News

Broadband Workshop – June 15

The CSPDC is hosting a Broadband Workshop on June 15 to discuss broadband project development and state funding resources, including the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) program. The workshop will feature presentations by Kyle Rosner, Deputy Broadband Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, and Tamarah Holmes, Director of Virginia’s Office of Broadband.

The virtual Broadband Workshop is the third of an ongoing series of recovery-related Rural Attraction Roundtables, supported by the CSPDC’s EDA CARES Act funding. The most recently completed roundtable focused on telework and featured the results of VEDP’s Virginia Remote Worker Survey.

On-Call Consultant Program

In May, the CSPDC plans to release a Request for Proposal to procure consultants for the On Call Consultant program. Participating consultants are contracted with annual renewals for up to five years and have the option to reapply during the reprocuring process. Created in 2012, the program provides the CSPDC and the Region’s 21 jurisdictions and two Metropolitan Planning Organizations, quick access to competitively procured consultants, resulting in reduced operational expenses and turnaround time on projects. Firms who submit a proposal will undergo a lengthy review process and a VDOT pre-award audit to verify their eligibility for use in state and federal funded transportation projects. Consultants will be contracted by January 2022.

Bridgewater Riverwalk

The Town of Bridgewater in Rockingham County recently completed construction on Phase I of its Riverwalk trail system. The Riverwalk is envisioned to connect all of the Town’s parks along the North River. Phase I built a trail between Seven Bridges and Edgebriar Parks, going under the Main Street (VA 42) bridge, a significant safety improvement for trail users. The CSPDC assisted the Town in making application, and the Town used a CSPDC On-Call Consultant, AMT, for the engineering and design. VDOT awarded the Town a Bike and Pedestrian Highway Safety grant in 2016 to fund the project.

Broadband in the Region

The CSPDC is providing grant administration support for two infrastructure building broadband projects to benefit the underserved areas of Rockbridge County, including the towns of Goshen and Glasgow Both projects, a Virginia Telecommunication Initiate (VATI) program grant and an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) POWER Grant, will total over $3M in funding and will help build strong, competitive communities within this region. The VATI project alone, with a total cost of $4.4 million, will result in 111 miles of gigabit last mile fiber infrastructure that will reach 492 unserved homes and businesses. Local service provider BARC Electric Cooperative is contracted to complete both projects.

Other broadband access efforts in the Region include a project in Augusta County, through a partnership with MGW/Lingo, to construct a fiber-to-the-home network in the McDowell and Deerfield areas of Augusta and Highland Counties. This project totaling over $1M is expected to provide broadband access to 1,099 total locations, including 15 businesses.

On June 17, 2021 the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will be hosting an application how-to-apply webinar for the 2022 VATI program. Representatives from units of local government, internet service providers and other interested stakeholders are encouraged to participate. VATI applications are due on September 14, 2021.

Rural Attraction Roundtable

The CSPDC is hosting a second Rural Attraction Roundtable meeting on May 20 to discuss regional teleworking trends and assess the opportunity and best strategies on how to attract remote workers. The Rural Attraction Roundtable will feature a presentation on the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s National Remote Work Survey, an introduction to the state’s Telework!VA program, and an open discussion for regional stakeholders. For registration information, contact CSPDC Regional Planner Grace Blanchard at grace@cspdc.org.

This meeting is part of the CSPDC’s ongoing economic recovery efforts. For additional resources, upcoming events and data, visit the CSPDC’s COVID-19 Recovery webpage. New information is added regularly.