BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Stoddard County Development Corporation recently signed paperwork to receive funding from USDA Rural Development for the purchase of two fully equipped vehicles for the Stoddard County Sheriff's office. The non-profit corporation is made up of Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis and Associate Commissioners Carol Jarrell and Steve Jordan.
The Rural Development funding is in the form of both a loan and a grant with the maximum amount set at $74,875. The funding includes $57,300 in a loan and $17,575 in a grant.
Carla Jacques, with USDA Rural Development in Dexter, presented the letter of conditions to the corporation, along with needed paperwork which was signed by officers of the corporation. She said the term of the low-interest loan was five years, with no penalty for early payoff. The scheduled payment was $15,138 annually. She said loan funds would be used first toward the purchase of the vehicles and then the grant money.
Mathis asked if the loan could be repaid in the first year, and Jacques said it could not. She said it could be repaid with no penalty after the first year.
Jacques said the first step was to advertise for bids. She said the bid specifications would have to be approved by Rural Development before being published.
The corporation approved signing the "letter of intent" by a 3-0 vote.
Commission told of rural broadband project
The Stoddard County Commission heard a report from a representative of SEMO Electric to provide broadband Internet service to its customers of the utility in its service area in the county.
Mathis prefaced the presentation by saying he first heard the report at a meeting of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) of Stoddard County.
"I know this is private company and there is other direct competition, but I thought it was an important development in the county," said Mathis. "Other companies are welcome to address the commission as well."
Lloyd Rice, administrator of Engineering Services for SEMO Electric, told the commission that the company plans to install fiber optics to provide broadband Internet service to its customers in the Advance/Bloomfield area as well as rural areas of the county served by the company. He said the service would provide internet speeds of up to 1 Gbps (or 1,000 Mbps). He said while the company did not intend to get into the television and telephone business, those services would be offered through the fiber optic network.
Rice said the broadband project was a $40 million dollar investment by SEMO Electric, and would be phased in over a five-year period.
"We made the decision when it became apparent that no other company was going into rural America," said Rice.
Rice said the federal broadband initiative originally approached AT&T about providing the service to rural areas, but they declined. He said some federal funds may become available to SEMO Electric which would speed up the timetable for providing the service.
Mathis asked, "Does this include Bell City?"
Rice said it included all areas of the county served by SEMO Electric, and that included Bell City.
"Does this include all rural areas?" asked Jordan.
Rice said the only areas not served would be those areas served by Ameren Missouri (Dexter to Dudley and south) and those served by Ozark Border (western part of the county).
Mathis asked if the broadband service would eliminate problems with slow Internet during certain periods such as after school or in the evening.
Rice said fiber optic lines provide much higher speed than any other service, and speeds would not slow down because of heavy usage. He also said there would be no "gray out" areas such as experienced with satellite connections. He noted that many rural businesses and people who work out of their homes in rural areas needed the faster Internet for work.
Rice said work started in Miner, Mo., on Sept. 11 and Advance/Bloomfield were also in the first phase of construction. He said the hope was that the company would be "hooking up customers" by the first of the year.
"I feel like this will lead to more population coming into our county," stated Jordan. He noted that several prospective residents who worked from their homes chose to locate to the county because of the lack of broadband service.
"I think it will have a big infrastructure impact," said Mathis, adding, "I'm not advocating our company over any other service provider."
County Clerk Joe Watson asked if SEMO Electric had set rates for the service.
"Not yet," responded Rice. "Our prices will be affordable."