Members of the broadband committee spent an intense few weeks of volunteer time preparing the three hundred page USDA ReConnect grant for the town of Charlemont and submitted it just under the wire on 6/21/2019 at 8:16 PM. We have applied for a 1 million dollar loan at a rate lower than any of the financing options we have been exploring, which unlocks a matching grant of 1 million dollars to fund our municipal fiber to the home network. Although it remains a long-shot, Charlemont’s submission made them one of only 19% of organizations to complete the application process!
From a press release following the application deadline:
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development received 53 applications
requesting more than $635 million in loan-grant combination funding in the first round of the ReConnect Pilot
Program. USDA made $200 million available for loan-grant combination projects in the first round of funding.
The pink areas of town shown in the image above are those eligible for this grant funding opportunity. The missing areas have already received some federal funding from the CAFII auction last year. Only the auction winners could apply for funding in those areas.
Thanks to the Select Board for their permission and support, to our town clerk for the needed documentation and the hard-working staff in the town hall for sending along some vital last minute information. Huge appreciation for the GIS experts in the valley who answered our plea for urgent help! Thanks also to the Charlemont farmers and business owners who took the time to complete the pre-subscription forms that were a part of the evaluation rubric for this opportunity. The final submission ended up with 12 of a possible 20 farms and 15 out of 15 for business support.