Commissioners confident Berrien County well positioned for broadband funding

berriencountyadmin2827095
berriencountyadmin2827095

The Michigan High Speed Internet Office’s visit to Benton Harbor this week has Berrien County Commissioners optimistic. Speaking to colleagues Thursday, Commissioner Teri Freehling said as billions of dollars start to become available for governments to expand broadband access, Berrien County is well-positioned to apply. That’s after all the work to map out broadband availability in the county on a parcel by parcel basis.

“Working with our consultant through DCS was incredible,” Freehling said. “The fact that we have that and we can point that to the ISPs, we can point that to the state, we can point that to any of our municipal leaders to say, ‘Here is the real-time data that we have as it relates to broadband,’ that’s an incredible tool and we have incredible individuals in that department.”

Commissioner Jim Curran said Berrien is one of only a handful of Michigan counties that has already challenged the FCC’s map of broadband availability. He agreed with Freehling the maps done last year by DCS Technology also position the county to apply for funds. The county commission will soon consider a resolution to apply for some of the $250 million in ROBIN grants the state plans to award. The deadline is March 14.