Colorado awarded Ignacio about $49,000 in grants for broadband and affordable housing access, but the money is tied up in a state department swamped with COVID-19 recovery efforts.
Ignacio planned to launch two studies into local broadband and housing needs this year, moving forward even after the coronavirus began to affect local economies.
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs has been so wrapped up in responding to the coronavirus recovery needs around the state, it hasn’t been able to move the grant contracts through to finalization, said interim Town Manager Mark Garcia.
“It’s a little longer than usual,” Garcia said. “We’re anxious to get the projects going, and so are the contractors.”
Broadband access has been a longstanding challenge in Ignacio, where even Town Board meetings are interrupted by connectivity issues. The broadband grant from DOLA, totaling about $25,000, will help the town complete a feasibility study for infrastructure expansion.
“We’re excited that we received the funding,” Garcia said. “Broadband is something that is critical.”
Better infrastructure would lead to better internet service in Ignacio. There, broadband service speeds are spotty or consistently slow for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon customers, the three largest providers in the area, according to a coverage map by RootMetrics.
Download speeds vary from around 2 megabits per second to 15 Mbps for AT&T customers; mostly less than 5 Mbps for T-Mobile customers; and between 0.3 Mbps to 57 Mbps for Verizon customers. Colorado considers broadband to be sufficient with speeds of 25 Mbps or above.
“It’s a goal for all communities to have high-speed internet. Currently, we don’t have high-speed internet,” Garcia said. “We’re looking at trying to provide the infrastructure for it.”
The town received confirmation that it would receive the grant in late June. Typically, DOLA would then send contract documents for Ignacio to sign. Ignacio needs those contracts and subsequent state approval to finalize its deals with local contractors.
“If they start the project before the contract is in place, the town will not be reimbursed for that work,” Garcia said.
It’s the same situation for another grant, about $23,600 from DOLA, which would fund a housing needs study for Ignacio.
The town owns a 5.8-acre property, called the Rock Creek property, where it plans to build future housing. Some units would likely be affordable; others, market-rate or rental units, Garcia said.
A housing needs study would help inform the town’s plans for future development projects, based on research and community needs.
“The town has owned it (the property) for a number of years. It’s sitting idle,” Garcia said. “We do believe that there’s a need for affordable housing in the community, and this is a plan that would help us achieve (that goal).”
Both grants require funding matches from the town, which have already been appropriated in the 2020 town budget.
Garcia said the two-month wait to get the DOLA contracts hasn’t caused any major inconveniences. The delay at the state level is likely the result of a combination of COVID-19 recovery efforts and the end of the fiscal year, he said.
Every municipality in Colorado is contracting with DOLA for access to the Coronavirus Relief Funds. DOLA has had to create and manage that program, while closing its non-COVID-19 contracts for the end of the fiscal year.
“That program has been a huge undertaking on their behalf,” Garcia said. “They said it should be any day that we’ll hear on (those contracts), but they’ve had these delays because of the other requirements.”
smullane@durangoherald.com
