COOPERSTOWN _ Otsego County is seeking $9.6 million in federal stimulus money to wire the county for broadband Internet services while improving emergency communications.
``I think we're in a good position to get this money because we've already done our homework,'' said Rep. James Powers, chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives.
The county and its Industrial Development Agency have commissioned studies to show deficiencies to Otsego's communications system and ways to upgrade it, paving the way for shovel-ready projects.
At Wednesday's meeting, the county board endorsed a plan to lay fiber-optic cable from the Public Safety Building in Middlefield to the county office building in Cooperstown, a distance of 4.1 miles.
An overall budget for this project has been estimated at $721,322, but county highway workers will dig trenches for burying the cable, an in-kind service that may reduce the outlay by $307,865.
This leg of fiber optic, tying in businesses along its path, is part of a plan to ring the county with 200 miles of the cable, connecting all 911 towers that are part of the county's emergency dispatch system.
When completed, the countywide network would hook up private and public users, speed emergency communications and bring fast, affordable Internet service.
The county would construct the fiber-optic ``backbone,'' and private telecommunications firms would be allowed to hook into it if they reach out to rural customers with wired and wireless services.
In mid-March, Rep. Marti Stayton, D-Oneonta, hand-delivered the county's request and supporting documents to Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica.
At the Wednesday's county board meeting, Stayton reported that Arcuri, a strong supporter of expanding broadband, was ``very responsive. He liked the public and private partnership in our program.''
Stayton compared the push to extend broadband to rural electrification efforts in the 1930s and the federal highway program.
Rep. Kathy Clark, R-Otego, chairwoman of the county's Telecommunications Committee, said the county's March 19 letter to Arcuri, written by county economic developer Carolyn Lewis, is a summary all board members should learn because it presents a strong argument for receiving the money.
In that letter, Lewis wrote, ``The provision of affordable broadband services will enable the long-term growth of and the enhancement and delivery of services by the educational, medical, commercial and governmental entities within Otsego County, thus improving the overall health, welfare and living conditions of all residents.''
After the loop is built, the county will be able earn enough money from leasing space on it to pay for administering, maintaining and upgrading the system, Lewis said.
``Otsego County has a stated vision to establish affordable broadband access and improved public safety to all residents and organizations,'' she wrote.
