Forest County Commissioner Bob Snyder said at Wednesday’s commissioners meeting that progress is being made on the county’s rural broadband project.
Commissioners approved a motion Wednesday for the county to pay Zito $8,504 for one year of dedicated internet access on German Hill Road in Tionesta.
Snyder said repairs are being made to a tower in Pigeon that will provide internet to that area.
Snyder said the poles are set to be delivered the first week of December and that next year they plan to put up a tower using ARC funds.
“We will need more locations than we thought. We will also have to shoot the internet under the trees because you couldn’t see the roof tops above the trees,” Snyder said.
He added that internet can be provided by line of sight connections within three to five miles of a pole or tower.
In other business Wednesday, the commissioners said election day went smoothly in Forest County.
“We had 75% voter turnout,” commissioners chairman Mark Kingston said. “It’s great to see that kind of turnout,” he added.
Snyder said some of the less populated townships such as Howe had an unusually high turnout. He said 772 mail-in and absentee ballots were scanned.
The county also received about 20 provisional ballots that will be counted Friday, Snyder said.
Commissioners also approved an agreement between the county and Tionesta Borough to use $192,320 of ARC grant funds for the third phase of the Elm Street water line project.
Karen Wenner, the county’s director of community and economic development, said the money is being used to replace 6-inch iron water pipes along Elm Street with 8-inch PVC pipes.
She said the larger water lines along Elm Street will also help with fire safety.
The commissioners approved the purchase of an HP 15 Notebook for Sheriff Robert Wolfgang so he can work remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The laptop is to be paid for with CARES funds.
The panel also approved the purchase of a server for assessment office workers so they can work remotely.
Snyder said they were told the server in the assessment office needed to be upgraded.
The server and 20 access licenses were purchased a a cost of $15,786 to be paid for with CARES funds.