WEBVTT

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You are a little more mature than I am, which

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drove my parents nuts, of course. Every day.

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Over and over, yeah. Over and over and over.

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It's just one of those. It could happen anytime.

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Welcome to County Connection. the official podcast

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of the Washington State Association of Counties,

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where we dive into the legislative issues shaping

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the future of our communities. From budgets to

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public safety, infrastructure to elections, we'll

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break down what's happening in Olympia and how

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it impacts counties from across the Evergreen

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State. Stay informed, stay engaged, and join

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us as we amplify the voice of Washington's 39

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counties. Welcome, everybody, to the County Connection

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Podcast. I'm Paul Jewell. Your host, and this

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is the official podcast of the Washington State

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Association of Counties. You know, usually this

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time of year, we focus our podcasts almost exclusively

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on what's going on in the legislative session

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here in Olympia because I, what is this, Friday,

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February 20th, something like that. But today

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is a little different. I'm hanging with Hutzel,

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which sounds like a really cool. But it's going

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to be a really cool podcast because Commissioner

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Hutzel from Lincoln County is here joining me.

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How are you, Commissioner? Great, Paul. Good

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to see you. Glad to be with you. Yeah, you're

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a long ways from home hanging out here in Olympiana

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Friday with the rest of us. What's going on?

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Yeah, this 300 miles is good. I used to do this

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a lot when I chaired the Public Works Board.

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Yeah, you did. And the nine years I spent on

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there, they were... Public Works Board meetings

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were on Friday. Right. So I was always here until

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2, 3, 4 o 'clock in the afternoon. In fact, there

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was one today. And I was there. Oh, you were?

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I was there. Well, there you go. First thing,

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I had to stick my head in. Of course you did.

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Yeah. Old habits die hard. Because that's a...

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And when they start talking about broadband down

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there, I've got to have my head in that trying

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to tell the history. For sure. Well, Commissioner

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Hutzel, you and I go way back. 18 years. Yeah.

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Wow. Has it been that long? So for, you know,

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both of us are not very young. So to say that's

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way back is probably not totally accurate. But

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we do go back a little ways. Yes, we do. Which

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is good. You and I were actually elected at the

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same time, and we went through newly elected

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officials training together. That's when we first

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met. Yeah, that's when we first met. Now, you're

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considered. I'm not a county commissioner. I

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haven't been. I still call you the commissioner.

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I appreciate that. I wouldn't. But it's been

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almost over eight years now, believe it or not.

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But you have been a county commissioner for the

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whole time out there in Lincoln County, and you're

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almost considered the OG here at WASAC. There's

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only myself and Commissioner Ron Wiesen. After

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Cindy Carter, if she decides to retire this fall,

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and Ron and I will be the OGs. And Ron was in

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our class, too. Yes, he was. So, I mean, you

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could say the three of us are the last. The last

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commissioner standing, so to speak, and I'm not

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even a county commissioner. I'm just here at

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WASAC. Out of that group. Wow, that's amazing.

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Yeah. That's amazing. That is a long time when

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you think about it, 18 years. Yes. A lot can

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happen in that period of time. We saw the Great

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Recession, went through the pandemic. You know,

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here we are again, you know, through a housing

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crisis. We saw several presidencies. You know,

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one governor, really, two, I guess. Well, three.

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Three. Started with Gregoire, then mostly through

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Inslee. We've got the Ferguson administration,

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but a lot of water under the bridge. A lot of

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stuff. I was looking at the pictures on the wall

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down there, and Lynn was there, and we were kind

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of going through the people that I remember on

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here, and there's a lot more of them on those

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rows. She's got a couple more to put up there.

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You start getting them on there, and it's been

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great. So you're an old tire guy, right? I was

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in the tire business for 50 years. And I'm an

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old furniture guy. Now, I wasn't in the furniture

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business for 50 years, but I was in the furniture

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business for almost 10. So we're two old retailers

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that somehow ended up here. In local government.

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How did that happen for you? Well, I had, you

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know, I did a... I had some interest, and my

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predecessor had done 16 years as a Lincoln County

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Commissioner. That's an impressive number, too.

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I knew him, and I was on the school board. In

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Davenport, my hometown, where I grew up. The

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metropolitan city. Yeah, the largest city in

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Lincoln County. All 1 ,800 people that are there.

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Shout out to all our listeners in Davenport.

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And I did that 10 -year school board thing. So

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I was still kind of sunsetting my business. So

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you were on the school board before? 10 years

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before I was a county commissioner. So I had

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a little bit of a hard gig at the school board.

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Yes. yeah but that was a great uh great basis

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for then because i that gave you some um People,

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things that you didn't, you know, I had that

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in business, hiring people and doing those things.

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But school, that was a little bit different,

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a little quasi -government piece. But it had

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a fiscal component to it, you know, running bond

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issues, chairing bond committees for new construction.

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Understanding government funding, all that stuff.

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So then when Commissioner Bolinas said, you need

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to think about this job. And then I got to thinking

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about it. I went to some commissioner meetings.

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And the more I saw, I thought this would be.

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And my grandfather was Lincoln County Sheriff

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from 1932 to 1940 and Lincoln County Commissioner

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from 1940 to 1944. Wow. So you have a lot of

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family history out there. So I got a little history

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about. Although I wasn't even born yet when he

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was there. Yeah. So, you know, I'm homegrown

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in Lincoln County. You know, I own a business

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there for 35 years. I own the business. When

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I was first campaigning, people would ask me,

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so what do you know about the roads in Lincoln

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County? Yeah, of course. I said, I have been

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on every one of them with a service truck hauling

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combine tires around and tractor tires and things

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like that. So I kind of had that piece and knowing

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people, I could drive into any town. in Lincoln

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County and know people that were there in every

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one of them. So it was, it was, uh, um, I thought

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I could bring something to a business background.

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My predecessor had a business background before

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that, for the most part, Lincoln County, our

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County commissioners were all farmers. Right.

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Well, that was really typical. Because they were

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road commissioners. In those agricultural communities.

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Because you're right. Back in the day, county

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commissioners were really just road commissioners.

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That's all. Yeah. Because we had elected officials

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for everything else. And all the stuff that we

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do now, the building permitting, the planning,

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HR, IT, facilities, none of that. none of that

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existed not really no it just didn't no it just

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didn't yep even public health you know wasn't

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what it is today right we didn't have the mental

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health and developmental disability services

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that we provide the behavioral health stuff and

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all of that i mean there might have been a few

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clinics or two yeah but it wasn't the same as

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it is today no for those services and stuff and

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how many how many more people i can remember

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as a kid going into the courthouse which was

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you know i i can stand i tell people i can stand

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on the front porch of my house and see the The

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flag on the top of the corner from my house.

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I'm not that far away. But the amount of people.

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The amount of people it took to operate local

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government at that time. No computers. Those

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offices that now have four people in them used

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to have eight or nine people in them. Well, because

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everything was done by hand. Everything was done

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by hand. And just how that has changed. is interesting.

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We still have the same, the same square miles.

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Yeah. The footprint's still there. Right. Well,

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you know, the true test, the true test for generational

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familiarity or generational roots in a community

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like Lincoln County is, do you have a rural road

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with your last name on it? Yeah. And, and I,

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I do not, but I can tell you the other one when

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you're local. you got at least three generations

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in the cemetery. That's true, too. That's the

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other side. But I do not have a road. I do not.

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Well, so I would have thought you would have.

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With the generations that you had out there,

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I figured there would be a Hutzel Road out there

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somewhere. And there is one where my dad was

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born out by Telford Rest Area that might be one

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that could be. I don't have an overpass like

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Senator Schoesler has. Maybe you can rename one

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or something like that. Yeah. Something like

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that. If I was running for re -election, I wouldn't

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do that. But, you know, I know some people out

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in Lincoln County, some of your constituents,

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and I know where their roads are. I know where

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the road that is this family's road and that

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family's road. And the same is true where I live

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in Kennetass County, right? A lot of the old

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families, the roads were named after them. And

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the thing is, you know, i've got some of the

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old logs about when the county paid the farmers

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to maintain the roads oh yeah that's how they

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that's how they all started yeah that's how they

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all started no way you can do that so when you

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were going down there you know they just build

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one and then they have to name it we didn't have

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we didn't have like w's and fives and sixes they're

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they all got names right they all got names and

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some of them are how in the world 9 -1 -1 when

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they did all that you know and then renamed them

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boy there were some battles there were some battles

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because this neighbor wanted this thing to be

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this way and this one wanted to be that way it

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wasn't even that long ago that that happened

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i remember that that was about 20 30 years ago

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right right so i remember those battles and it

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got pretty heated at times and some people you

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know they had private roads and they didn't want

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they didn't want a name on that road the young

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man that that actually graduated out of college

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young, from Davenport, local young man, kind

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of got the job. He graduated in planning. He

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got the job at the county to do that. He never

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made it. He didn't get them all named. And if

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you meet this young, and now he's your age or

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older. Nicest, nicest young man ever. And he

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got he got beat up mercifully on some of that

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stuff. Well, Commissioner, I think it's a good

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thing you ended up where you are. It probably

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was in your blood before you knew it. Seems how

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your grandfather was a great grandfather. My

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grandfather and my great -grandfather on my mom's

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side was on the city council in Davenport. It

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was in your blood. It was part of you before

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you were even born. You got two seconds for a

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little story? Yeah. So back in the teens, maybe

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even a little before that in Davenport, both

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my grandfather and my great -grandfather were

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both on the city council in Davenport at the

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same time. Oh, wow. And at that time, we had...

