Agenda Item Name:
Title
American Rescue Plan - State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - Broadband Infrastructure County-wide Residential Project (Including 2 FTE’s for a Broadband Project Manager and an Administrative Assistant)
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Presenter:
Tommy Crosby, 352-337-6205
Description:
Broadband Infrastructure for County-wide Broadband preliminary project plan, requesting 2 FTE, including a Broadband Project Manager and Administrative Assistant, and accompanying budget amendment.
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Approve the preliminary project plan, the 2 new FTE’s (Broadband Project Manager and Administrative Assistant), and the budget amendment.
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Prior Board Motions:
June 22, 2021 - American Rescue Plan - State and Local Fiscal Revenue Recovery Funds
Fiscal Consideration: $26,129,224.50 has been received from the U.S. Treasury
Recommended Action: Approve the Plan, adopt the resolution for unanticipated revenue and accompanying budget amendment, and authorize the County Manager to: (i) approve and sign any recipient grant agreements and related documents necessary for the County to receive American Rescue Plan funding from the Federal Government; (ii) develop for subsequent BOCC approval guidelines and criteria for implementation of each Plan element, and (iii) negotiate for subsequent BOCC approval interlocal agreements and other contracts to implement the Plan.
Commissioner Prizzia moved to Approve the Preliminary Plan presented with a modification to increase local food line item to $4 million and decrease Undesignated line item from $9 million to $6 million, adopt the resolution for unanticipated revenue and accompanying budget amendment, and authorize the County Manager to: (i) approve and sign any recipient grant agreements and related documents necessary for the County to receive American Rescue Plan funding from the Federal Government; (ii) develop for subsequent BOCC approval guidelines and criteria for implementation of each Plan element, plus, explore items discussed during commission comment to possibly be added to
the Plan including, mental health, non-profit capacity building, structural translation funding, re-entry services, and senior housing as well as request an update on the central receiving unit and a presentation by UF Health and (iii) negotiate for subsequent BOCC approval interlocal agreements and other contracts to implement the Plan.
Motion passed 5-0
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
$15 Million allocation from ARPA - SLFRF. $1,000,000 transferred to Personal Services to cover 2 FTE salary and benefits until 12/31/2026.
234.00.0064.519.12.00 project# ARP2021x005
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Strategic Guide:
Infrastructure
Background:
The Broadband project plan will continually evolve as the new project manager researches, coordinate and identifies opportunities in ways to effectively and efficiently implement the plan. These efforts will be in coordination with Dr. Houchen to ensure the focus on unserved and underserved populations that have inadequate bandwidth.
Excerpts from the Interim Final Rules page 1, & pages 69-77, are attached for your review
Excerpt from ARPA - SLFRF presentation on June 22
Treasury Guidance - Make necessary investments to provide unserved or underserved locations with new or expanded broadband access.
BoCC Strategic Guide - Accelerate Progress on Infrastructure: Address internet affordability and accessibility gaps
Countywide Broadband Access - $15 Million
P3 projects with current internet service providers and telecoms
Collaborations with cities, school board, colleges and UF on maximizing impact with their ARP allocations
Leverage to acquire additional Federal and State Broadband grants
Target areas with less than 25 Mbps Download and 3 Mbps Upload first
Goal of 100 Mbps download and upload