Tim Walker
AMR Reporter
The Pocahontas County Broadband Council and the Pocahontas County Commission have, for quite a while, been attempting to get updates from Frontier Communications about the status of its broadband projects in the county. Finally, at the December 3 commission meeting, Allison Ellis, of Frontier’s SVP Business Development, and Mark McKenzie, Frontier Director of Construction and Engineering, briefed the commission.
Ellis gave a long presentation about the advantages of Fiber Optic over copper for broadband connections – and there are many of those. She said that while customers in areas still serviced by slow copper DSL – a 1990’s technology – are upset with Frontier, those who receive internet through fiber optic are very satisfied, since not only is the service reliable and fast, it is also less expensive than other fiber providers. She said that Frontier began to pivot from copper to fiber in 2021, and although Frontier is expanding fiber to 355,000 customers each month in the 25 states Frontier serves, it is taking a while to reach Pocahontas County’s rural areas. She said that there is a lot of copper theft of their old lines in West Virginia and that causes Frontier to pause fiber installation and fix those, and in most cases, those cannot be replaced by fiber since the fiber infrastructure serving those areas is not yet in place.
Ellis said that Frontier has applied for the NITA’s BEAD program to provide service to all under-served locations in the state including Pocahontas County but is awaiting the results of their application. When questioned about the status of the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Pocahontas County bid areas they were granted in 2021, she assured the commission that the project is on schedule, and they expect to be in compliance with the FCC’s requirements of being 40% complete by the end of 2025, and 100% complete by the end of 2028.
Ellis said that Verizon, who will complete a purchase of Frontier by early in 2026, has pledged to meet Frontier’s RDOF commitments and its FCC completion deadlines, and Verizon is equipped to do that since Frontier has a net worth of about $6 billion, Verizon’s net worth is about $150 billion, and they will also offer mobile phone service.
When asked why Frontier is so slow here in the county when they already have fiber lines in numerous areas of the county, Ellis said these lines have been here since 2011 and are transport fiber lines, also known as “middle mile lines,” and not designed to service homes or businesses. She said what is needed are “last mile lines” that can be hooked up to homes. She explained it is like living next to an interstate highway but there is no exit or entry ramp for many miles, and Frontier now needs to install those last mile lines to service the other roads and driveways in the surrounding areas, plus update the old middle mile lines to new technology.
Mike Holstine, a member of the West Virginia Governor’s Broadband Enhancement Council, pointed out that there appears to be no construction happening in Pocahontas County’s Frontier RDOF areas. Ellis replied that actual construction will begin in the county in early 2025, but they have been getting the proper permits. She pointed out that, unlike other Internet Service Providers, Frontier already owns its poles so they don’t need to reach very many pole agreements with other companies, which will speed their projects up.
Ellis also said that if granted their BEAD application, that project will also be completed by December 31, 2028 – at the same time as their RDOF projects.
Holstine commented that he has been waiting for better connections from Frontier for 10 years and after hearing this presentation, he is hopeful but “not holding my breath.”
Ruthana Beezley commented that she appreciates Frontier’s update, but Frontier needs to communicate better with the community to assure them that they do actually intend to complete their RDOF obligations and not just pay small fines and abandon their RDOF commitments. Ellis and McKenzie assured her that they will complete their RDOF projects on schedule.
Ellis acknowledged that Frontier did have financial problems prior to 2021 because the cost of maintaining their old copper systems was higher than the income generated by those old systems, but they restructured and committed to fiber in 2021 which solidified the company financially, as proven by Verizon’s purchase since Verizon would not be purchasing a financially troubled company.
In other matters:
Jamie Baker of Region 4 held a public meeting regarding the Community Development Block Grant application to demolish buildings at the old Howes Tannery site.
The commission received a request from JoAnn Gilardi of the Northern Pocahontas Historical Society Association (NPHSA) for a $500,000 donation to enable them to purchase and renovate a building for the future Durbin Visitors Center and Museum.
The commission had earlier agreed to Commission President Walt’s Helmick’s suggestion that it contribute $200,000 from the ARC COVID funds to this project.
Bryson Vannostrand, of Vannostrand Architects in Buchanan, told the commission that the building the NPHSA is considering buying to house the visitors center is in good shape, but with the purchase, renovations, and start-up costs for the project, they will need more than $500,000. He said the NPHSA does not have any means to generate the additional $300,000, so he asked the commission to up their contribution to $500,000. He said that once purchased, they can turn the second story of the building into two rental apartments which could generate $750 in monthly income. That rental income would cover future operational expenses and utilities. Commissioner John Rebinski said that the $200,000 donation they had agreed on is the donation limit for the project, and that the NPHSA should look for and apply for grants to obtain the rest of the money. The other commissioners agreed. Later in the meeting, Marlinton Mayor Sam Felton briefed the commission about a Mon Forest Towns Partnership related project which could possibly also be a source for grant funds for the Durbin project.
The commission also voted to spend money from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF), which they received a couple of years ago from the Federal government as forms of COVID Relief.
They have received $1,106,000 from ARC, and $2,236,944 from LATCF.
From the ARC funds, they voted to spend:
• $500,000 on the new wastewater treatment plant on Beards Heights, to serve Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, the state police office, Marlinton Middle School and a few residences.
• $100,000 to purchase the property next to the courthouse – including money to demolish the existing house there.
• $202,000 on Broadband for local match funds for broadband grants.
• $200,000 for the Durbin Visitors Center/Museum
• $96,000 toward the purchase of the county landfill.
From LACTF funds, they voted to spend $2 million for the 911 Center building project, and the remaining to be used for establishing a county ambulance service for the southern half of the county.
In other business, the commission:
• received the annual update on Pocahontas County Free Libraries and Visitor Information Centers from the libraries’ Director of Development Joe Miller who said that in the average rural libraries in West Virginia, one in five residents visit the libraries yearly, while in Pocahontas County, the average is five yearly visits per resident. He said they are trying to become less dependent on the Hotel/Motel Tax they receive from the county.
• agreed to donate $60,000 to the Mon Forest Town Partnership for local matches for grants in Marlinton and Durbin. Marlinton Mayor Felton said these can result in $300,00 or more in grants received by these towns.
• renewed the designation of the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation as being the county’s economic development agency and paid them their annual assessment fee of $7,860.80 which is based on $1.25 for every county resident.
• awarded outgoing Sheriff Jeff Barlow his service weapon
• completed a budget revision and resolution for the Animal Shelter, removing it from the sheriff’s budget to the commission’s budget.