Fort Scott's journey in pilot project begins

Fort Scott took the first of likely several steps toward a plan for more broadband internet access during a launch meeting Friday at City Hall.

A group of about a dozen city and county officials, local businesspeople and representatives of different aspects of the community met regarding Fort Scott recently being chosen as a pilot community for an action plan for the statewide broadband initiative.

Bill Gillis, co-owner and CEO of VisionTech 360, a Spokane, Wash.-based company that helps clients with broadband availability and use, facilitated the meeting along with Stanley Adams, director of the statewide broadband initiative at the Kansas Department of Commerce.

The state is funding the consultants to come in and help the city put a much-needed long-term broadband plan into place, officials said.

Attendees of the meeting learned consultants will gather input and information for a plan which should be put together by June or July. Discussion during the meeting revolved around what the plan will include, facing challenges and barriers to getting access to more broadband such as high costs, and other related issues such as affordability, access and connectivity.

"It's (broadband) available," Director of Economic Development Heather Griffith said. "But not at an affordable cost. It's not accessible to many people."

Concerning funding available for broadband, Griffith said after the meeting "we want to position ourselves for grant opportunities we may find. We want to know what's standing in the way? Why is it so cost-prohibitive?"

Gillis said he works with companies that specialize in broadband and economic development. His company works with issues such as costs and specializes in planning. Gillis said he is one of the team members sponsored by KDOC "to address needs and desires of communities."

"My main job is to facilitate the process," he said. "We will create a set of tools so the team can understand the data."

Gillis said the initial plan for April is to hone the focus of the local plan, obtain data, get stakeholder input and create a rough draft of the plan. He said the plan should be completely honed and shaped by April 30. A web presentation and communication meeting is planned for early May and completion and validation of the final plan should take place in June or July.

"We have to have buy-in from the whole community to make this work," he said.

Adams said the state has had a broadband initiative the last four years and has conducted mapping efforts across the state. Adams talked about the importance of broadband as a conduit for economic development and growth. The statewide initiative is funded through grants from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Fort Scott is one of four to six communities the state will work with as pilot communities for the broadband initiative. Adams said the plan will involve "engaging stakeholders" and "coming up with actionable items, things we can do" to be a "road map for other communities to follow."

Gillis said different areas of Kansas were chosen for the initiative with an interest in "smaller, rural areas."

Questions brought up at the meeting that should be addressed in the plan include "How do people use broadband?" "What do they want to do?" and "How would more capacity benefit them?"

Gillis said broadband internet is a part of economic development in the community.

A public draft of the plan should be available by early June and will probably be distributed online to a target group of stakeholders and later to a wider group. A town hall meeting concerning the final draft would take place in July. The plan should also be reviewed and receive input from local business and industry.

"The state is not here to build an infrastructure but help create a plan," he said.

Adams said one issue to address in the community is how technology impacts economic development. He said the focus has to be on "stakeholder buy-in" with the community articulating the problems concerning broadband access.

Some discussion took place regarding costs of digging trenches for fiber cables, another hurdle for communities. One idea presented at the meeting involved sharing costs of installing and connecting fiber throughout the community.

The consultants will compare data for the geographic region chosen as part of the initiative.

Gillis said educating consumers is an important step, as is obtaining input from local internet providers as far as what their limits and challenges are regarding broadband access.

Present for the meeting were Griffith, Director of Information Technology Slayden Davis, Mark Shead, who owns a local software development business; Bourbon County Information Technology/GIS Coordinator Shane Walker; Casey Russell representing the Kansas Research and Education Network (KANREN); local resident Curt Shankel; Mercy Hospital employee Christi Keating; Zach Wimmer representing Niece Products, a local company; Micheal Bryant, vice president of Cobalt Medplans; Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lindsay Madison; and Barry Rice representing RTS Electronics, a local company.

Faster internet speeds, as well as challenges faced in bringing more broadband availability to the area, have been much-discussed issues in recent years.

A second story on the meeting will appear in a future edition of the Tribune.