During the Oct. 19 meeting of the Richwood City Council, Wood asked for the council's blessing and told them that he would be applying to the state's Tower Assistance Fund (TAF) in early November.
That tower fund, run by the state Public Service Commission, was created in 2005 by the state legislature to boost the state's wireless capabilities.
The TAF requires that any new towers built provide both emergency communication capability and some sort of wireless technology, such as cellular or wireless broadband.
According to Wolford, the existing tower in eastern Nicholas County is very antiquated and unable to be built onto.
The proposal would replace the existing 100- to 120-foot tower with a 300- to 350-foot tower, as well as replace the unheated cinderblock equipment building with a communication building donated by FirstEnergy.
According to Wolford, the coverage from the WV SIRN (statewide interoperable radio network) is extremely limited in the eastern part of Nicholas County and the surrounding counties of Greenbrier, Webster and Pocahontas.
Wolford said that during the 2016 flood, the WV SIRN was nearly unusable and said that upgrading the tower would begin filling that gap.
"It would be hugely beneficial, not just for our county but the other counties as well," Wolford said. "If it would become a state SIRN site, part of the statewide network, then obviously that would be huge for the other counties as well, being able to access it and have coverage in different corners of their counties."
As an example, Wolford gave a scenario of an incident taking place on Summit Lake in the Monongahela National Forest.
Located in Greenbrier County, access to the lake must come through either Nicholas County or Pocahontas County.
"It's kind of its own little world," Wolford said before saying emergency responders from Greenbrier would be on their own at the lake because of lack of coverage.
The tower could benefit the residents in another way as well.
Wolford has been in discussion with local groups wanting to expand broadband access in the Richwood area.
Wireless broadband would fit into the tower fund's requirement of a wireless communication platform.
According to Wolford, in the past, the fund was primarily used to boost cellphone coverage in the Mountain State.
The opportunity may be available to join multiple projects together bring broadband access to Hinkle Mountain.
The Region Four Planning and Development Council and the City of Richwood have been working on bringing city water to the residents of Hinkle Mountain and Little Laurel.
That project, funded through a Small Cities Block Grant (SCBG) from the West Virginia Development Office, is currently in the design and right of way phase.
Now, hoping to piggyback on that project, the city is applying for an additional SCBG grant for a high-speed broadband Internet project that will coincide with the water project.
In the first year of availability, Cassandra Hughart, a community program specialist with the Planning and Development Council is unsure but hopeful for the application's success.
Hughart said historically in the past the SCBG funds have been used primarily for water and sewer projects, with a very competitive application process.
"In my opinion, it serves as a great pilot project for the Development Office to showcase that they have the ability to provide communities with potable water service and high-speed broadband," Hughart said.
If the application is accepted by the state, Hughart said there is still a great deal of research to be done to find the best way to deliver broadband to residents.
An interesting opportunity raised its head when Hughart was approached by Wolford on possible collaboration.
"If we find in our planning for the broadband project, that wireless is the best route to go, we may have an opportunity to utilize the Nicholas County Office of Emergency Management's tower to provide that wireless broadband service," Hughart said.
Hughart said that if the project goes forward, that the best possible method of broadband service will be explored; whether that be wireless or hard-wired fiber service.
Both Hughart and Wolford agreed on the importance of broadband access to Nicholas County.
"The areas are being left behind as a result of inadequate Internet access," Hughart said. "The loss of opportunity cost to the residents includes education, entrepreneurship, job opportunities and health-care access."
The application for the broadband project is to be in the state's hands by Oct. 30.
Wolford told the city council on Oct. 19 that he is hopeful of a turnaround on the tower application by the end of the year.
The tower application is not reliant on the broadband grant application and may go forward with any other wireless component.
-- Email: mcombs@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @mattcombsRH
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