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a part of Park Street, which is along Cottonwood

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Creek, that had several houses of ill repute.

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All right, now this is a family program. This

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is a family program. And so it got to where they

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had to finally resolution to shut down those.

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facilities, those businesses, and it was a split

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vote on the city council. Oh, really? I'm not

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going to tell you which one's which, but one

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of my grandfathers voted to shut them down, and

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the other one voted to keep them open. But they

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were shut down. I think it was 1909 or 1910 is

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when this was happening. Imagine the family discussion

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around the Thanksgiving table. And after that,

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as it went down the road, our families didn't

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– that older generation, there wasn't a lot of

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– Oh, man. Well, that's some good family history

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there. That was a little piece of history. Oh,

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my goodness. Well, Commissioner, I'm glad that,

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like I said, I'm glad it worked out the way that

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it did. I think Lincoln County has been better

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off because you've been there. And I know that

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WASAC certainly has been benefited by your presence

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here and your presence as an elected county commissioner.

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And I certainly have been benefited personally

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by your friendship. But that's mutual. Well,

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thank you. Mutual also. But that's not what I

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wanted to talk about. talk about today okay um

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i think that our listeners would really benefit

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from hearing about what's going on in lincoln

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county around broadband deployment um i i don't

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know if you know but uh i've been to commissioner

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kaufman's house a couple yes yes yes and uh one

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of the things we talked about one time was just

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um he just went on and on and on and on and on

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about your work with broadband and how you have

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kind of built this, I don't know what you want

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to call it, but this whole system, this empire,

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if you will, of broadband in Lincoln County,

00:13:35.179 --> 00:13:37.820
which I just find fascinating and really unique

00:13:37.820 --> 00:13:41.200
and remarkable for a county your size. And I

00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.299
think people would really like to hear how you

00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:45.919
did that. What was the secret sauce? Would you

00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:48.480
mind sharing some of those details? Sure. My

00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:51.190
early... Early days as a county commissioner,

00:13:51.370 --> 00:13:57.629
get back to 2010, 11, in that area. Great recession

00:13:57.629 --> 00:14:01.029
time. Great recession time. And broadband was

00:14:01.029 --> 00:14:03.889
kind of being talked about a little bit. And

00:14:03.889 --> 00:14:06.490
we, of course, were looking around in Lincoln

00:14:06.490 --> 00:14:10.070
County. We're neighbors to Spokane County. But

00:14:10.070 --> 00:14:16.029
we kind of looked at that. If anybody's ever

00:14:16.029 --> 00:14:18.960
going to, about that time, know Annette. came

00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:24.559
on board. And NOAHnet is an open access fiber.

00:14:24.899 --> 00:14:27.500
And that's really the key dark fiber that's out

00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:30.320
there that anybody can ride on. You have all

00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:34.039
sorts of proprietary fiber out there. We're talking

00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:37.360
like carbon fiber. AT &T, yeah, the fiber optics.

00:14:37.620 --> 00:14:39.960
The stuff that's buried in the ground or hung

00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:42.379
on the poles and stuff like that. So they got

00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:47.370
a grant. formed this group of PUDs, actually,

00:14:47.450 --> 00:14:50.190
and they got a grant from the federal government

00:14:50.190 --> 00:14:52.990
to build to what they called anchor institutions

00:14:52.990 --> 00:14:56.610
in communities all over the state of Washington.

00:14:56.809 --> 00:15:00.029
Okay, NOADET did this? NOADET did. So they came.

00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:04.139
to Lincoln County. You know, we didn't know.

00:15:04.179 --> 00:15:05.799
You're right on Highway 2. They're on Highway

00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:08.120
2. It goes right through, right? And some went

00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:12.879
south, Harrington, didn't go to Sprague, went

00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:14.960
on down to Odessa and down into Adams County

00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:18.620
and stuff. We went west to Creston because that's

00:15:18.620 --> 00:15:21.740
where they made access off the Bonneville Power

00:15:21.740 --> 00:15:24.480
Administration's high line through there that

00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:26.440
comes from Grand Coulee Dam. Sure. That's where

00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.500
the big fiber's at. So that's where we... tied

00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:31.820
off of. Then they went to Wilbur. Didn't go to

00:15:31.820 --> 00:15:34.080
Elmira. So we have our eight cities and towns.

00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:37.419
So we didn't have any dark fiber in Sprague or

00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:44.500
Elmira. So we're in the early 2012. Sprague is

00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:49.970
in Lincoln County? Yeah. Sprague was the county

00:15:49.970 --> 00:15:53.850
seat of Lincoln County in 1883. Commissioner

00:15:53.850 --> 00:15:56.149
Swanick lives right up there, doesn't he? He

00:15:56.149 --> 00:15:58.289
must just barely be on the Whitman County side.

00:15:58.350 --> 00:16:01.750
Oh, yeah, and Spokane County. Oh, yeah, he's

00:16:01.750 --> 00:16:07.909
within 1 ,000 feet. of both Spokane County and

00:16:07.909 --> 00:16:09.730
Lincoln County oh no kidding and then he can

00:16:09.730 --> 00:16:12.570
see Adams County from his house and he lives

00:16:12.570 --> 00:16:15.350
in Whitman County right he's right there in the

00:16:15.350 --> 00:16:16.590
corner so he's just right up there in the corner

00:16:16.590 --> 00:16:18.950
right there right there about as far from Pullman

00:16:18.950 --> 00:16:20.490
as you can get and still be in Whitman County

00:16:20.490 --> 00:16:23.509
that's exactly right okay I was just orienting

00:16:23.509 --> 00:16:25.669
myself a little bit I thought Sprague was actually

00:16:25.669 --> 00:16:30.799
still in Whitman But it's not. It's in Lincoln.

00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:33.039
It's in Lincoln, down kind of that corner. Okay.

00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:36.460
Yeah, that corner. Yeah. So it was the county

00:16:36.460 --> 00:16:39.559
seat of Lincoln County, 1883 to start with. They

00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:41.820
built a courthouse. They had the whole thing

00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:43.659
going. There's not much there now. The whole

00:16:43.659 --> 00:16:46.419
thing going. And then the railroad. That's where

00:16:46.419 --> 00:16:49.860
the railroad was. So then there was a group of

00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:54.039
people from Davenport that wanted the county

00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:57.659
seat in Davenport. So they organized an election.

00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:01.860
a referendum, whatever they did, to move the

00:17:01.860 --> 00:17:04.779
county seat from Sprague to Davenport. A lot

00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:07.299
of that happened in a lot of counties at different

00:17:07.299 --> 00:17:11.519
times. In the 1890s. Early statehood. And, of

00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:14.019
course, we've always been accused of stealing

00:17:14.019 --> 00:17:17.500
the county seat from Sprague. I still hear it

00:17:17.500 --> 00:17:20.660
when I go down there. Of course. So they ran,

00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:24.170
and it lost. They didn't work. So they came back

00:17:24.170 --> 00:17:26.369
a couple of years later and ran it again and

00:17:26.369 --> 00:17:30.849
they got it passed. And then you talk about these

00:17:30.849 --> 00:17:35.049
guys on horses rode down to Sprague and gathered

00:17:35.049 --> 00:17:37.470
up all the documents they needed and took them

00:17:37.470 --> 00:17:40.009
back to Davenport. And then they had a courthouse,

00:17:40.009 --> 00:17:43.119
our courthouse built in Davenport. Very similar

00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:46.000
to the one that had been built in Sprague. Is

00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:47.799
the one in Sprague still there? No. Oh, it's

00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:49.859
gone. No, it's gone. So there's a lot of stories

00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:53.519
like that with other counties, which is so interesting.

00:17:54.059 --> 00:17:56.700
But there's stories about how they came to get

00:17:56.700 --> 00:18:00.099
the documents, and the town locked them up, and

00:18:00.099 --> 00:18:01.500
they wouldn't let them in. Well, there was a

00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:03.480
lot of that going on in between, and a little

00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:06.380
bit of they all had their guns out. Yep, and

00:18:06.380 --> 00:18:07.779
they didn't want to give up the county seat.

00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:10.980
They weren't going to do that. I live in Ellensburg.

