Warren County has approved a contract to help identify and make progress on rural broadband issues.

The county commissioners approved an agreement with CTC Technology & Energy out of Kensington, Md. on Wednesday.

Commissioner Jeff Eggleston said the firm will start evaluating projects for grant purposes and conduct research and develop strategies regarding a buildout of network capacity. Commissioner Ben Kafferlin said the contract will be paid out of the county’s American Rescue Plan funding allocation.

He said the board identified those funds “as one of the key ways” to expand broadband into rural areas of the county, calling it an “initiative that all the commissioners share.”

Kafferlin said that the challenge is that there are “so many options and ways and things we can go after.” He said adding CTC to the effort will result in the firm serving as “quarterback of the whole initiative.”

BADGE PRESENTED

It won’t change the scope of work but Warren County Coroner Melissa Zydonik was formally presented with a badge during the meeting.

Kafferlin said the badge will be a “visual reminder not only to us that she has this authority” but also a reminder to Zydonik “to who you serve.”

“It has been an honor to serve for what I have done thus far,” Zydonik said. “I hope to continue to do it. People don’t understand what the role of the coroner is. (There’s) a lot more to it than what people would ever think.”

In other business, the commissioners also approved a labor contract as well as a rezoning request in Columbus Twp.

Kafferlin said the county went to arbitration with AFSCME and the ruling was issued in 2022. He said the contract has been in effect since but had not been ratified by the commissioners due to a clerical error.

The rezoning request centered on 34 E. Main St. in Columbus Twp. The proposal outlined by Deputy Planning Director Michael Lyon would change the zoning designation for the property from R1 to R2 to permit development of a duplex. He said that there were no objections raised by adjacent property owners and added that the township sent a formal letter in favor of the project.