That is set to change in 2025, thanks to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Connect grants program.
Last week, the agency awarded Loveland Pulse $1.037 million to extend broadband services to the park and residents of the Big Thompson Canyon, offering a new lifeline in future emergencies.
“This is incredible news with regards to safety and programming up at Viestenz-Smith, particularly safety,” said Open Land and Trails Manager Marilyn Hilgenberg. “Communications have always been really rough up there. … We’ve used two-way radios and satellite radios in the past, but it’s kind of a hit-or-miss spot in the middle of the canyon.”
Continuing, Hilgenberg said that funding for upgraded communications at the park has been hard to come by over the years, and not for a lack of seeking it.
“To be honest, we didn’t see it coming through a broadband grant, necessarily,” she said. “The Mountain Park doesn’t generate revenue, so the priority to put in that kind of infrastructure isn’t there — there really isn’t a funding source for that. Being able to have that communication access without a budget impact is really critical.”
The Community Connect program is part of the USDA’s Rural Development initiative, which got its start in the 1930s extending electricity infrastructure and service to rural areas in an effort to expand economic development opportunities. Today, nearly a century later, the program’s mission remains the same, even if the technologies needed for growth have changed.
In addition to the mountain park, the grant will fund a “fiber-to-the-premises” system for a total of 223 residents and four businesses in areas that remain unserved, including Cedar Cove, Bartram Park and Idlewild Lane. It will also provide public broadband connections at Viestenz-Smith and at Stoney River Lodge.
“One of the requirements of this Community Connect grant was that we had to include community Wi-Fi locations,” said Brieana Reed-Harmel, the city’s municipal fiber manager. “So we have selected two locations.”
Because the canyon is outside of city limits, Loveland Pulse partnered with Larimer County to apply for the grant and, through revenue sharing, will split the cost of the required 15% match.
“They have a vested interest in serving unincorporated Larimer County, for a variety of reasons, not just connectivity, but also safety,” Reed-Harmel said, echoing Hilgenberg’s point. “So this is a huge win to our larger Larimer County community as well.”
Most of the infrastructure for the connection has already been installed on aerial lines, Reed-Harmel said, but the city lacked funding to make the final connections until now. However, federal procurement rules will delay the start of construction until sometime next year. Under the terms of the grant, it must be completed within three years of the award.
©2024 Loveland Reporter-Herald, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
