By David Slone
Times-Union

SIDNEY — With Sidney getting broadband internet this summer, the future of the small town in the southeast part of Kosciusko County is looking brighter.

On Thursday afternoon, June 27, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for broadband internet for the town took place at the Sidney-Jackson Township Fire Station. Those in attendance included representatives of the town, county, Kosciusko Connect, Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA), Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO), local media, residents and other guests.

Middle District County Commissioner Cary Groninger welcomed everyone in celebrating “a great project that the county’s been working on here for several years.”

He said it started almost three years ago when the county applied for a grant through OCRA called HELP (Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program), which was “quite a process.” They had to identify different ways of how the county might be able to better implement some of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that it received from the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of HELP’s pathway assessments had to do with advancing e-connectivity.

“We kind of put a group together … and helped identify some of the areas in our county that were underserved in internet service in Kosciusko County,” Groninger said. “With that, Sidney and the surrounding area was one of the areas that was identified as in need of internet. And as we all know, COVID did teach us this, what used to be a niceties of having a good internet service so you could watch a movie became a necessity during COVID with so much work from home, and school from home and everything else that was going on.”

He thanked Kosciusko REMC and Kosciusko Connect for continuing to step up to the plate and build out the fiber internet like they have.

“It’s been really amazing to see how much progress we’ve made in the last three years and we thank them for all of their hard work and their substantial investment in Kosciusko County,” Groninger stated.

Additionally, near Sidney, with ARPA funds, the county is installing a fourth public safety communications tower.

“We have three towers currently up and running, and we identified – not so much Sidney itself – but if you go a little bit south here, there’s a river down through there called Eel River Valley – but there were some areas there that still weren’t getting the service we were hoping to get with our radio system,” said Groninger. “So we have a fourth tower currently going up just south a little bit, east of town here, at their wastewater treatment site, that will expand that coverage throughout the county and really get to our public safety individuals to be able to communicate well. So it’s exciting to see what progress we’ve made.”

Groninger congratulated Sidney on stepping into the 21st century with good internet.

“I hope this gives them the tools that they need to be able to attract people who want to live here and be a part of Kosciusko County,” he stated.

Southern District County Commissioner Bob Conley said, “It’s really neat because the safety of our public safety people – the sheriff’s department and the fire department – when you get out here on site, on the scene and you need help, you need backup, and you grab your radio or you get your mic and you got nothing. That’s a little bit scary. That’s happened a lot of times in the southern part of the county. So, hopefully, with the public service part of this, we’ll keep the fire department, EMS, police officers a lot safer.”

Sidney Clerk-Treasurer Lisa Parrett introduced Town Council President Gavin Parrett and Council Members Sharon Rancourt and Rebecca Adams.

Gavin Parrett said, “The main thing that is going to be important for us is attracting a younger – and we’ll actually be able to get kids here – and be able to provide service for people who are homeschooled, people who are still actively needing this level of internet on a daily basis. So having access to this, having access to the tower through our public service … it just helps add an extra layer of protection, an extra layer of communication that is necessary for a burgeoning town that we’re hoping to be.”

Rancourt expressed the council’s appreciation for the project.

“We were uncertain of what that scope was going to look like, or what the benefits to the community would be. So as things progressed, and KEDCO got involved, and (Kosciusko Community Coordinator) Amy (Roe) stepped in, the county stepped up and HELP came in, the project continued to take shape. (Kosciusko) Connect stepped up to the plate,” she said. “… As someone who is very vocal and appreciates small-town benefits, I can’t express my gratitude enough for what potentially this will do for us, including bringing businesses in and supporting families and just supporting growth overall.”

Rancourt said it would be a shame for small towns to die out so Sidney is on a path of growth.

“As we have said as a board, we plan to leave this town better than when we stepped into it with a plan for further growth and further expansion,” she concluded.

Curt Barkey, Kosciusko Connect vice president of technology and broadband, thanked the county and everyone else they’ve been working with to make broadband in Sidney a reality. He also thanked those at Kosciusko Connect who helped make it possible.

“So there’s a lot going on in Kosciusko County. We hear a lot of things that are going on, Sidney’s just a part of that. We’re super, super excited to be part of your growth and to bring Sidney up into the (21st) century, get you off that awesome DSL service you have to state-of-the-art fiber to the home service,” Barkey said. “Your businesses will thrive, your residents will thrive.”

He said Kosciusko Connect has already been talking to some Sidney residents and taking orders. “We’re really excited to be down here. We’re looking at the end of July to start connecting some of you folks up. We’re hoping to take orders, so if you’re down here and you’re a resident, give us a call and we’ll get you guys taken care of because we’re making you a priority down here,” Barkey stated.

An ice cream social is planned for 1-4 p.m. Sunday, June 30, at the fire department. Kosciusko Connect representatives will be on hand to answer residents’ questions about internet service and to sign customers up.

In a question-and-answer session, Barkey said they’ve started construction on the broadband internet a couple weeks ago. Hopefully, by the end of July, they’ll start to call residents to get them scheduled for their “drop,” which is from the curb to the side of the house, followed by the scheduling of home installation.

As for speed of the fiber optics, he said what Sidney has currently is copper DSL, which is about a 6-10 Mbps. Kosciusko Connect’s minimum is 100, but also offers a 500 and a gigabit package. “So we’re going to blow you guys out of the water,” Barkey stated.

The county provided $302,798.45 to Kosciusko Connect to provide broadband service to the entire town of Sidney and the tower in 2023.

“We’re going to treat this just like our service territory that we do in Kosciusko REMC where new customers come into play, we’ve got fiber there and we’ll be able to connect it,” he said.

After the ribbon-cutting, Duke Bennett, executive director for OCRA, explained why and how OCRA was a part of the project.

“We created this HELP program to assist communities with their ARPA funds – smaller communities, especially, didn’t have a lot of resources – and just to be able to provide technical assistance, so that was the role we played in this. Just to help them get it to the point of today,” he said.

It’s all about helping small communities to grow, and the only way to do that is to invest. “And so luckily the ARPA funds were there. The state didn’t provide any, but the federal government did, and we were able to help make that possible that this project came to fruition,” Bennett said.

There are other broadband projects around the state.

“We’re rolling out $81 million in projects all over the state of Indiana, so this one is a little unique because a lot of communities didn’t use their ARPA funds. It’s a good move on their part because it’s an investment that’s going to last for a very long time and continue to expand and provide that quality of life and economic development opportunity, so that was a smart move on their part to do that,” he stated. “The state continues to provide lots of money. Over the next few years, we’re going to put out several hundred million dollars worth of broadband dollars to continue to do things just like this.”