00:18:11.019 --> 00:18:12.319
I didn't grow up there. I live in Ellensburg,

00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:14.880
and there's still rumor in Ellensburg about how

00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.319
the Fourth of July fire wasn't necessarily accidental

00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:19.579
because, of course, Ellensburg was competing

00:18:19.579 --> 00:18:23.299
with Olympia at the time and Spokane for the

00:18:23.299 --> 00:18:28.119
capital of Washington. And both Spokane and Ellensburg

00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:31.519
burned their downtowns during that time. Somehow,

00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:34.539
mysteriously, Olympia did not. But that's why

00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:36.839
both Ellensburg and Spokane are rebuilt with

00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:40.880
bricks. Right. Right? Right. So there's still,

00:18:41.059 --> 00:18:44.180
even today, there's still that kind of, those

00:18:44.180 --> 00:18:46.559
rumors and that animosity and all that, that

00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.000
kind of, the finger pointing, it's really kind

00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:50.559
of interesting. Wouldn't it be fun to be able

00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:53.440
to go, this is kind of my field of dreams thing

00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:57.539
about going back and getting into the minds,

00:18:57.660 --> 00:19:01.319
what precipitated some of these things? Because

00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:07.099
I'm just always in awe of what. people accomplished

00:19:07.099 --> 00:19:10.599
100 oh yeah but how they how did the limited

00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:13.619
tools and all that but on building or or even

00:19:13.619 --> 00:19:16.900
just just structure of organizations and without

00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:18.720
being able to, I mean, you can't call on the

00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:20.619
phone. No, you can't send letters or telegraph.

00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:23.599
You can't jump in your car. No, get on the back

00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:26.200
of a horse. Get on the back of a horse. And so

00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:28.559
my grandfather, my great -grandfather on my mom's

00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:30.279
side, one of the ones that was on the city council,

00:19:30.339 --> 00:19:32.900
had the first car in Davenport. Oh, wow. It was

00:19:32.900 --> 00:19:36.680
a 1907 black from the Black Motor Company in

00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:38.819
Chicago, bought it out of the Collier's catalog,

00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:42.220
which I still have a copy of. Amazing. For $795.

00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:45.819
And it came in on the rail. Amazing. And they

00:19:45.819 --> 00:19:48.619
took it off the car, bolted the wheels on it.

00:19:50.140 --> 00:19:52.759
Two things they needed. Had to have a battery.

00:19:52.980 --> 00:19:55.740
And it had to have gasoline. Right. Neither one

00:19:55.740 --> 00:19:57.180
of those was probably anywhere in Lincoln County.

00:19:57.180 --> 00:19:59.099
So they went to the telephone company to get

00:19:59.099 --> 00:20:01.859
the battery. Because the telephone was run by

00:20:01.859 --> 00:20:04.700
batteries at that time. And went to the drugstore

00:20:04.700 --> 00:20:07.819
and ordered the gasoline. And the druggist brought

00:20:07.819 --> 00:20:10.059
the gasoline. That's amazing. And that's the

00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:14.150
story of just another. one of those stories i

00:20:14.150 --> 00:20:16.130
feel like we digressed a little bit but broad

00:20:16.130 --> 00:20:19.069
broadband but broadband so we're in about 2012

00:20:19.069 --> 00:20:22.809
or so we got a uh so our economic development

00:20:22.809 --> 00:20:30.869
uh council hired a young lady margie's from uh

00:20:30.869 --> 00:20:33.490
grew up in cheney that went to eastern had a

00:20:33.490 --> 00:20:37.210
planning degree and stuff she came on board as

00:20:37.210 --> 00:20:40.569
our edc director okay about that same time there

00:20:40.569 --> 00:20:45.190
were some uh The state had some grants available

00:20:45.190 --> 00:20:48.269
called local technology planning team grants.

00:20:49.230 --> 00:20:51.470
Precourser took some of the bat teams. Okay.

00:20:51.490 --> 00:20:55.029
This was. And the bat teams, that's federal money,

00:20:55.170 --> 00:20:57.190
right? Yeah. I mean, they were just broadband

00:20:57.190 --> 00:21:00.190
action teams. You needed to start, get the players

00:21:00.190 --> 00:21:02.470
together. So this was before that. It was kind

00:21:02.470 --> 00:21:04.829
of similar to that. Just right before that. So

00:21:04.829 --> 00:21:07.970
we got the EDC and we got other people and got

00:21:07.970 --> 00:21:10.609
a facilitator from WSU and paid for that and

00:21:10.609 --> 00:21:14.569
talked about building high -speed broadband in

00:21:14.569 --> 00:21:16.769
Lincoln County. And what did that look like?

00:21:16.809 --> 00:21:19.509
And so that was kind of the infancy of just looking

00:21:19.509 --> 00:21:22.039
at it. One of the things that really popped up

00:21:22.039 --> 00:21:26.160
was you look around and you saw the frontier

00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:30.680
Comcast, the players that were starting to hit

00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:33.039
in Spokane, because you'd see that stuff, and

00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:36.339
it became very evident looking around us. No

00:21:36.339 --> 00:21:38.519
one was coming to Lincoln County. Well, from

00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:41.200
a business point of view, right? If you're going

00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.259
to make an investment as a private company that's

00:21:43.259 --> 00:21:45.039
going to provide high -speed internet, you want

00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:46.920
to maximize your customer base. Got to have the

00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:50.039
people. And it just wasn't there. So you're going

00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:52.500
to the urban environments, and Lincoln County

00:21:52.500 --> 00:21:56.990
is not that. No. So then it became okay. We knew

00:21:56.990 --> 00:22:00.329
the no -in -net fiber that they put in the highways

00:22:00.329 --> 00:22:02.829
and stuff was there and a few anchor tenants.

00:22:03.009 --> 00:22:10.769
We kind of knew that. And then we finished up

00:22:10.769 --> 00:22:16.589
that grant and we had some paperwork. I mean,

00:22:16.650 --> 00:22:19.269
we could show what we were trying to do in Lincoln

00:22:19.269 --> 00:22:23.049
County, both Margie Hall at our EDC, and I was

00:22:23.049 --> 00:22:26.849
on the EDC board also, represented from the county

00:22:26.849 --> 00:22:31.710
as a county commissioner. Then it was okay. Then

00:22:31.710 --> 00:22:34.259
we waited a little bit. And we kind of watched,

00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:38.400
and we couldn't afford to start building infrastructure

00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:40.759
like that. Heck, we didn't even know what it

00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:43.480
was, basically. Yeah, I mean, you've got to put

00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:45.420
in vaults, and you've got to put in other access

00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:48.019
points. You've got to dig big trenches and all

00:22:48.019 --> 00:22:49.039
kinds of stuff. All that stuff. You know, we

00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.200
knew CenturyLink, and there was some of that

00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:57.480
around. So then the state. So then about 2012.

00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:01.180
I was appointed to the Public Works Board for

00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:04.599
the state of Washington. And the Public Works

00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:06.960
Board, so I got to watch a little bit about,

00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:10.180
at that time, we had a state broadband office

00:23:10.180 --> 00:23:12.579
with a gentleman by the name of Will Saunders

00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:15.700
was operating the state broadband office, of

00:23:15.700 --> 00:23:18.339
which a couple of years after that, they closed

00:23:18.339 --> 00:23:23.170
down because that wasn't working. Curb, the Community

00:23:23.170 --> 00:23:26.769
Economic and Revitalization Board, kind of became

00:23:26.769 --> 00:23:30.930
the first conduit to get some money out. And

00:23:30.930 --> 00:23:32.589
Curb is different than the Public Works Board.

00:23:32.609 --> 00:23:34.349
Curb is different than the Public Works Board.

00:23:34.349 --> 00:23:37.349
Totally different board. Two different models.

00:23:37.349 --> 00:23:39.490
Totally different mission. Yeah. One's an economic

00:23:39.490 --> 00:23:42.089
mission. One's an infrastructure mission. Which

00:23:42.089 --> 00:23:45.390
you could argue is also economic. But it's different

00:23:45.390 --> 00:23:47.569
types of projects. Right. Typically go to CURB

00:23:47.569 --> 00:23:50.069
versus the Public Works Board. And CURB does

00:23:50.069 --> 00:23:53.630
loans as well as grants. They do some grants

00:23:53.630 --> 00:23:56.130
where the Public Works Board was predominantly

00:23:56.130 --> 00:23:58.750
loans. Predominantly loans. Predominantly loans.

00:23:58.869 --> 00:24:01.950
Until they were able to get some allocation from

00:24:01.950 --> 00:24:06.569
the state. We asked for some. broadband money

00:24:06.569 --> 00:24:09.170
now did you get it from curb or from no we got

00:24:09.170 --> 00:24:12.210
it from the state oh we got well okay when i

00:24:12.210 --> 00:24:15.049
say we i'm now i'm i'm putting myself on the

00:24:15.049 --> 00:24:17.730
public works board ah and so we got it okay we

00:24:17.730 --> 00:24:22.849
got um got some money to to do some broadband

00:24:22.849 --> 00:24:27.720
loans okay So you, as part of the public works

00:24:27.720 --> 00:24:30.059
board, got some money. Was it from the state

00:24:30.059 --> 00:24:31.880
broadband office, essentially? No, because it

00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:33.440
was gone at that time. I remember the state broadband

00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:35.539
office wasn't going yet. It's hard to keep up

00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:37.559
with all these things. Oh, it's been an interesting.

