Port on three-year clock to match fiber optic grant

Time is ticking on the Port of Whitman County’s project to bring high-speed internet access through the Palouse.

“The clock is ticking,” Joe Poire, port executive director, told port commissioners last week.

The port earlier this year was granted a $9.8 million federal stimulus grant to install fiber optic cable across Whitman County.

Poire told port commissioners he was informed the agency would receive an additional $2 million from lead applicant the Northwest Open Access Network, or NoaNet, to speed along the project.

The port’s grant was part of an $84 million package by NoaNet to bring high speed internet service to rural Washington.

The port is required to come up with a 20 percent match against the grant funds. That equates to nearly $2.4 million.

The port’s 2009 financial statement said the agency had $1,803,732 at the end of the year. Port officials are still trying to come up with the $597,000 balance.

Projects receiving stimulus funds must be completed within three years of a finalized contract under “shovel-ready” mandates set out by the program.

Poire earlier this month drove the proposed route of the fiber line with engineers from NoaNet.

The original plan was to install the fiber along the right-of-way of the state-owned P & L railroad, which runs along the east side of the county.

Securing that right-of-way turned out to be difficult, because ownership of ground along the 76-miles of railroad was in several hands. Right-of-way approvals would have to be obtained from the state, WATCO and others.

Some private landowners gave up operating easements when the track was laid. Easements allowed the track to go down, but did not give the railroads, and subsequently the state title to the ground.

The port and NoaNet decided to run the line along state and county highways to ease the land acquisition.

NoaNet is currently assessing the impact running the line down the highway could have on nearby wetlands and scablands.

Poire Tuesday was working with the City of Spokane and Spokane County to obtain franchise rights that would allow residents in those jurisdictions to access the cable.

The overall project will place fiber optic cable from Spokane to Walla Walla through Lewiston.

Initially, the fiber will be used to connect medical clinics and libraries to high-speed internet. Eventually, towns along the line will be able to tap into the cable to access the web.

NoaNet, based in Tacoma, is a non-profit company that operates a broadband network that includes more than 1,500 miles of fiber, primarily in rural areas throughout the state.