Kingfisher County Commissioners gave their approval Monday for support of the application of two companies to seek funds for rural broadband internet service in Kingfisher County.

Supported by commissioners at the regular weekly meeting were requests by Nextlink Internet and AT&T.

Both are applying for grants from the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF).

The money is made available through the Oklahoma Broadband Office’s ARPA SLFRF Broadband Investment Grant Program, which recently re-opened its grant application process.

The OBO is headed by Kingfisher’s Mike Sanders.

Approval from boards of county commissioners is required as part of the grant application process.

Nextlink already has a presence in Piedmont and is looking to expand on that.

In information it provided to county commissioners, the company has targeted portions of the Omega area for expansion.

AT&T seeks funding to provide fiber to the home service for people in the greater City of Piedmont area that also falls in the southeastern portion of Kingfisher County.

Commission Chairman Heath Dobrovolny signed a letter approving the projects on behalf of the county board.

Future bridge projects also took center stage at Kingfisher County commissioners’ meeting.

They approved a project leading to paving three more miles of the Dover-Crescent Road.

The approval included a $4,800 payment for title investigation, right-ofway staking and easement preparation to Pinnacle Consulting Management Group.

The new concrete paving work will extend three miles from the current paved portion of the road ending three miles east of U.S. Highway 81.

District 2 Commissioner Ray Alan Shimanek said the new paving work will likely start next summer.

Commissioners approved an $1,800 payment to Pinnacle Consulting for three reports regarding legal descriptions, easement preparation and staking on the Phillips Bridge on Lemon Road northeast of Kingfisher in District 1.

That bridge is scheduled for replacement partially using CIRB (County Improvement of Roads and Bridges) state highway department funding.

This state-funded CIRB program through ODOT provides funding for construction or reconstruction of county roads or bridges on the county highway system that are of the highest priority as defined by the Transportation Commission.

The program consists of state apportionments from the Motor Vehicle Collection Tax of $120 million per state fiscal year.

The monthly apportionments are divided in equal amounts between the eight ODOT Transportation Commission Districts.

A five-year construction work plan, updated annually, is cooperatively developed and maintained by the Circuit Engineering Districts and the Local Government Division at ODOT.

Approximately 75% of the five-year CIRB construction plan is funded with CIRB funds and the other 25% may come from federal Surface Transportation Program (STP), Tribal federal dollars, city or county local funds.

Commissioners approved expenditures of federal awards for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.

The list of surplus equipment from the sheriff’s department at last week’s meeting, involving numerous pieces of computer equipment and two vehicles, received final approval in a resolution to dispose of it.

Present for the meeting were all commissioners – Dobrovolny, Shimanek, and District 1 Commissioner Jeff Moss, along with County Clerk Jeannie Boevers as official minute clerk, County Engineer Nik Smith and Sheriff Dennis Banther.