00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:41.740
So the state just had some money. So Curb was

00:24:41.740 --> 00:24:44.900
doing some stuff. Okay. And then PWB, broadband,

00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:49.660
then we started into that. came Senator Wellman.

00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:53.440
She was on our public works board. I got appointed

00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:57.180
as chairman of the public works board in 16.

00:24:57.619 --> 00:24:59.019
Boy, they didn't know what they were in for when

00:24:59.019 --> 00:25:02.400
they did that. No, that gentleman before retired

00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:08.440
and got into that, and that was when the legislation

00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:11.319
came through to, I call, stand up the public

00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:14.180
works, excuse me, the state broadband office.

00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:18.039
Oh, okay, okay. So that, that. happened when

00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:20.599
when when i was chairman of the public works

00:25:20.599 --> 00:25:23.319
board okay so we stood that up so now we had

00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:27.319
curb and then we had pwb public works board and

00:25:27.319 --> 00:25:29.880
then the state broadband office okay and russ

00:25:29.880 --> 00:25:32.599
elliott came in as one of the first broadband

00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:35.640
director at that time and so at that point you

00:25:35.640 --> 00:25:37.279
really had kind of the administrative infrastructure

00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:40.259
that you needed to start getting some resources

00:25:40.259 --> 00:25:43.039
out the door yeah then then then what happened

00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:45.720
then the those entities all got a little bit

00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:49.059
of money from the state to start doing grants

00:25:49.059 --> 00:25:51.579
out to get to people and now i'm fast forward

00:25:51.579 --> 00:25:57.920
i'm now into 21 and i'm now uh have spent my

00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:01.019
nine years on the public works board Doing infrastructure

00:26:01.019 --> 00:26:06.700
stuff and helping, working with PWB, working

00:26:06.700 --> 00:26:08.900
with the state broadband office, trying to stand

00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:11.980
this up for the whole state. Right. So then they

00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:14.299
all got some money and then there was a push

00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:16.539
and the legislature gave some money to everybody

00:26:16.539 --> 00:26:19.559
and they had these grant rounds. Yeah, I remember

00:26:19.559 --> 00:26:24.829
that. To do fiber optic infrastructure in. So

00:26:24.829 --> 00:26:28.450
there was PUDs, ports. Ports were big, you know,

00:26:28.470 --> 00:26:32.950
recipients. Some counties. So we're sitting there.

00:26:34.250 --> 00:26:38.309
Margie's moved on to commerce. Well, I think

00:26:38.309 --> 00:26:40.730
an important piece here, this is 2021, right?

00:26:40.809 --> 00:26:43.089
So this is right at the end of the pandemic.

00:26:43.130 --> 00:26:44.750
Right at the end of the pandemic. Right, and

00:26:44.750 --> 00:26:48.289
that's when it really became clear the disparity

00:26:48.289 --> 00:26:51.430
that existed even within, you know, Washington

00:26:51.430 --> 00:26:55.160
State and other places. Of the who's got it and

00:26:55.160 --> 00:27:00.500
who doesn't. And the impact. The rural areas

00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:02.880
that didn't have it. Right. And there's rural

00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:06.319
in every county in the state of Washington. So

00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:08.599
these gaps and stuff. So you come to Lincoln

00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:10.720
County, we are one of the most sparsely populated

00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:14.640
counties in the state and stuff. So anyway, we

00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:17.359
had... But people couldn't work. Yeah, no. The

00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:20.559
kids couldn't go to school. There were lots of

00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:22.259
those things. In certain areas they could because

00:27:22.259 --> 00:27:24.519
they had it. In other areas, I mean, you saw

00:27:24.519 --> 00:27:27.619
photos of kids with laptops sitting outside Taco

00:27:27.619 --> 00:27:30.019
Bell. Yeah, and McDonald's. Trying to capture

00:27:30.019 --> 00:27:32.680
their Wi -Fi. Yeah, to do those pieces. And the

00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:34.900
people that were in your county, even if they

00:27:34.900 --> 00:27:37.390
worked, for larger companies like, say, in Spokane

00:27:37.390 --> 00:27:39.430
or somewhere else where they commuted every day,

00:27:39.509 --> 00:27:41.190
they couldn't get the connectivity that they

00:27:41.190 --> 00:27:44.089
needed to keep their jobs going. As the need

00:27:44.089 --> 00:27:46.630
for a little bit more reliable, faster internet

00:27:46.630 --> 00:27:51.529
was needed for those jobs. So we started, so

00:27:51.529 --> 00:27:54.069
Margie's gone to work for Commerce now. So I

00:27:54.069 --> 00:27:59.299
had a new person at our EDC. We go, well, so

00:27:59.299 --> 00:28:02.640
we're talking with the Port of Whitman, Petrichor.

00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:05.980
They were doing some things with, and they said,

00:28:06.140 --> 00:28:11.160
hey, we would love to help you guys. And I said,

00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:13.559
well, that would be great. So we started writing

00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:20.799
grants, and we wrote, we, both a gal from. Petrocor

00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:23.779
and our new EDC gal that was only there a very

00:28:23.779 --> 00:28:26.539
short period of time to write six grants of which

00:28:26.539 --> 00:28:29.220
we were successful in all six grants. Oh, no

00:28:29.220 --> 00:28:32.839
kidding. From curb to PWB through supplemental

00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:35.640
grants and stuff for, for a total of just shy

00:28:35.640 --> 00:28:40.619
of $30 million. And you got to remember that

00:28:40.619 --> 00:28:44.339
this is what you got. Okay. All right. Did you

00:28:44.339 --> 00:28:48.220
know somebody on the, well, you know, I always

00:28:48.220 --> 00:28:50.740
said it, it, it, it didn't hurt to have been

00:28:50.740 --> 00:28:54.039
there and know all the players that were there.

00:28:54.119 --> 00:28:56.400
And, but they knew we had, we had already done

00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:59.880
all the, all the groundwork, all the stuff that

00:28:59.880 --> 00:29:03.400
Margie had done in our local town. So when, when

00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:09.859
we had that for a, a, a, you know, an application,

00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:12.059
you know, that's the kind of stuff they just

00:29:12.059 --> 00:29:15.220
love. You guys have got all this already lined

00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:18.220
out. What is your general fund budget? What was

00:29:18.220 --> 00:29:24.380
it at the time? nine million oh no you you we

00:29:24.380 --> 00:29:26.640
could get into trying to cash flow these grants

00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:30.880
so just out of the blue now now we've got it

00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:32.519
wasn't really out of the blue because you've

00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:35.700
done the prep which is so important right it's

00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:37.839
very much so i mean you know that from your business

00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:39.980
life you know that from your personal life you

00:29:39.980 --> 00:29:41.960
know that from your political life and if anybody

00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:44.269
hasn't figured that out yet Well, that's the

00:29:44.269 --> 00:29:46.650
key to success, right, is preparation. Is preparation.

00:29:46.650 --> 00:29:49.549
Always. For sure. So you did that groundwork,

00:29:49.609 --> 00:29:55.809
and then suddenly you had $30 million of projects.

00:29:56.049 --> 00:29:58.829
Was that overwhelming? I mean, was that a little

00:29:58.829 --> 00:30:05.369
scary? No. No. Because I wanted this so bad,

00:30:05.410 --> 00:30:08.089
Paul. Yeah, but you were a little freaked out

00:30:08.089 --> 00:30:12.269
that you couldn't spend $30 million. You don't

00:30:12.269 --> 00:30:14.950
get opportunities like that. You have to figure

00:30:14.950 --> 00:30:18.930
out how to make it work. Now, were there sleepless

00:30:18.930 --> 00:30:21.029
nights? I am still married to my wife. Now, we're

00:30:21.029 --> 00:30:27.220
45 years now into this. fortunate to work with

00:30:27.220 --> 00:30:31.680
a lot of great people. I mean, you can't do that

00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:34.519
in a little county and try to pull that all off.

00:30:34.619 --> 00:30:36.480
So anyway, this all came together. But I mean,

00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:39.200
where do you find the work, you know, the companies?

00:30:39.859 --> 00:30:41.619
You know what I mean? I guess if you have enough

00:30:41.619 --> 00:30:43.920
money, they'll go anywhere, but still. And we've

00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:46.680
just talked about that today with the new state

00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:48.480
broadband director, a little bit about workforce

00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:52.599
and our contractors and things like that to put

00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:56.190
that together because we couldn't. So fast forward,

00:30:56.329 --> 00:31:02.210
our EDC director, Margie Hall, had gone to work

00:31:02.210 --> 00:31:05.430
for the state in one of the programs at Commerce.

00:31:05.509 --> 00:31:07.950
She was a program director. She went there because

00:31:07.950 --> 00:31:09.769
she could make a lot more money doing that. So

00:31:09.769 --> 00:31:12.450
she's over doing that. Still living in Davenport.

