By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR CORRESPONDENT
ST. JOSEPH – County officials have set the date for a workshop to help local leaders apply for American Rescue Plan Act funding for broadband expansion projects. The county is receiving $30 million in ARPA funds and plans to share $6 million of it with local municipalities on broadband.
Berrien County Commissioner Teri Freehling announced last week that a workshop for local leaders will be held this month, on Thursday, March 17 at 12:30 p.m. in the County Administration Building’s conference room in St. Joseph.
“We are going to be hosting March 17 a broadband meeting about the ARPA application for any municipal leaders that may be interested in applying,” she said. “It’s going to be at 12:30 here in this room.”
The county board voted in late January to invite local municipalities to apply to the county to get funding for local rural broadband projects.
Freehling is the commission’s vice-chairman and represents the Baroda area on the board. She is also the chairman of the BC Bit rural broadband taskforce which has been working on the problem since 2019.
County Administrator Brian Dissette noted that he will be setting up a Zoom connection for that meeting for municipal and community leaders who can’t attend in person.
A sneak peek of the March 17 presentation was given to the Southwest Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting last Friday. That presentation outlined the basics of broadband internet as well as the results of the survey of residents conducted last year.
As was noted when the survey results were released late last fall, the survey of residents showed marked differences between what residents are experiencing and the official Federal Communications Commission map for Berrien County internet coverage. The FCC map shows much more coverage than what is there in reality.
The Chamber of Commerce presentation went through the application process itself, including what information municipalities should provide and what to expect. Application proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis through July 1 with the county possibly opening up additional rounds for applications after that.
Application proposals will have to meet federal funding requirements such as showing eligibility, necessity and how proposed projects will reach out to the underserved and unserved. They should also outline their project funding and timeline and include letters of support.
A recent change made to the county’s website provides more information on the BC Bit page such as broadband survey results, meetings and agendas.
Also last week, Berrien County Commissioners set their night meeting dates for the 2022 year.
The night meetings are set for the first Thursdays of May through September at locations around the county. County commissioners have traditionally held night meetings each year but haven’t been able to for most of 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
The night meeting calendar was developed by Freehling and Berrien County Administrative Assistant Annette Krieger-Christie. The two contacted local leaders to find the locations for the different meetings.
The first night meeting will be held Thursday, May 5 at the MSU Extension Office on Hillandale Road in Benton Harbor. The June 2 meeting is set for the Berrien County Youth Fair Youth Memorial Building on M-139 in Berrien Springs.
In July, the July 7 meeting is set for the Three Oaks Township Hall on U.S. 12 in Three Oaks. The Aug. 4 meeting is set for the Niles District Library on East Main Street in Niles. The Sept. 1 meeting will be at the Lincoln Charter Township Hall on West John Beers Road in Stevensville.
All the night meetings will begin at 6 p.m. with no Committee of the Whole meetings set for those dates. In addition, those meetings will not be livestreamed on YouTube as the county board meetings in St. Joseph at the Administration Building are.
The revised meeting calendar approved also noted that the county board will not meet on fifth Thursdays in March, June, September and December as well as not on Nov. 24 which is Thanksgiving.
Also last week, Christie updated commissioners on recent changes made to the county’s website, www.berriencounty.org. She reported that the new boundaries of county commission districts are now on the website under the government and board of commissioners tabs. People will be able to see the new district maps and find out which one they are in.
She noted that people can look at the overall county map as well as the maps of individual districts. The information can also be found in other parts of the website, on the county clerk’s page, the apportionment commission page and individual commissioners’ pages.
People will also be able to see maps of the boundaries of new Congressional, State Senate and State House districts on the clerk’s page. That information is available as well on the state’s Independent Citizens Redistrict Commission website at www.michigan.gov/micrc.
The county board meeting also featured action on a temporary employment contract with former county official Dennis Schuh. Schuh will be paid $60 an hour for up to 1,000 hours to work with Berrien Bus and oversee public transportation issues in general.
In his report, Dissette said commissioners should expect a long Committee of the Whole meeting this week on March 10 at 8:35 a.m. Representatives of Abonmarche will continue to give their review of county facilities that they began last month.
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