By DOTTY NIST
“This is an opportunity for Walton County to be on the cutting edge,” Walton County District 4 Commissioner Sara Comander stated at the Aug. 25 Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting at the Walton County Courthouse.
Comander was speaking of a chance to not only to improve Internet connectivity in Walton County but to extend Internet broadband service throughout the county. Late last year Rick Wilson, Walton County special projects manager, had stated that approximately 40 percent of the county does not have broadband connection.
Broadband refers to wide bandwidth data transmission with the ability to simultaneously transport multiple signals and traffic types.
In August 2014, at the request of Comander, county staff formed a Broadband Initiative Group to look at possible solutions to Internet connectivity issues in the county. Headed by Wilson, the working group included county staff, DeFuniak Springs city personnel, and representatives of the Walton County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO), the Walton County School District (WCSD), and the community.
At the Aug. 25 BCC meeting, Comander emphasized the importance of broadband service in the areas of education, health care, the economy, and to individuals for use in their homes.
She noted that it is a “daily struggle” for her and her assistant to use computers at her office just north of the courthouse due to poor connectivity. “I cannot even use a jump drive,” she said.
Comander said she had recently met with members of the working group to discuss a plan to address these issues and move the county forward.
Rick Wilson came forward to detail recent conversations between representatives of the county, city, school district and other agencies on how federal funding could be leveraged through a public-private partnership to build a system “to meet all our needs” and connect the public entities together on the same network system, facilitating communication.
He said that he had learned from Henry Martin, director of information technology for the WCSD, that the school district was installing broadband fiber in Walton County. Wilson said Martin had put him in contact with Southern Light, who is running fiber throughout Florida for the Department of Defense, with fiber being run to every Verizon tower.
Working with Southern Light through a local partnership of agencies, Wilson estimated that broadband could be made available countywide at a $18 to $30 million dollar savings.
“We’re very excited that we’re working together,” Martin told the commissioners.
Josh Sconiers of the Walton County Sheriff’s Office commented that currently there is no information technology in the eastern part of the county to benefit officers. He was confident that the partnership effort would provide for key needs to be met at the lowest price possible for taxpayers. He said he had spoken with DeFuniak Springs about tying the city police department with the WCSO through this technology.
Jed Sconiers, director of information technology for the Walton County Clerk of Courts, spoke of long-standing issues related to the lack of bandwidth for service to county offices. He said he had spoken with the leadership for the current Internet service provider and had learned that they did not want to invest in new fiber infrastructure in Walton County due to a lack of return on investment.
Sconiers said his office was happy for the opportunity to work with Southern Light, who already has $10 million in fiber in Walton County and has expressed willingness to add to that infrastructure. He envisioned a total cost of $2.5 million for the project—or possibly just $1.5 million with the possibility of a $1 million federal grant.
“I’m really excited for our county and what we have an opportunity to accomplish,” Sconiers told the commissioners.
Steve Jaeger, executive director for the Walton County Economic Development Alliance (EDA), spoke of ways that the project could enhance economic development in Walton County, citing studies showing businesses’ strong preference for locating in areas where broadband service is available.
He presented information from studies showing that 10 times the cost of investment in broadband could be generated in economic development.
Speaking as a Walton County School Board member, Mark Davis explained that the broadband fiber being run by the school district is something that it was required to do due to mandates for electronic textbooks with broadband access and for standardized testing to be done online.
“We have to give broadband access to all our schools,” he said.
Comander expressed appreciation to the school board for doing this, as it would be possible to leverage their dollars to make the partnership project a reality.
District 2 Commissioner Cecilia Jones expressed appreciation to Comander for her work with this initiative. “We need this, along with water and sewer,” she said. “Sounds like we’re on the right progress for bringing jobs in,” Jones added.
Wilson pledged to come back before the BCC in early October with more information.