00:31:13.769 --> 00:31:18.450
Good for her. And our gal that helped write the

00:31:18.450 --> 00:31:21.670
grants and stuff, she and her husband were going

00:31:21.670 --> 00:31:24.059
to go open another. a business on their own and

00:31:24.059 --> 00:31:25.960
do some, not broadband business, but another

00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:31.579
bit. I needed somebody to do this. So I, I called,

00:31:31.619 --> 00:31:34.440
I called Margie up. She'd been there. I mean,

00:31:34.440 --> 00:31:36.940
we're talking about from the time she started

00:31:36.940 --> 00:31:40.500
with the EDC till she was about 10 years. Oh,

00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:42.519
wow. And so she, I mean, the background she had,

00:31:42.599 --> 00:31:46.180
she's marvelous. I mean, marvelous. I said, I

00:31:46.180 --> 00:31:49.619
need you. I need you to do this. And your footprint

00:31:49.619 --> 00:31:52.319
is all over this from the very beginning. Oh,

00:31:52.339 --> 00:31:56.079
and by the way, I have $30 million of that. So

00:31:56.079 --> 00:32:01.420
I said, you tell me how much money you need to

00:32:01.420 --> 00:32:05.859
come to work here, and I'll go see if I can borrow

00:32:05.859 --> 00:32:09.000
that from my seatmates, which is always one of

00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:12.259
those making the case. But I have great seatmates.

00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:18.839
bought into the vision of what we could do. And

00:32:18.839 --> 00:32:22.880
then this is how it, I, I envisioned it had to,

00:32:22.900 --> 00:32:25.819
it kind of had to play out. So that's what we,

00:32:25.819 --> 00:32:28.079
uh, we kind of started with that. Margie came

00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:32.539
to work. We started, looked, so the money, you

00:32:32.539 --> 00:32:34.299
know, it's all there. It's all there, all there.

00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:37.799
So we had to, we had to. play it out so we did

00:32:37.799 --> 00:32:40.579
curb and then we did a little broadband office

00:32:40.579 --> 00:32:42.779
money then we did public works board money and

00:32:42.779 --> 00:32:44.680
now we're coming back to do some more state broadband

00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:48.019
office and kind of staged it some some of the

00:32:48.019 --> 00:32:51.039
projects work together some were kind of standalones

00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:54.339
you know we did people we we did we did the cities

00:32:54.339 --> 00:32:58.869
of harrington creston and almira first Oh, and

00:32:58.869 --> 00:33:01.349
a mid -mile between Wilbur and Elmira. And they

00:33:01.349 --> 00:33:04.490
go, why did you do those? Well, that's how the

00:33:04.490 --> 00:33:06.690
grants, everything we've done there has been

00:33:06.690 --> 00:33:11.730
driven by the timing of the grant and how much

00:33:11.730 --> 00:33:13.710
money we got in the grant. Oh, it's like transportation,

00:33:13.849 --> 00:33:15.430
too. Oh, yeah, same thing, Paul. You do your

00:33:15.430 --> 00:33:18.589
plan, and you know you want it to go this way,

00:33:18.609 --> 00:33:21.140
but... Now you can get this grant and you have

00:33:21.140 --> 00:33:22.960
to do that piece. And now you can get that grant.

00:33:22.980 --> 00:33:24.420
You've got to do this piece. And it doesn't always

00:33:24.420 --> 00:33:27.220
make sense to people who see it with the naked

00:33:27.220 --> 00:33:29.640
eye because they don't understand the plan. When

00:33:29.640 --> 00:33:32.319
are you coming to my town? Right. Why are you

00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:34.220
doing them first? So let me ask you this. So

00:33:34.220 --> 00:33:37.259
this sounds like you got some grant money to

00:33:37.259 --> 00:33:41.440
basically make the connections, right? This was

00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:44.000
basically to all eight cities and towns. These

00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:47.279
are all fiber to the home projects. Okay. So

00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:50.900
tell me what that. Let me ask you, put a pin

00:33:50.900 --> 00:33:52.119
in that because I want to know what that means.

00:33:52.279 --> 00:33:54.640
Okay. But you said NoahNet was already there.

00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:57.099
So you had these runs in different places. What

00:33:57.099 --> 00:33:59.299
we call the backbone. That was our backbone.

00:33:59.299 --> 00:34:01.819
So that was your backbone. And then you created

00:34:01.819 --> 00:34:04.779
the pieces that either connected, disconnected

00:34:04.779 --> 00:34:09.500
pieces or went from NoahNet to the cities. Okay.

00:34:09.500 --> 00:34:12.480
Right. Now, what does fiber to the home mean?

00:34:12.579 --> 00:34:16.000
Okay. after you've built so you've got your backbone

00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:19.139
out there that no one that provided and then

00:34:19.139 --> 00:34:23.679
we built the infrastructure that would be either

00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:26.460
on poles or in the ground and stuff that would

00:34:26.460 --> 00:34:30.340
that would be a a network okay then from that

00:34:30.340 --> 00:34:35.079
network then we have drops and the drops is what

00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:37.940
goes to the home right so these were you know

00:34:37.940 --> 00:34:42.320
some some Projects would just build the infrastructure,

00:34:42.460 --> 00:34:44.380
but they wouldn't build it to the home. So that's

00:34:44.380 --> 00:34:46.900
the difference in this one. We built and took

00:34:46.900 --> 00:34:50.000
the drops paid to have the drops taken clear

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:53.159
to the home. So then what you had is when an

00:34:53.159 --> 00:34:55.400
internet service provider, once our network's

00:34:55.400 --> 00:34:58.000
all up and running, then the ISPs come in and

00:34:58.000 --> 00:34:59.739
they just kind of plug them in, put in the stuff,

00:34:59.739 --> 00:35:00.300
and they're off and running. Well, that was my

00:35:00.300 --> 00:35:02.719
next question is you can put the fiber in the

00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:05.219
ground. You can even get the connection to the

00:35:05.219 --> 00:35:08.199
home. Somebody's got to light it up and provide

00:35:08.199 --> 00:35:11.409
a service. And that was the reason you didn't

00:35:11.409 --> 00:35:13.369
have it before is because there wasn't enough.

00:35:13.510 --> 00:35:16.030
The internet service providers. There wasn't

00:35:16.030 --> 00:35:17.710
enough incentive for them to come. Right. They

00:35:17.710 --> 00:35:19.349
didn't have the money to put in the infrastructure.

00:35:19.570 --> 00:35:21.610
They didn't have the money to do all that. So

00:35:21.610 --> 00:35:24.880
if we were to. put everything right down to a

00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:26.920
co -location facility where they could plug their

00:35:26.920 --> 00:35:30.099
stuff in and plug the customers in. So now they're

00:35:30.099 --> 00:35:32.840
interested. Now they're interested. Because they're

00:35:32.840 --> 00:35:35.340
going to get that monthly service fee. So little

00:35:35.340 --> 00:35:37.800
old Lincoln County, we have right now, not in

00:35:37.800 --> 00:35:40.440
every town, we have eight internet service providers

00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:42.820
in Lincoln County. Really? Yeah. Now, did you

00:35:42.820 --> 00:35:45.840
guys have to negotiate those deals? We kind of

00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:50.710
had a... pathway with our uh with petricor they

00:35:50.710 --> 00:35:52.489
kind of helped us because they'd done some things

00:35:52.489 --> 00:35:55.190
in whitman county and kind of could lead us through

00:35:55.190 --> 00:35:58.070
some of the and and then we came up with okay

00:35:58.070 --> 00:35:59.869
this is what it's going to cost you to be in

00:35:59.869 --> 00:36:02.869
our for electricity this is what's going to cost

00:36:02.869 --> 00:36:05.710
you to be in our co -location facility okay these

00:36:05.710 --> 00:36:09.570
are you so you all you all will have you'll deal

00:36:09.570 --> 00:36:11.590
direct we don't deal with the customers right

00:36:11.590 --> 00:36:13.469
so they they bill direct to the customer they

00:36:13.469 --> 00:36:15.530
do all that customer as far as the customer knows

00:36:15.530 --> 00:36:18.519
it's just coming from Whoever. Right. Right.

00:36:19.559 --> 00:36:22.559
But does the county get the piece? Yes. So the

00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:25.579
piece we get right now, each one of those connections

00:36:25.579 --> 00:36:30.039
to the home, we get $20 for a month. Oh. For

00:36:30.039 --> 00:36:31.340
each one of those connections. That's actually

00:36:31.340 --> 00:36:33.420
a healthy piece. So when they come in, you know,

00:36:33.460 --> 00:36:36.860
you can get gigabyte, you know, symmetrical speed.

00:36:37.239 --> 00:36:40.440
You know, that's high speed internet as a, you

00:36:40.440 --> 00:36:44.420
know, up and down at that for $59 .95 a month.

00:36:44.840 --> 00:36:47.139
$20 is going to the county. And $20 of that,

00:36:47.219 --> 00:36:50.239
$60 goes to the county. So every one of those

00:36:50.239 --> 00:36:53.400
connections, then $20 comes to the county. Okay,

00:36:53.420 --> 00:36:55.699
and what are you doing with that? Right now,

00:36:55.719 --> 00:37:00.219
we're still paying what we do get. We've got

00:37:00.219 --> 00:37:03.159
to pay a broadband director. We have to build

00:37:03.159 --> 00:37:07.420
what's called make -ready with the power companies.

