-speed broadband Internet service to all County citizens, businesses and visitors.
An ambitious goal. Affordable, reliable, high-speed Broadband for all, provided by your local governments… even if you don’t have running water, or housing you can afford.
Maybe I sound cynical. If so, my apologies.
I found the above language from the RFP (you can read the full document here) on the CDC website a couple of days ago, and I noticed that the web page included a link:
http://www.pagosaspringscdc.org/broadband/
Being a curious kind of guy, I clicked the link, and was told the page could not be found.
The CDC website suggested I try “searching for the page you are looking for”… but the website doesn’t seem to include a Search function.
Pagosa Springs SUN reporter Chris Mannara wrote up a nice summary of the October 23 CDC meeting (which I didn’t attend, since it was scheduled for the same time as the joint Town-County meeting.) According to Mr. Mannara’s report — which quotes consultants Rich Lindblad and Eric Hittle, and CDC President Jodi Scarpa — the CDC needs about $800,000 in state and local tax funds to fulfill their three-year plan.
From Mr. Mannara’s article:
For 2018, phase one of the Cloman project is estimated at $51,570. However, 75 percent of that could be covered by a grant from the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA).
In 2019, costs of projects for towers, the carrier neutral building space, broadband manager and grant writer and other items total $307,500. Of that, $153,750 is grant eligible through DORA [Department of Regulatory Agencies,] with the town and county sharing the remainder.
In 2020, projects including phase two of the Cloman project and various fiber projects total $212,774 with $84,581 being grant eligible through DORA. The town and county would share about $128,194 for 2020 infrastructure funds.
In 2021, total estimated costs for various projects sits at $232,840 with $56,250 being DORA grant eligible and the town and county cost sharing $176,590.
We note the phrase “grant eligible through DORA.” According to the DORA website, DORA’s Broadband Fund grants are available to for-profit companies, or to non-profit electric or telephone co-ops. In other words, The Pagosa Springs CDC does not appear to qualify for these grants, so they will need to work very closely with for-profit companies.
The Broadband Fund was created in 2014 and has thus far helped to fund 17 projects. Funding is available for “new projects” serving communities that “lie outside municipal boundaries or have a population of less than 7,500.” About 85 percent of the population of Archuleta County lives outside the town’s municipal boundaries. The project must be shown to enhance economic development, telehealth, education and/or public safety.
Averaging the 17 past DORA grants with the funding provided since 2014 — $11.5 million — it looks like the average grant is about $650,000. But the money is available only for “new projects.” If you already have Internet, then you might be out of luck.
The first two phases of the plan appear to be focused on Cloman Park, an industrial park developed by the Cloman family back in about 1991. Some of our readers may have visited Cloman Park, and know that our vast industrial park is almost completely vacant, except for a few businesses. A couple of marijuana growers, for example. A door company, a construction company, an auto body shop. The Humane Society. In the County Assessor’s mapping application, about eight of the 50-plus parcels show signs of development. The largest parcel in the park — designated as ‘greenbelt’ — is owned by the Pagosa Springs CDC.
From the quotes in the SUN article, we’re left wondering whether “the Cloman project” refers to the construction of a CNL (“Carrier Neutral Location”) facility… or whether the CDC wants to to run high-speed fiber to several dozen commercial properties that have been vacant since 1991.
And we might ask. Who, exactly, lives in the 1,000 households that might benefit from $800,000 in taxpayer funding? Locals, perhaps? Or second-home owners?