AGENDA DATE: 8/7/2024
TITLE:
Title
Albemarle Broadband Authority Quarterly Report
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Receive the Albemarle Broadband Authority Quarterly Report
ITEM TYPE: Consent Information Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Henry, Fritz, Culp
PRESENTER (S): N/A
LEGAL REVIEW: Not Required
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: The Albemarle Broadband Authority (ABBA) was incorporated on August 21, 2017, to extend affordable broadband internet service access to every customer in Albemarle County. This quarterly report is being provided as information on ABBA's work from April through June 2024.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Infrastructure Investment - Prioritize, plan, and invest in critical infrastructure that responds to past and future changes and improves the capacity to serve community needs.
DISCUSSION: The full report is provided as Attachment A. The Albemarle Broadband Authority (ABBA) has held four public meetings in 2024. ABBA met on April 2, 2024, rescheduled from March due to conflicts with the county budget process. ABBA cancelled the regular meetings scheduled for April 24 and May 22 as there was no new business to consider. ABBA met as planned on June 26.
During this quarter ABBA amended our agreements with Brightspeed for VATI 2021 to allow them more time to complete their billing process for this completed project. ABBA is responsible for authorizing payments for this work and will not do so until it has been properly billed.
ABBA continues to watch with great interest the progress Firefly is making on the VATI 2022 project to bring fiber to the remaining areas of the County. They now have a posted target timeline for all of the areas in the County. Tracking the successful completion of this project is ABBA's primary remaining function. It should complete by the end of 2025.
BUDGET IMPACT: There is no budget impact.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board receive this report for informa...
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