00:37:07.820 --> 00:37:11.199
Is this redundancy or something? No, out on the

00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:13.780
poles. So imagine the poles that are around in

00:37:13.780 --> 00:37:17.739
your town that your power company has or your

00:37:17.739 --> 00:37:20.980
telecommunications, Lumens, or whoever have.

00:37:21.179 --> 00:37:24.360
And they want to make sure that when you tell

00:37:24.360 --> 00:37:29.559
them, you do a design, okay, then it's... what

00:37:29.559 --> 00:37:33.260
has to what has to happen on their side so their

00:37:33.260 --> 00:37:36.260
infrastructure can accommodate that okay that

00:37:36.260 --> 00:37:39.500
makes so what they do then is go okay we need

00:37:39.500 --> 00:37:44.360
a new pole put here because of this we need a

00:37:44.360 --> 00:37:47.940
guy wire on a pole because you're over here right

00:37:47.940 --> 00:37:51.019
and we need a new cross arm on this pole because

00:37:51.019 --> 00:37:55.420
of this so they come then a vista or inland power

00:37:55.420 --> 00:37:58.559
and light come to us and say okay To do this

00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:02.199
piece of line, it's going to cost $100 ,000 for

00:38:02.199 --> 00:38:05.480
us to fix everything on here. You need to pay

00:38:05.480 --> 00:38:09.639
us now for the make ready. So that's a piece

00:38:09.639 --> 00:38:13.739
that has to happen before we can start the actual

00:38:13.739 --> 00:38:16.860
construction of it. So they've got to prepare

00:38:16.860 --> 00:38:19.159
the infrastructure that they have, make sure

00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:21.079
it can handle whatever you're putting on it.

00:38:21.099 --> 00:38:23.420
Then we have the franchise negotiations with

00:38:23.420 --> 00:38:27.280
all the cities. You know, we're good with doing

00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:31.219
the county because we are the county and some

00:38:31.219 --> 00:38:33.519
of the stuff that's actually in the state right

00:38:33.519 --> 00:38:38.639
away. And we have two railroads. Right. And different

00:38:38.639 --> 00:38:41.800
things, you know, rail crossing permits, a lot

00:38:41.800 --> 00:38:44.920
of permitting things, you know, to make that

00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:47.360
successful inside of each. So each one of these

00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:50.760
four grants plus the supplemental pieces in the

00:38:50.760 --> 00:38:53.750
grant, I've all got. intricate things. Some have

00:38:53.750 --> 00:38:56.449
middle mile, some have a railroad, some have

00:38:56.449 --> 00:38:59.570
more make ready than others. Sure. Some have,

00:38:59.570 --> 00:39:01.489
and the one thing you were talking about the,

00:39:01.510 --> 00:39:04.550
the $20 and, and what, what you're paying with

00:39:04.550 --> 00:39:08.239
that. We all have, we also have to pay. pole

00:39:08.239 --> 00:39:12.519
connection fees yeah so when you're on that line

00:39:12.519 --> 00:39:16.599
uh the wutc allows the washington utilities and

00:39:16.599 --> 00:39:20.400
trades commission allows them to charge you a

00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:22.860
certain amount of money to be on their infrastructure

00:39:22.860 --> 00:39:24.840
now is that an ongoing charge or a one -time

00:39:24.840 --> 00:39:27.480
fee no it's ongoing it is okay and that's one

00:39:27.480 --> 00:39:30.380
of the ones right now we have i just give you

00:39:30.380 --> 00:39:32.900
an idea i just wrote it signed off a check on

00:39:32.900 --> 00:39:35.679
inland power and light on on a piece that has

00:39:36.199 --> 00:39:41.320
Can't remember how many polls. 400 polls at $25

00:39:41.320 --> 00:39:44.619
a month. Excuse me, $25 a year. So that check

00:39:44.619 --> 00:39:48.900
was $10 ,000. And that helps them basically maintain

00:39:48.900 --> 00:39:52.559
their polls. And we have joint use agreements.

00:39:53.670 --> 00:39:55.750
We're on there. They're on there. And when you're

00:39:55.750 --> 00:39:58.469
negotiating franchises with the city, are you

00:39:58.469 --> 00:39:59.909
talking about the franchise agreements to use

00:39:59.909 --> 00:40:01.469
the rights -of -way so that you can actually

00:40:01.469 --> 00:40:04.110
get it to the home? Yes. Okay. Which, of course,

00:40:04.170 --> 00:40:08.329
we all have familiarity with. All but one of

00:40:08.329 --> 00:40:13.000
our cities didn't cost us a dime. Right, because

00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:15.739
they see the value. We went back to the things,

00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:19.840
back before Margie even came. I'm going to every

00:40:19.840 --> 00:40:23.420
city council meeting and making the case that

00:40:23.420 --> 00:40:26.460
here's what we're, and the economic benefit,

00:40:26.739 --> 00:40:31.699
all of these things. And that's my sales. So

00:40:31.699 --> 00:40:33.719
my old tire salesmanship was - And they can attract

00:40:33.719 --> 00:40:35.900
all kinds of different types of businesses now

00:40:35.900 --> 00:40:39.199
that they have high -speed cable, high -speed

00:40:39.199 --> 00:40:42.800
fiber -optic cable. Those relationships. with

00:40:42.800 --> 00:40:46.500
the people on those city councils that I, you

00:40:46.500 --> 00:40:48.539
know, you want to know what I, that I cultivated

00:40:48.539 --> 00:40:51.340
over the years, whether it be that people I knew

00:40:51.340 --> 00:40:53.699
forever, different things like that. So I had

00:40:53.699 --> 00:40:57.920
that ability to go in and, you know, and not

00:40:57.920 --> 00:40:59.909
pat. breaking my arm, patting myself on the back,

00:40:59.969 --> 00:41:03.269
but it was just things that I had. It's part

00:41:03.269 --> 00:41:05.849
of the preparation. The other key to success

00:41:05.849 --> 00:41:08.010
in life is relationships. We all know that. That's

00:41:08.010 --> 00:41:10.570
exactly right, Paul, and it all kind of fit in.

00:41:10.670 --> 00:41:13.550
We just went around one by one and got all those

00:41:13.550 --> 00:41:18.039
things put together. established co -location

00:41:18.039 --> 00:41:20.880
facilities, which is where the nuts and bolts

00:41:20.880 --> 00:41:23.019
of all your network in one town. We're in the

00:41:23.019 --> 00:41:25.739
bus garage in Elmira. We're in the back of the

00:41:25.739 --> 00:41:30.800
clinic in Wilbur. We're in the waste treatment

00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:33.719
plant. How much of all this did you do personally?

00:41:36.230 --> 00:41:39.489
As far as meet with the city councils and figure

00:41:39.489 --> 00:41:41.409
out where to put these different... All of it.

00:41:41.429 --> 00:41:44.190
I'm a county commissioner. I mean, I did all...

00:41:44.190 --> 00:41:47.150
You're doing 18 -hour days? What are you doing?

00:41:47.489 --> 00:41:53.289
There was a lot of work to get it. And we're

00:41:53.289 --> 00:41:59.860
still doing those things. We had eight... We

00:41:59.860 --> 00:42:02.559
had four one -day teams calls with the homeowners

00:42:02.559 --> 00:42:05.519
associations that are down on Lake Roosevelt,

00:42:05.719 --> 00:42:08.440
letting them know we've met with them. They've

00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:10.460
signed stuff. Now we're getting closer. We're

00:42:10.460 --> 00:42:12.760
meeting with them on a regular basis. What's

00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:15.380
going to happen? We have all the maps now to

00:42:15.380 --> 00:42:18.940
give all those. And we're talking in that build

00:42:18.940 --> 00:42:22.380
down there, we call it Wisbo 2, Washington State

00:42:22.380 --> 00:42:27.199
Broadband Office number 2. We have about 1 ,300.

00:42:29.319 --> 00:42:31.500
That's amazing. And so we're going to build,

00:42:31.619 --> 00:42:34.159
and we're doing a lot of building for the future

00:42:34.159 --> 00:42:37.000
down there. Our little towns are not growing

00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:40.119
a lot, but that deal down Seven Bays along the

00:42:40.119 --> 00:42:42.800
river, and that is growing. Yeah. So we're doing

00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:44.159
a little bit of growth. Yeah, I know exactly

00:42:44.159 --> 00:42:45.599
what you're talking about down there, and those

00:42:45.599 --> 00:42:48.920
have been growing. Growing down there. So you're

00:42:48.920 --> 00:42:52.800
taking it to the towns that you have in the county.

