County puts support behind Bug Tussel for rural internet
Members of the Taylor County Board are throwing their support behind Bug Tussel in a bid to get federal grant funds to bring fiber optic internet to homes in the county.
At Monday’s special county board session, supervisors voted in favor of giving seven discretionary points to the internet service provider company for its grant application. Bug Tussel is seeking a share of $1.2 billion in federal grants to bring fiber optic internet service to homes in underserved areas of the state.
According to board member Mike Bub, who serves as the chair of the county’s broadband committee, a total of 43 areas of the county were determined to be eligible for the BEAD program.
BEAD stands for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program which aims to connect 25 million Americans currently without high-speed Internet access. A total of $42.45 billion will be spent nationally on the program with each state allocating and determining how it would be granted out.
In Wisconsin, internet service providers (ISPs) can bid to get the funds in return for building out service to those areas. The companies awarded those areas would then have a set period of time to complete the build-out and have the service available. As with other bidding and grant projects, companies get points based on factors such as overall cost and ability to meet the timelines. New in this process, Bub explained, is that the county has the option to make a recommendation on who the board thinks should be awarded the BEAD grants.
He noted that four companies have expressed interest in getting the BEAD areas in the county including Brightspeed, Mosaic, Charter and Bug Tussel.
Bub explained that the broadband committee supported going with Bug Tussel because the county is currently working closely with Bug Tussel on getting internet service to the county. He said between the county’s fiber network and Bug Tussel there is more than a 100 mile fiber loop around the county which will greatly speed up being able to build out from there to people’s homes and businesses. He said the concern with others such as Mosaic is that their build out could be delayed three years before any service is provided. By comparison, with the head start Big Tussel has of being in the area and having the network here, they could be hooking up people’s homes within months of getting awarded the grants.
Regardless of who get the BEAD grants, Bub said the county is not spending any additional money on broadband.
“There is no more money coming from Taylor County,” Bub said. “We think we have done our part.”
The BEAD grants are expected to be awarded in three phases beginning in July 2025 based on the timeline set out by the Public Service Commission.
In the end, all board members present voted to give the county’s points in support of Bug Tussel. Board members Tim Hansen, Chuck Zenner and Lynn Rosemeyer were absent.
In other business board members received reports from the newly created Aging and Disability Resource Center of Taylor County including an overview of office functions and the status of an addition project that will likely take place next summer.
Board members also got an overview of buildings and grounds department operations from director Joe Svejda. The department is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of 14 county parks, the Campus Trail, 8.7 miles of snowshoe and ski trails at Perkinstown Winter Sports Area and 77 different structures ranging from the Courthouse to cold storage buildings. “We often find ourselves facing a large amount of responsbility and work, with a lightly staffed team to complete it,” Svejda stated.
