The Mathews County Board of Supervisors threw its support behind the county’s Broadband Advisory Board during last Wednesday’s supervisors meeting, unanimously approving three requests that will enable the BAB to continue its strategic plan to bring 100 percent broadband coverage to Mathews County.

After a presentation by BAB chair Judy Rowe and consultant Jeff Beekhoo of Broadband Telecom Services, the board agreed to earmark $678,555 in American Rescue Plan funding to pay for building two broadband towers in the county—one at the Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad building at Hudgins and the other at Mathews Volunteer Fire Department Station 2 in Bohannon.

The board also agreed to allow the broadband board to pursue funding from Gov. Ralph Northam’s newly-established $700 million broadband infrastructure fund to pay for a fiber backhaul from Hampton Roads to the Middle Peninsula. A backhaul would provide “high-capacity terabit bandwidth” to the county, said Beekhoo, greatly increa...