On Wednesday August 17, Nevada Count District I Supervisor Heidi Hall met with members of the the Lake Vera Round Mountain Fire-Wise Community to discuss broadband and Measure V, which the Board approved to place on the November 8th Ballot.
In late spring, DSL resellers Sonic and Omsoft Technologies notified customers that, effective June 30, 2022, DSL services would be discontinued. Subsequently, Gloria Novak representing the Lake Vera Round Mountain Firewise Community, reached out to the County to learn what could be done.
When the County spoke with AT&T, they clarified that Sonic and Omsoft technologies were notifying their customers of decommissioning DSL services as a DSL reseller but that it was not reflective of AT&T and directed customers to their website to check service availability at https://www.att.com/availability/:
“We continue to provide DSL, home phone service, and other communications services to existing customers in Nevada County. We have not announced any discontinuation of ATM DSL, home phone, or other services for existing AT&T customers in Nevada County. The notice customers received was sent by Sonic and Omsoft, and customers should contact them with questions.”
Shortly thereafter, YubaNet conducted a June 2022 survey on who was being affected by the DSL decommissioning and subsequently shared the collected data with the County which has since been added into the map generated by the ‘Need for Speed’ survey data the county put out early this year.
At the meeting, community members received a presentation from representatives of the County’s Broadband Workgroup that included Nevada County Chief Information Officer Steve Monaghan, Community Development Agency Director Trisha Tillotson, and Sierra Business Council Vice-President Kristin York followed by a Q&A session. The panel of experts outlined that while Broadband is not regulated as a utility but is instead regulated as a private business, the Count has and continues to advances various projects to expand broadband throughout the County, including working to update the Nevada County Broadband Strategy Plan, launching and implement a Dig Once Policy to ensure conduit is laid when road-work is done, administering the Nevada County Last -Mile Grant Program, implementing a Need for Speed Survey in order to collect accurate data on the number of served, unserved and underserved residents throughout the county, and to develop a Programmatic Environment Impact Assessment Report (EIR) on the expansion of broadband throughout the county to decrease fiscal barriers for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to develop and expand broadband infrastructure, amongst other initiatives.
Steve Monaghan also outlined that with challenges of communication in rural neighborhoods, many communities are working with Nevada County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) to put in place neighborhood radio communication networks that can be used during an emergency. For more information, please see the County’s News Flash on ARES. Subsequently, Supervisor Hall and Assistant County Executive Officer Caleb Dardick also spoke about the Board’s recent decision on August 9th to place Measure V, a Wildfire Prevention, Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Readiness tax measure on the upcoming November 8th Ballot.
Asst. CEO Dardick provided orientation and education on Meserve V including its need, purpose, how funds are anticipated to be used, if passed, and how the County would work to ensure transparency and accountability. It is anticipated, as a half-cent sales tax initiative, that Measure V could provide $12 million annually for 10 years. Specifically, nearly $8M would be used to clear and dispose flammable brush from along our roads, neighborhoods, and homes, including free green waste disposal sites, grants for neighborhood protection projects, and assistance to seniors and the disabled. Another $3M would be targeted for emergency response and recovery from improved early warning alert systems to increased sheltering capacity, and over $1M would pay for enforcement of fire safety laws, improved disaster planning, and increased community readiness. It was also noted that a Technical Advisory Committee, composed of emergency services experts, would recommend funding priorities to the Board of Supervisors for approval as part of the County’s annual budget process, and that a Board-appointed Citizens Oversight Committee would report annually to the public on the receipt and expenditures of Measure V funds. For more information on Measure V, please check out Measure V | Nevada County, CA (readynevadacounty.org).