00:42:52.860 --> 00:42:54.340
You're taking it down to maybe some of these

00:42:54.340 --> 00:42:57.030
other areas. What if I'm just... you know bill

00:42:57.030 --> 00:43:00.389
jones and i got my 2 000 acres of you know wheat

00:43:00.389 --> 00:43:03.150
farm or cattle or whatever it is that i've got

00:43:03.150 --> 00:43:05.010
in lincoln county because you guys got all kinds

00:43:05.010 --> 00:43:07.010
of agriculture out there right you got livestock

00:43:07.010 --> 00:43:09.849
you got dry land farming you got irrigated farming

00:43:09.849 --> 00:43:13.210
uh and i mean and all kinds of stuff garbanzo

00:43:13.210 --> 00:43:16.869
beans uh oh yeah yeah out there these days right

00:43:16.869 --> 00:43:20.570
so what if i'm that guy and you can't see a neighbor

00:43:20.570 --> 00:43:23.449
anywhere near me am i getting broadband you know

00:43:23.449 --> 00:43:28.690
some some have Some have gotten some of that.

00:43:28.750 --> 00:43:30.929
It depends on if you're in northern Lincoln County,

00:43:31.050 --> 00:43:33.909
you're very familiar with the topography in north

00:43:33.909 --> 00:43:38.329
Lincoln County. You hunt there and know what

00:43:38.329 --> 00:43:40.590
that looks like. Then you come back up towards

00:43:40.590 --> 00:43:42.949
Highway 2, and then the south end of our county

00:43:42.949 --> 00:43:48.610
is pretty flat. So we have some fixed wireless

00:43:48.610 --> 00:43:52.090
companies. that have done some stuff with, you

00:43:52.090 --> 00:43:54.630
know, off of a tower, like tower, things like

00:43:54.630 --> 00:43:58.349
that. We have the people that are T -Mobile hotspot.

00:43:58.909 --> 00:44:01.030
And is all this part of your network? No, no,

00:44:01.110 --> 00:44:03.309
no. This is just some things that other people,

00:44:03.389 --> 00:44:06.110
you know, the thing is our citizens too. They're

00:44:06.110 --> 00:44:08.610
not waiting. I mean, we, we, this is a thing.

00:44:08.809 --> 00:44:12.230
Nobody's coming. You people were Starlink. Starlink's

00:44:12.230 --> 00:44:15.269
a big player right now. And now it would make

00:44:15.269 --> 00:44:17.309
sense in a really rural area like Lincoln County.

00:44:17.329 --> 00:44:19.269
For sure. Cause that's, that may be the only

00:44:19.269 --> 00:44:21.929
thing. And it's, it's work. It's working for

00:44:21.929 --> 00:44:24.349
people, you know, some type of low earth orbit

00:44:24.349 --> 00:44:27.349
or it's Amazon Leo. That's one. So that leads

00:44:27.349 --> 00:44:30.340
then to the. This BEAD program, the Broadband

00:44:30.340 --> 00:44:35.539
Equity and Deployment Federal Monies. There's

00:44:35.539 --> 00:44:37.820
$1 .2 billion coming to the state of Washington

00:44:37.820 --> 00:44:42.719
to build basically unserved people. Right. The

00:44:42.719 --> 00:44:44.039
type of people that we're talking about right

00:44:44.039 --> 00:44:47.579
now. In Lincoln County, we actually had four,

00:44:47.760 --> 00:44:51.860
after two years of messing around, four project

00:44:51.860 --> 00:44:53.800
areas, which are really the four. Kind of the

00:44:53.800 --> 00:44:56.199
four corners. If you divided Lincoln County,

00:44:56.300 --> 00:45:00.360
it's almost a square except for Lake Roosevelt.

00:45:00.619 --> 00:45:04.719
Right. So both Amazon Leo and Inland Cellular,

00:45:04.780 --> 00:45:08.519
which has quite a few cell phone towers in Lincoln

00:45:08.519 --> 00:45:12.579
County, they both got a piece of that, of this

00:45:12.579 --> 00:45:15.880
bead money coming to Lincoln County. So if you

00:45:15.880 --> 00:45:17.880
can visualize, you're looking down and you see

00:45:17.880 --> 00:45:19.960
the eight. Cities and towns. We've got a middle

00:45:19.960 --> 00:45:22.340
mile between Harrington and Sprague to get Sprague

00:45:22.340 --> 00:45:24.079
lit up. Oh, yeah. One between Wilbur and Elmira,

00:45:24.179 --> 00:45:26.159
get Elmira lit up. Right. Then we're going down

00:45:26.159 --> 00:45:28.820
from Creston down to Hawk Creek and on down to

00:45:28.820 --> 00:45:30.900
Deer Meadows and Seven Bays to get that piece.

00:45:31.099 --> 00:45:33.400
That's the one we're going to light up with the

00:45:33.400 --> 00:45:36.539
people that are down there on Lake Roosevelt.

00:45:36.539 --> 00:45:38.360
Now, where's Heartline and Cooley City here?

00:45:38.360 --> 00:45:40.440
Okay. You're in Grant County now. Oh, those are

00:45:40.440 --> 00:45:43.820
part of it. Yes. Okay. And Grant County PUD.

00:45:44.670 --> 00:45:46.789
They've been building broadband for 25 years.

00:45:46.869 --> 00:45:50.789
Back in the day, Chelan. Yeah, that's a big deal

00:45:50.789 --> 00:45:53.070
down there. They were one of the first to really

00:45:53.070 --> 00:45:54.710
do that from a PUD point of view. That's exactly

00:45:54.710 --> 00:45:56.570
right, Paul. And what they've done the last few

00:45:56.570 --> 00:46:01.280
years, they got all the towns. They got all that

00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:03.380
stuff all done because they control, they have

00:46:03.380 --> 00:46:05.500
the power, they're the power company. So they

00:46:05.500 --> 00:46:07.420
did all that stuff. Then they started doing a

00:46:07.420 --> 00:46:09.340
little bit of, then they got out to Coulee City.

00:46:09.400 --> 00:46:11.239
They got out to Heartline. They got, you know,

00:46:11.239 --> 00:46:14.800
they got that. Now they, they kind of sat back,

00:46:14.820 --> 00:46:18.079
took a deep breath and then started drawing out

00:46:18.079 --> 00:46:21.960
small projects in all the other rural areas.

00:46:22.019 --> 00:46:24.119
And they've been tackling those and they've tackled

00:46:24.119 --> 00:46:27.480
over the last. Three years, about 20 rural projects.

00:46:27.480 --> 00:46:29.380
We're talking like Wilson Creek? Yeah, yeah,

00:46:29.380 --> 00:46:32.599
yeah, yeah. And stuff like that. So that's what

00:46:32.599 --> 00:46:35.960
they're doing. So we're going to... I think we're

00:46:35.960 --> 00:46:39.199
testing people's knowledge of the geography of

00:46:39.199 --> 00:46:41.900
Washington. Of eastern Washington and some of

00:46:41.900 --> 00:46:46.840
the things out there. And the bead project with

00:46:46.840 --> 00:46:51.719
Amazon Leo and what people have with Starlink

00:46:51.719 --> 00:46:55.530
and things like that. And Inland Cellular with

00:46:55.530 --> 00:46:58.650
their fixed wireless. Those are the solutions

00:46:58.650 --> 00:47:01.050
we're going to try to get to those really hard

00:47:01.050 --> 00:47:06.070
areas. We have cell phone towers out there we

00:47:06.070 --> 00:47:09.530
call green elevators. That's true. And we have

00:47:09.530 --> 00:47:12.150
over 100 of them in Lincoln County. That's true.

00:47:12.170 --> 00:47:16.369
And many of them already have some fixed wireless

00:47:16.369 --> 00:47:18.969
things there. Then we have some cell phone towers.

00:47:19.389 --> 00:47:23.570
Our next piece, when we get done, into next year

00:47:23.570 --> 00:47:26.250
we hope a year from now we've got this infrastructure

00:47:26.250 --> 00:47:29.429
built in lincoln county and hopefully the bead

00:47:29.429 --> 00:47:32.510
money has come for these other pieces that we

00:47:32.510 --> 00:47:35.849
can start working with we think there's an opportunity

00:47:35.849 --> 00:47:41.269
to use some of the dark fiber now that's a kind

00:47:41.269 --> 00:47:47.489
of one of those that lumens slash at &t a lot

00:47:47.489 --> 00:47:50.489
of people don't know that that lumens sold a

00:47:50.489 --> 00:47:55.159
whole bunch of their to AT &T. So there's a lot

00:47:55.159 --> 00:47:59.340
of things going on in that realm right now that

00:47:59.340 --> 00:48:01.780
we think there's a lot of that that's not being

00:48:01.780 --> 00:48:04.579
used in Lincoln County. Well, yeah. I mean, Lincoln

00:48:04.579 --> 00:48:07.099
is a good example. Kittitas and Grant are good

00:48:07.099 --> 00:48:10.219
examples because you had Highway 2 and you had

00:48:10.219 --> 00:48:13.099
I -90, right? And of course, there's the North

00:48:13.099 --> 00:48:15.559
Cascades Highway and there's some other major

00:48:15.559 --> 00:48:18.519
arterials. But that fiber got kind of put in

00:48:18.519 --> 00:48:22.139
quietly. In a lot of areas. In a lot of areas

00:48:22.139 --> 00:48:25.639
in the early 2000s. And there's a lot of, there's

00:48:25.639 --> 00:48:28.840
dark strands in there. That are not being fully

00:48:28.840 --> 00:48:30.420
utilized right now. That's exactly right. So

00:48:30.420 --> 00:48:33.460
now it's back to, we have actually signed some

00:48:33.460 --> 00:48:38.380
non -disclosure agreements with Lumens now, slash

00:48:38.380 --> 00:48:43.739
AT &T, to find out. So you've got the old pot

00:48:43.739 --> 00:48:47.139
lines, your telephone line copper. Which they.

