Natel proposes internet for 2,600 rural homes in Jefferson County

FAIRFIELD — The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors met for a work session Thursday, and one of the items discussed was Natel Broadband’s plan to bring broadband internet to 2,600 rural residences in the county.

Natel officials have said they have secured a similar agreement to offer rural broadband in Appanoose County, and the company is in talks with Washington and Henry counties to do the same thing. Natel has offered to provide internet for the 2,600 homes in Jefferson County for $750,000, which the county would pay from its American Rescue Plan fund from the federal government.

Natel is offering Jefferson County residents internet speeds of 100 megabytes. Hamilton said that this push for rural broadband is part of a statewide grant to provide internet to homes that either lack internet or have unreliable internet.

“Some areas of the county don’t have access to any type of internet even using a hotspot,” Hamilton said. “The school district found that out when students were not able to join online classes when COVID was going on.”

Hamilton said internet access is growing ever more important, even for occupations like farming, whose high-tech equipment relies on information from the internet. He said bringing internet to the countryside would represent a huge improvement, and compared it to the state bringing electricity to farmsteads in the 1930s and 1940s.

Hamilton said the county looked at other local internet providers such as LISCO, which provides internet to several towns in Southeast Iowa, including Fairfield and its neighbor, Maharishi Vedic City. LISCO provides some rural internet such as to Cambridge Investment Research, 5 miles north of Fairfield.

The supervisors have not come to a formal agreement with Natel, and during Thursday’s work session, the supervisors asked the company for more details about its proposal.

“We’re trying to decide whether we’ll go ahead and do an agreement in principal,” Hamilton said.

In other news, the supervisors discussed a few renovations going on at the Jefferson County Courthouse that will be paid for from its ARP funds. The north entry door does not comply with state fire code because it lacks a pushbar, so that will be added along with further renovations of the north entrance. The basement restrooms need to be remodeled, too, since they are not fully handicap accessible. The bathroom remodeling is expected to cost $80,000 and the north entrance renovation is expected to cost just over $50,000.

“We also have a renovation idea for the south entrance as well, because we lose a lot of heating or air conditioning every time the door opens since there’s no vestibule,” Hamilton said.

Lastly, the supervisors discussed mini-HVAC units for an office on the second floor and two on the third floor of the courthouse. That project, costing $20,000, was included in last year’s budget.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com