May 29—RITZVILLE — Construction on a project to bring fiber optic cable to the Ritzville and Lind areas could begin as soon as August. Adams County Public Works Director Todd O’Brien said the fiber installation in the two cities would be the first phase of a two-phase project. The second phase will be the addition of fiber in an area south of Othello.
“Our designer is in the process of putting together bid specifications,” O’Brien said. County officials plan to advertise for bids in June, with bids opening and the contract awarded in July. If all goes well, construction will start sometime in August.
“That’s kind of the overall goal right now,” he said.
O’Brien said crews will install fiber within the city limits of Rtizville and Lind. Once the fiber backbone is complete, customers will connect to the system through a service provider, he said.
Adams County received a $10.3 million grant from the Washington Broadband Office for both phases.
There is still some work to be done in the Ritzville-Lind area, O’Brien said, in the form of final approval of some building permits. The permitting process on Othello is still ongoing, requiring permits for rail lines, state highways and irrigation canals, among others.
“We’re still going through the permitting process,” O’Brien said.
Most of the fiber optic cable will come from the air, but some places will require underground installation, O’Brien said. The grant includes money to install the underground pipe at no cost to the property owner. But permission is needed from property owners first, he said.
If construction begins in late summer or early fall, the goal is to complete the project as quickly as possible, but that will depend on weather conditions in the fall and early winter, he said. That could push the completion of the first phase to spring 2025. County officials hope to begin the Othello area phase in spring 2025.
O’Brien said county officials plan to apply for a second grant to expand the network into rural areas of Adams County, once funding becomes available.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
