Commission authorizes president to sign cautious support letter for Frontier BEED grant; vote 2–1

The Hampshire County Commission voted 2–1 to authorize the commission president to sign a revised letter of support for Frontier Communications’ application to the West Virginia BEED/BED broadband program, after discussion of wording, mapping and prior service problems.

Aaron Cox (identified in the meeting as "Mister Cox") presented the request and said Frontier is proposing fiber‑to‑the‑home in unserved and underserved red‑area zones. Cox noted past problems the county experienced with Frontier (911 outages and service issues) but said Frontier had assured staff that locations already funded by other public programs would be excluded from this BEED funding and that the West Virginia Office of Broadband’s program rules provide accountability.

Commissioners debated whether Frontier could meet BEED standards and whether the county should use a supportive letter to maximize access for residents with no other provider. Several commissioners emphasized caution; one called for explicit language that locations already receiving state or local public funds be excluded from the BEED project. Comcast had also requested a letter for part of the county’s RFP areas.

After edits for typos and clarifications, Speaker 3 moved to accept the proposed letter with corrections and Speaker 2 seconded. The motion carried 2–1 to authorize the president’s signature. Commissioners asked county staff to place the letter on county letterhead and send the corrected copy to the president for signature.

The vote authorizes a support letter but does not contract the county to any delivery obligations; the motion included wording safeguards that locations already or soon to be publicly funded should be omitted from BEED funding to avoid duplication.