by Jackie Nunnery
HEATHSVILLE—During a special called meeting among Northumberland supervisors on Tuesday, November 23, tempers flared and insinuations were made regarding the regional broadband project and the county’s commitment to the broadband authority.
Broadband authority chairman Patrick O’Brien and members David Mower and Andrew Wiggins expressed concerns about the regional broadband authority’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Dominion Energy, Northern Neck Electric Cooperative, All Points Broadband (APB), Westmoreland, King George, Richmond and Northumberland counties, all members of the regional project.
The official kickoff for the regional initiative took place in July 2020 with great fanfare and the support of Gov. Northam and members of the General Assembly including Del. Margaret Ransone and Sen. Ryan McDougle. U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman wrote letters of support to the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in support of the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) grants that are largely funding the project.
“Previously there was a presentation from Mr. Carr that we did not agree with, but for reasons which escape me, we were not allowed to address those objections….[to-view-more]