County fiber project begins

YATES COUNTY -- A groundbreaking ceremony for Yates County’s construction of the backbone fiber project was held Jan. 4 in Barrington. This is the beginning of Phase 1A, the buried portions of the trunk route. The County is using USDA Rural Utilities Services awarded grant funds to provide internet service to 1,635 premises that are unserved or underserved. The next phase, to actually connect customers to the service, will begin in the spring. The project is a public/ private partnership with the internet service provider, Empire Access, covering over 285 miles. Administrator Nonie Flynn says the County is also applying for another round of funding from the USDA for the remaining unserved or underserved premises with access of less than 100 megabits per second download speed and 20 megabits per second upload speed. This will cover 681 premises, 153 miles and is for $9.0 million, with no matching funds required from the county. In other business: Finance - Flynn reports that the County tax levy for 2023 is $15.9 million; a $600,000 reduction from the $16.5 million levy for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. The levy in 2014 was $15.5 million. In 2015, it was $15.8 million. “This is attributable to a combination of department heads operating their budgets on what they need to provide services to our residents and an influx of sales tax revenue, since the County is now receiving revenue from internet sales,” says Flynn. Bicentennial - Yates County will be celebrating its 200th year anniversary throughout 2023. The kickoff will be a reading of a declaration at 1 p.m. Feb. 6 in the Legislative Chambers. The County will also be hosting the Chamber of Commerce’s Business after Hours at 5 p.m. Feb. 8 in the County Office Building. A display of our history will be in the lobby and then will travel to our various municipalities throughout 2023. Veterans Events - The Department of Veterans Affairs will be hosting the following activities in the next month: • Jan. 21, 11 a.m. -- Coffee and Cards at the Dundee Library for veterans & their families. • Jan. 25, 1 p.m. -- Vegetable Gardening Class at Cornell Cooperative Extension for veterans & their families. • Jan. 27, 6 p.m. -- Farm to Table Dinner at True Roots for veterans. • Jan. 28, 1 p.m. -- Snow Shoeing at Harriet Hollister State Park for veterans & their families. Communications Project There is continued progress on the county’s receipt of the microwave system and land mobile radio system, shelters, and towers for the communication sites on Bluff Point, Italy Hill, South Hill, Sherman Hill, and Dundee. This is part of the County’s communication project to replace end-of-life equipment and leased towers with new equipment and county owned towers, as well to improve overall countywide communications. The project should be completed by this summer. New Shared Services Building The County is still waiting on final design drawings for the proposed Highway/ Emergency Services/ Public Health building. These are being completed by C&S Engineers. Once completed, the designs will give a more accurate construction cost estimate for legislature approval.

County fiber project begins

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