Agenda Item Name:
Title
American Rescue Plan - State & Local Fiscal Relief Funds - Broadband Update
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Presenter:
Tommy Crosby, Assistant County Manager, 352-337-6205
Description:
Update on Alachua County’s Rural Broadband initiative
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Begin development of the Broadband deployment plan, and prepare USDA ReConnect 4 application for Phase 1.
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Prior Board Motions:
June 22, 2021 - American Rescue Plan - State and Local Fiscal Revenue Recovery Funds - 21-0556
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
Oct 12, 2021 Consent - 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) 21-0952
Approve the preliminary project plan, the 2 new FTE’s (Broadband Project Manager and Administrative Assistant), and the budget amendment.
November 9, 2021 Consent - American Rescue Plan - State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - Broadband Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (FDEO) 21-1069 Participate with FDEO and Issue a Chair letter to Putnam, Union, Bradford, Gilchrist, and Levy County administrators to request the development of a Regional Technology Planning as outlined in the FDEO Broadband Planning Toolkit. NOTE: Levy chose not to participate.
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
$15 Million in ARPA funds committed to Broadband and in process of applying for Reconnect 4 Grant from USDA for rural broadband.
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Strategic Guide:
Strategic Guide
Infrastructure
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Background:
As a part of the American Rescue Plan State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds received in 2021, the BoCC allocated $15 Million to deploy rural broadband through Alachua County. Over the last year a high level sustainability plan has been developed and the County is in a position to move forward with a detailed deployment plan with a sustainable financial plan.