Mathews supervisors and members of the county’s Broadband Advisory Board held a groundbreaking Tuesday for the first of two communication towers being built in the county, this one at Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad on Cricket Hill Road at Hudgins. Groundbreaking for the second tower, at Mathews Volunteer Fire Department Station 2 in Bohannon, is expected in mid-February.
Rick Moore, project superintendent for E.L. Muller Construction Company of Charles City, said that the hole for the tower foundation was dug on Monday and, on Tuesday, the rebar reinforcement cage and the tower anchorbolts were put in place before the concrete foundation was poured. The tower itself, which will be bolted to the foundation by the anchorbolts, is scheduled for placement on Feb. 28. Moore said the project is “right on schedule.”
Dave Jones, chairman of the Mathews Board of Supervisors, applauded Broadband Advisory Board chair Judy Rowe “for making this happen for the county.”
“It was her vision that made the dream come true,” he said.
He also expressed appreciation to the other members of the broadband board, as well as broadband consultant Jeff Beekhoo of Broadband Telecom.
“The revenue generated from the towers themselves will help the county’s revenue flow,” said Jones, “and the towers will help businesses and citizens, especially those with home-based businesses, to have an avenue for acquiring good internet.”
Revenue generated by the towers, which will come from companies that rent space on them for broadband or cell phone equipment, is expected to be approximately $76,000 per year per tower, said Mathews County Administrator Ramona Wilson, for a total of around $152,000 annually.
In addition to creating revenue flow for the county, the towers will provide revenue for the rescue squad and fire department in the form of rent payments from the county. Wilson said that each organization will receive $1,200 a month for the use of their property, which will total $14,400 annually for each, or a total expense to the county of $28,800 a year.
Rowe said that when her advisory board was created in June 2019 it was given an expiration date of Dec. 31, 2025. Beekhoo, in consultation with board members, then determined that eight projects would be needed to provide 100 percent broadband coverage for the county.
Four of those eight projects needed have already been completed, said Rowe, including the installation of data poles to provide free broadband in public spots around the county, the purchase of MiFi units that can be checked out at the library to provide residents access at home, and the completion of two major installation projects that have enabled broadband access for over 600 households and businesses.
The two towers are projects five and six, said Rowe, and the remaining two projects will be installing repeaters around the county to extend coverage to the most remote locations and installing backhaul, which will enable the bandwidth to increase as the number of users increases, providing connectivity well into the future.
Rowe said she expects to have all of this infrastructure in place for 100 percent coverage a year early, by 2024.
In a subsequent telephone interview, Jones praised Rowe’s vision further, saying he trusted her to make decisions about the future of broadband in the county. With the advent of 100 percent broadband coverage, he said, Mathews is “moving toward a more business-friendly environment.”
“This is a monumental day because this shows that Mathews is open for business,” said Jones. “This is the best thing that’s happened to Mathews County in a long time.”