Stuart C. Irby Chosen as Broadband Contractor
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee presents officials with the check for $27.49 million to provide broadband to Lexington Electric System’s service area.
Photo by: Brooke James / Lexington Progress
Article by Steve Corlew-
The Lexington City Board selected Stuart C. Irby as its contractor for the Lexington Electric System’s Broadband project.
The board made the selection Thursday, October 27, 2022, after hearing proposals from Stuart C. Irby and FiberRise on the previous two days.
Lexington received a $27.49 million grant under the Tennessee Emergency Broadband Fund-American Rescue Plan program. It was the second largest of the grants awarded by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development on September 12, 2022.
When asked for his recommendation, LES Manager Jeff Graves said, “Both of them are good. Either one we can make work. The cost is relatively the same.”
LES will now proceed to put together the bid package for Stuart C. Irby to manage. The motion to hire Stuart C. Irby passed unanimously.
“We will issue the bids and they will manage the bids,” Graves said explaining the process. Graves explained that both companies’ plans were very similar. Both would use subcontractors to build the system. “Both companies will be hooking up people as they go,” Graves said.
The Lexington Electric System will loan $2.6 to the to the broadband entity to help start the project Graves added. Depending on what is allowed by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the electric system may be able to help on the first interest payment if broadband is not generating revenue by that time. To receive the grant money, service must be…
For complete coverage, see the November 2nd edition of The Lexington Progress.
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