To the residents of Cohoctah, Conway, Handy, Iosco, Marion, Putnam, Unadilla and Deerfield townships:
According to a study authorized by the Livingston County Board of Commissioners, middle and high school students with high-speed Internet access at home have more digital skills, higher grades, and perform better on standardized tests, such as the SAT. Regardless of socioeconomic status, students who cannot access the Internet from home, or are dependent on a cell phone for Internet access, do worse in school and are less likely to attend college or university. Also, internet connectivity — particularly access to broadband — plays an increasingly important role in both healthcare and public health.
As part of the Federal Government American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Livingston County and the townships of Livingston County have received funding for use on specific types of infrastructure, one of them being high speed internet. The townships received various amounts based on population, with roughly several hundred thousand dollars being typical, and the county received $37 million; the Livingston County Board of Commissioners has dedicated $12 million of the $37 million for fiber-based internet infrastructure.
On July 25, 2022, supervisors from the townships of Cohoctah, Conway, Handy, Iosco, Marion, Putnam, and Unadilla (Deerfield was unable to attend) presented a broadband plan based on individual townships coordinating township-specific projects to address the un- and under-served homes in our county. Several townships have been working with Surf Internet and MISignal ,and have already made progress in providing fiber to the home internet for residents, but there are still significant areas in the county that remain without service or are under-served, and the cost to cover the townships adequately is beyond the ability of the individual townships to absorb. As such, the Townships have requested that the Livingston County Board of Commissioners allocate the $12 million to the individual townships on a grant basis as needed to complete the individual Township plans that have been developed. as opposed to starting a new infrastructure plan at the county level.
The eight townships partnering with Surf Internet and MISignal have requested approximately $10.7M of the Livingston County ARPA funds. These two companies are willing to invest an additional $12.4M of their own money to make these plans work. They are not relying upon 100 percent funding to lay the infrastructure in the ground. They are willing to invest their own money.
We believe that this is a win-win for residents in Livingston County that are either un- or under-served for broadband.
We urge the county commission’s support of the supervisors’ request to create a grant program between the county, townships, and internet service providers. The supervisors are willing to meet to address the parameters of how the grant program would work.
Please contact your township office for more information, or to answer any questions you may have. We would appreciate your support in contacting your specific county commissioner in support of this request.
Mark Fosdick, Cohoctah Township Supervisor
Bill Grubb, Conway Township Supervisor
Alfred Mattioli, Deerfield Township Supervisor
Ed Alverson, Handy Township Supervisor
Pete Miller, Iosco Township Supervisor
Bob Hanvey, Marion Township Supervisor
Dennis Brennen, Putnam Township Supervisor
Linda Walker, Unadilla Township Supervisor
