Funding approved for township fiber expansion

MEDINA — More than $10 million will be put toward expansion of fiber-to-home internet service across Medina County townships and areas deemed underserved. A resolution passed Tuesday by Medina County Commissioners puts two $5.5 million payments toward the work, one coming from the county's 2021 American Rescue Plan allocation and the other from this year's federal aid. York, Litchfield, Chatham, Liverpool, Harrisville, and Spencer townships as well as Spencer village are slated to receive fiber tie-ins, as they fall under the service umbrella of Lorain-Medina Rural Electric Cooperative (LMRE), which is partnering with Medina County and network backers on the Fiber Early initiative. LMRE is the owner of poles and other electrical infrastructure needed for the expansion. Officials have said the co-op could end up owning at least one fiber internet line in the future but have not delved into further specifics of the deal. Medina County Commissioner Steve Hambley said additional hook-ups will be placed in certain parts of Montville, Guilford and Sharon Townships. These areas do not belong to LMRE but have been classified as underserved. "We wanted to get this passed so advertising for bids can begin as soon as possible," he said. "At this point, Medina Fiber are the ones working with LMRE. That doesn't mean someone else can't come in, but it's not likely unless LMRE decides it wants to partner with someone else. LMRE also wants to have fiber to set up their own smart metering within their territory and, of course, get fiber-to-home set up for its stakeholders." Officials expect fiber-to-home construction to begin sometime this spring following a contractor bidding process overseen by the Medina County Port Authority. Work will reportedly take at least two years to complete. Before working out the Fiber Early agreement, there were reportedly no concrete plans to expand residential access into listed townships. "We're just pumped that this is finally going to happen," said Litchfield Township Trustee Dennis Horvath. "I think about how long we've talked about this and how much we want this and it's very exciting to get to this point. We're going to have a meeting Monday where we'll talk with Commissioner Hambley and then, hopefully, get moving from there. "I think about our students learning remotely or people in our community who've had opportunities to work from home and haven't been able to. It's going to take some time but no one is going to have trouble with those kinds of situations anymore. This is a great, great thing for our township." Alabama-based Lit Communities and its subsidiary, Medina Fiber, are leading Medina County Fiber Network's residential expansion. That work commenced last March in Seville with steady northward progression ever since. Residential network construction was scheduled to begin in the first half of 2020 before the onset of COVID-19 and ensuing gathering restrictions put plans on hold. Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.