The 2019 draft budget currently shows a staff-recommended capital project putting $200,000 toward a multi-port project to acquire and rehabilitate fiber-optic Internet connections from Portland to Seattle along the I-5 corridor.
“I think this could be a real big boon for the community,” said Port of Chehalis Chief Executive Officer Randy Mueller. “Having that much fiber and being able to access it could really open the door for the types of businesses that wouldn’t otherwise consider Lewis County, because that infrastructure wouldn’t be here.”
The entire estimated cost of the project is $5.6 million. Mueller said during the discussion that $5.2 million of that is just to build, while the other $400,000 is for maintenance and repairs over the next 20 years.
“We have had a series of conversations off and on, just kind of updating them about this project,” Mueller said. “The parallel conversations were happening at all the other ports that were participating. At the staff level, it’s really about the finances — what do we recommend, what do we have available as far as resources.”
Mueller first introduced the I-5 corridor project to the Port of Chehalis commissioners in late May. At the time, Mueller said the ports would essentially build the backbone for fiber-optic Internet, which is the fastest form of broadband technology.
Broadband is high-speed Internet access that is faster than dial-up. If the project goes forward, the Port of Chehalis would partner with the ports of Tacoma, Olympia, Vancouver, Ridgefield, Whitman County, Skagit County and Kalama.
Port of Whitman County Chief Executive Officer Joe Poire has led efforts for building the fiber-optic Internet infrastructure. The Port of Whitman County began building infrastructure for fiber-optic Internet in 1999 and built 90 miles of fiber-optic infrastructure to Spokane.
Other ports that could be involved are also drafting their 2019 budgets, and will invest in the project in increments of $200,000. Port of Chehalis is the smallest of the participating ports.
“We’re essentially operating on the same timeline as far as budget cycles,” Mueller said. “This is the time of year the ports are planning for 2019. … Those ports are also having the conversation with commissioners about level of participation.”
The ports have discussed the project being a publicly-owned LLC. It would be a separate entity that is governed by the ports, but is its own corporation.
Mueller said the ports are currently working on three aspects of the project — budgeting, governing documents for the LLC and negotiations about the physical work for placing fiber.
This was the Port of Chehalis’ first discussion on the 2018 supplemental budget and 2019 draft budget. Mueller said the first budget meeting is typically a discussion, while the second meeting will have an actual budget draft.
The commissioners cancelled their Sept. 27 meeting and will not meet again until October. Both October meetings — Oct. 11 and Oct. 25 — are set to include budget discussions. Muller said Thursday that he expects both documents to be complete by the end of October.
©2018 The Chronicle (Centralia, Wash.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
