President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act into law March 11, 2021 and it allocated $350 billion to help local governments with pains caused by the coronavirus pandemic. When the commissioners learned they had nearly $75 million to spend, they invited other governments and agencies to pitch them ideas.
The commissioners kickstarted the largest single project in March, awarding a $10 million contract to altafiber to bring high-speed Internet access countywide to 50,000 "doors."
David Kramer, senior director for Corporate Strategy and Development with altafiber, told the Journal-News to-date they have connected 15,630 single family homes and roughly 600 multi-unit dwellings and a few small businesses. They anticipate that total will rise to 2,800 by the end of December.
"I think 20,000 doors on a commitment to 50,000, I think we've made great strides in 2023 as we anticipated," Kramer said.
He said most of the locations are east of Hamilton, in Fairfield, Beckett Ridge, Seven Mile and next year they will be mainly in the Middletown, Oxford and Madison and Wayne township areas. Roughly 7,000 more doors will be connected. He said the permit process with the electric utilities is what dictates their progress.
"The challenge with permits regardless of the situation is they take around nine months," Kramer said. "So what you'll see in '24 is a lot of the permits we applied for once the agreement was signed, once those come in we'll start building those areas."
Residents can check if they are eligible to receive the service here: https://info.altafiber.com/butler-county.
There are around 157,000 households in Butler County and it is estimated about 45% are lacking adequate Internet access. The county is paying for the hook-up but people have to pay for their own services.
Kramer said previously their Internet packages generally range from $40 to $70 per month, depending on Internet speed and "we have basically committed to providing Butler County residents our best pricing."
The project deadline is 2026 but Kramer said it should be "substantially" complete in 2025.
The altafiber contract will not only bring Internet to areas that don't currently have access but the infrastructure so every resident and business can tap into the high speed fiber network. Kramer told the commissioners altafiber is investing $110 million into the project.
The county received an eclectic array of funding requests — totaling more than $200 million -including economic development and educational endeavors, help for the homeless, propping up small businesses, park and bike trail expansion, countywide broadband to name a few. They ranged in price from $24 million for new advanced aviation and manufacturing training centers in Middletown and Hamilton to $125,000 for healthcare worker training.
Another countywide project was $5 million — the commissioners allocated another $5 million for next year — for paving township roads. Butler County Engineer's Office spokeswoman Betsy Horton said all of the paving projects are complete.
County Administrator Judi Boyko said $76.5 million of the county's ARPA funds- including interest earned — has been allocated and $13.2 million has actually been spent.
©2023 the Journal-News, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