00:48:47.630 --> 00:48:49.650
They want to get rid of it too. Sure. But they're

00:48:49.650 --> 00:48:51.730
not going to come back and put fiber in because

00:48:51.730 --> 00:48:54.190
they can't afford to do that. Right. They're

00:48:54.190 --> 00:48:57.969
the incumbent provider, but they get federal

00:48:57.969 --> 00:49:00.409
money to get that telephone out to your house.

00:49:00.530 --> 00:49:02.429
Right. And they've been doing it since Ma Bell

00:49:02.429 --> 00:49:07.630
was alive. Sure. So that's a piece. But we think

00:49:07.630 --> 00:49:10.389
exactly what you said, that there is that lumen

00:49:10.389 --> 00:49:15.039
fiber. that is around and we know it's around

00:49:15.039 --> 00:49:16.920
there and it's just what you said it's being

00:49:16.920 --> 00:49:20.760
underutilized some they built on a under a contract

00:49:20.760 --> 00:49:23.159
called touch america yeah that came there was

00:49:23.159 --> 00:49:25.739
i remember 20 years ago i remember 20 25 years

00:49:25.739 --> 00:49:30.639
ago so i think Margie, I just drive her nuts

00:49:30.639 --> 00:49:32.719
because I start talking and thinking about this

00:49:32.719 --> 00:49:35.019
stuff, and she goes, we've got a network to finish

00:49:35.019 --> 00:49:39.099
building. And I'm trying to think out farther.

00:49:39.099 --> 00:49:41.300
You're another 10 years ahead. Yeah, how do we

00:49:41.300 --> 00:49:44.400
get to the rest of the citizens? It's about the

00:49:44.400 --> 00:49:46.340
citizens of Lincoln County. That's what this

00:49:46.340 --> 00:49:50.039
is about. I enjoy it. I know it's valuable to

00:49:50.039 --> 00:49:52.460
our county because I've got people out there

00:49:52.460 --> 00:49:54.840
now that live. You should see the addresses of

00:49:54.840 --> 00:49:57.219
the people down at Seven Bays and Deer Meadows

00:49:57.219 --> 00:49:59.179
that Margie said. sending damage waivers out

00:49:59.179 --> 00:50:02.179
to. They live all over the western United States.

00:50:02.199 --> 00:50:03.260
Yeah, because they're not living down there full

00:50:03.260 --> 00:50:06.280
-time. No, no. And there are some beautiful homes

00:50:06.280 --> 00:50:12.019
down there. So how can we, as a county, how can

00:50:12.019 --> 00:50:16.360
we make it better for them? You know, we've done

00:50:16.360 --> 00:50:20.179
a lot of things with those roads. I mean, we

00:50:20.179 --> 00:50:23.380
have the most beautiful inland waterway that

00:50:23.380 --> 00:50:26.860
you could ask for. Oh, beautiful. So how do we

00:50:26.860 --> 00:50:31.360
then? that connectivity for them to be able to

00:50:31.360 --> 00:50:34.059
come and live full -time or stay there. Yeah,

00:50:34.059 --> 00:50:36.000
because eventually those neighborhoods may turn

00:50:36.000 --> 00:50:38.199
into full -time residences. Way more full -time

00:50:38.199 --> 00:50:39.719
people down there than we used to have anyway.

00:50:39.920 --> 00:50:42.539
Yeah, and it has developed a lot over the years,

00:50:42.699 --> 00:50:45.639
a lot. We need some other things down in that

00:50:45.639 --> 00:50:49.239
area. But that's kind of how broadband has been

00:50:49.239 --> 00:50:51.579
built out in Lincoln County. Well, Commissioner

00:50:51.579 --> 00:50:54.480
Hutzel, it's a great story. And it's really kind

00:50:54.480 --> 00:50:56.960
of an inspiring one, I think, for a lot of folks.

00:50:57.829 --> 00:51:00.030
It just goes to show you that every project,

00:51:00.070 --> 00:51:02.269
no matter how big, if you just break it down

00:51:02.269 --> 00:51:04.929
into individual pieces and you start from the

00:51:04.929 --> 00:51:07.829
very beginning, assess what you have, figure

00:51:07.829 --> 00:51:11.769
out what you need, plan that out, and then start

00:51:11.769 --> 00:51:14.070
looking for opportunities to get the resources

00:51:14.070 --> 00:51:17.210
that you need. You know, $30 million all at one

00:51:17.210 --> 00:51:20.429
time, that was probably a little unusual. We're

00:51:20.429 --> 00:51:22.190
still spending some of it. Yeah, but you are.

00:51:22.469 --> 00:51:24.949
And I don't know that everybody's going to have

00:51:24.949 --> 00:51:26.789
that level of success right out of the gate.

00:51:26.929 --> 00:51:30.250
But what you've done is not something that can't

00:51:30.250 --> 00:51:34.090
be replicated with the right tools, with the

00:51:34.090 --> 00:51:36.050
right energy, with someone who's committed to

00:51:36.050 --> 00:51:39.519
getting it done just like you are. The stars

00:51:39.519 --> 00:51:42.880
had to line up for it to do. And a lot of good

00:51:42.880 --> 00:51:45.920
people to work with. We worked with some fabulous

00:51:45.920 --> 00:51:48.360
people. We had never got this done. But with

00:51:48.360 --> 00:51:50.699
really good preparation. But that was really

00:51:50.699 --> 00:51:52.840
the piece. The stars tend to line up. That was

00:51:52.840 --> 00:51:56.500
a real piece. A lot of groundwork was done. And

00:51:56.500 --> 00:51:58.440
good people want to go to good projects. And

00:51:58.440 --> 00:52:02.440
that's what we see when the contractors are bidding.

00:52:02.659 --> 00:52:04.539
They come out and take a look, and they look

00:52:04.539 --> 00:52:06.219
at the design, and they look at the people they're

00:52:06.219 --> 00:52:09.059
dealing with. And yeah, we've had three contractors

00:52:09.059 --> 00:52:11.059
out there, and all of them are chomping at the

00:52:11.059 --> 00:52:13.280
bit for this. We're going to have it out in about

00:52:13.280 --> 00:52:17.139
two weeks to bid on this. And we think that will

00:52:17.139 --> 00:52:19.599
be very advantageous to us. Because the more

00:52:19.599 --> 00:52:21.579
competition, the better. That's exact. And they're

00:52:21.579 --> 00:52:23.880
all in Spokane, and they're all good people.

00:52:23.980 --> 00:52:27.710
The only ones that have bid on it. because, yeah,

00:52:27.869 --> 00:52:30.500
that's so, yeah. Well, Commissioner Hutzel, thanks

00:52:30.500 --> 00:52:32.320
for joining me today. Paul, it's been a real

00:52:32.320 --> 00:52:34.699
pleasure. My pleasure. It's so good to see you.

00:52:34.760 --> 00:52:38.420
I hope that you'll come back and we can talk

00:52:38.420 --> 00:52:40.480
about something else next time. Yeah, baseball.

00:52:40.800 --> 00:52:42.800
Yeah. More baseball. That sounds good to me.

00:52:42.860 --> 00:52:45.719
Or we could get into the tire business. I don't

00:52:45.719 --> 00:52:47.739
know anything about the tire business, but I

00:52:47.739 --> 00:52:50.219
do use tires on a regular basis. Yes, you do.

00:52:50.340 --> 00:52:52.719
And everybody does. Well, thanks to our listeners

00:52:52.719 --> 00:52:54.820
out there. Thanks to the county commissioners

00:52:54.820 --> 00:52:56.739
who are regular listeners for everything that

00:52:56.739 --> 00:53:00.579
you do every day in your counties. We can't tell

00:53:00.579 --> 00:53:02.860
you how much we appreciate the commitment that

00:53:02.860 --> 00:53:06.159
you have to your communities, as well as to the

00:53:06.159 --> 00:53:08.300
statewide community here at WASAC. Hopefully

00:53:08.300 --> 00:53:10.900
you can join us for our next chat. We look forward

00:53:10.900 --> 00:53:15.559
to that. And until then, take good care. Thanks

00:53:15.559 --> 00:53:17.820
for tuning in to County Connection. Stay in the

00:53:17.820 --> 00:53:19.739
loop by subscribing to us through your preferred

00:53:19.739 --> 00:53:22.059
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00:53:22.199 --> 00:53:25.079
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00:53:25.079 --> 00:53:27.159
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00:53:27.159 --> 00:53:29.019
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00:53:29.019 --> 00:53:31.679
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00:53:31.679 --> 00:53:32.719
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