Commissioners talk broadband, landings and roads

A representative from Wildstar Networks came before the Washington County Board of County Commissioners to provide an update and answer any questions at the regular session Feb. 16.

Keith Pegue with Wildstar Networks advised the board that Sunny Hills is completely online and running with Vernon, Wausau and Mud Hill nearly complete. There are 83 customers that are hooked-up and running, 231 customers awaiting hook-up and 13 having been completed since the previous Tuesday. 

Pegue stated the next tower to go up will either be Orange Hill or the B.J. Collins tower after which there will be six more towers to build and many other towers to be used to co-locate on. Currently, more than 300 homes in Washington County have the ability to utilize Wildstar Networks. For more information visit https://wildstarnetworks.com/.

Engineer Cliff Knauer came before the board to discuss the floating docks to be installed at Culpepper Landing to help ease the traffic at the landing. Knauer advised commissioners that eight piles would need to be added to accommodate the docks and, with this addition, permits with the Department of Environmental Protection will need to be modified and the permit with Army Corps of Engineers will need to be reapplied for. The permitting process is expected to take three to four months. Once the docks are received, installation is expected to take three days. 

A bid to repave Sunday Road under the FDOT Small County Road Assistance Program was approved contingent on receiving additional funding from FDOT. The bid by American Sand and Asphalt came in at $1,622,665 while the funding is just at $1.3 million. The additional $833,500 will need to be approved before the project can move forward.

In other items, commissioners recognized Felicia Brown for her 30 years of service to the county. Brown expressed her gratitude to the board. 

“I am so thankful to work in Washington County,†Brown said. “I have a couple of more years in me, or however many God wants to bless me with. All the glory goes to him. Thank you.â€

Public Works Supervisor Johnny Evans requested to hire another Public Works Supervisor by the month of April to replace Danny Jackson who is set to retire in September. Evans said that hiring someone by April would give them plenty of time to acclimate to the position and learn the ins and outs of the job before Jackson’s departure. The board approved the request unanimously.

The Washington County Board of County Commissioners will meet again in regular session at 9 a.m. March 14.