22 million for a small 100 mile infrastructure not guaranteed to be used……what a joke! Customers have options now thanks to the brilliance of Elon Musk, where before Starlink there was nothing available in rural areas. Times change and they change quickly. At one time copper was the only thing available, now it is satellite to be accessed from just about anywhere on the planet. ASTOUND is a large company and they can afford to absorb their misfortunes instead of charging the public to fund their service most will never ever use. Thank you Elon!
I see Astound would like another half-million dollars in contingency money for a project that has already cost taxpayers roughly $22 million and currently serves about 141 people.
At that price, we could have given every one of those households a Starlink dish, paid their unlimited service for the next 150–200 years, and still had enough left over to buy the entire Board of Commissioners a nice boat and a lifetime supply of coffee. Or, if we wanted to be thrifty, we could have done it on the $55 plan and covered them until roughly the year 2260.
Instead we built a fiber network that was supposed to serve 1,500 homes and has so far attracted roughly 10% of that number, at a cost exceeding $156,000 per actual customer. Astound signed a contract that included contingency limits. Now that construction is finished and the invoices are in, they’d like those limits raised because pole work and engineering came in higher than expected. Public Works says there’s still grant money left, so it’s not *new* money, just more of the same money that was already earmarked for a project whose actual adoption is a fraction of what was sold to the public.
Jake Seegers did the math. Commissioner Johnson has already asked why so few people signed up. The rest of the Board appears prepared to treat this as a routine contract amendment rather than a moment to ask whether another half-million dollars is a reasonable response to a project that has delivered service to roughly one in ten of the homes it was built for.
Starlink is not perfect. It has higher latency and can slow down when the cell is busy. But it also does not require $22 million in public capital to serve 141 households, nor does it come back asking for another $500,000 once the work is done. It simply works, or it doesn’t, and the customer decides whether to keep paying $55–$130 a month.
We were told this was essential infrastructure. What we got is a very expensive fiber network with very few customers and a contractor that would like the contingency caps raised after the fact. That is not stewardship. That is a sunk-cost argument dressed up as an agenda item.
If the Board is going to approve another half-million, the least it can do is explain, in plain language, why 141 households required $22.5 million when a satellite service that already exists could have covered them for the next century and a half.
Exactly, Eric! That was my first thought when I read it in the packet. Astound wants the ARPA money. ARPA money! This broadband service was probably a part of the plan Jeff mentioned in his earlier article. Berry imposes the mandates; a lack of technology contradicts her County edict; presto, majico Astound provides internet access and connectivity thru an ARPA grant; nobody wanted in 5 years ago and people don't want it now. Wasteful!
Kristin, it kinda feels like hope, maybe....only because we are more informed locally than the average bear. Will it change the good ole boy system? God loving and the creek don't rise, it will.
Seegers is doing what the commissioners haven't: reading the contract, counting actual customers against promised connections, and calculating the real cost per subscriber.
Again why so many are scared of Jake. He is fiscally responsible!
All of a sudden, Johnson wants "measures", and he lets Clallam Conservation District - his pet group- slide. Did Rip Van Winkle finally wake up? Great job Jeff and Jake!
I'm taking our ballots to drop off at the Courthouse on Tuesday. VOTE JAKE!!
Take all that money and give it to law enforcement. Then tell all O.P. residents to choose a satellite service of their liking, ( Dish, Direct TV, Hughes Net, Star Link ). Hard wired systems are becoming a thing of the past. Star link has recently become more competitive.
You are absolutely correct broadband has always been limited by bandwidth (size of the pipe), whereas satellite can be wide open. I agree residents have better choices now.
When I was walking on the ODT between Freshwater Bay and Thompson Roads a few months ago, I ran in to the contractors installing the broadband cables along that thoroughfare which also serves as the access road for the residents of that stretch. The guy I spoke to told me that very few residents that they contacted along their routes in Clallam County wanted a connection. He went on to say that they'd encountered primarily beligerant homeowners that had been quite vocal about telling them to move on.
jarhead, Seegers will take one seat out of three. It's not a solve but the beginning of the end of the good ole boy system as we vote each one out. Next year is coming up to get rid of another one.
Astound fees are astronomical. Every year for my condo in Port Angeles I would have to fight to lower fees for internet only. I recently switched to Verizon and the service is more reliable and way for affordable. I am near a Verizon tower. For my home in Freshwater Bay which would be available for the new Astound service, I chose to use Starlink. Again, it's way more reliable at a very reasonable cost. Why would anyone sign up with Astound?????? I highly recommend Starlink for the west end customers that can get it. Astound fees are higher and their service is subpar.
Absolute abuse of power and taxpayer dollars. 3 inept people that are bankrupting the Olympic Peninsula. How come Mieke didn't review this contract? Also on the Oct. 20 agenda is $4.1 million dollars in vouchers and payroll. How many of the 500+ county employees are working from home? I understand many Health and Human Services employee work from home due to personality conflicts.
I would not trust Astound OR the shady criminal characters in our government in ANY way!
We have been using Astound for years and they lied to us about the discount/rate that we were supposed to have over 2 years ago, their customer service was VERY rude, nasty, and abrasive to us when we went in to negotiate a new service, and we just got hit with a higher monthly fee last July! We hope to go with satellite service in the near future and dump Astound and their shyster marketing lies forever~! We resent ANY of our tax dollars going to Astound in ANY way!
Please STOP any future payment to Astound! All of my neighbors in Freshwater Bay have Starlink. Affordable and reliable! Done with Centurylink after all the down times. VERY happy with Starlink performance and cost! NO more to Astound!
I am so lost in this election. Who collects the votes.? Where are they deposited and who counts them? At one time I read the LWV's do. Anyone that counts the votes should be under video, that also includes audio. Why? Because we don't trust Clallam County voting system, especially with a recall vote not long ago.
$55/month for Starlink. No buried infrastructure.
Budgets are tight. People aren't buying what they don't need. Many don't need Astound prices when they can access Starlink.
AMEN! I paid more than that for Centurylink and Astound. Anyone can use Starlink!
Starlink doesn't cost the county anything? Astound is $22mil? "Please sir, may I have some more"
22 million for a small 100 mile infrastructure not guaranteed to be used……what a joke! Customers have options now thanks to the brilliance of Elon Musk, where before Starlink there was nothing available in rural areas. Times change and they change quickly. At one time copper was the only thing available, now it is satellite to be accessed from just about anywhere on the planet. ASTOUND is a large company and they can afford to absorb their misfortunes instead of charging the public to fund their service most will never ever use. Thank you Elon!
I see Astound would like another half-million dollars in contingency money for a project that has already cost taxpayers roughly $22 million and currently serves about 141 people.
At that price, we could have given every one of those households a Starlink dish, paid their unlimited service for the next 150–200 years, and still had enough left over to buy the entire Board of Commissioners a nice boat and a lifetime supply of coffee. Or, if we wanted to be thrifty, we could have done it on the $55 plan and covered them until roughly the year 2260.
Instead we built a fiber network that was supposed to serve 1,500 homes and has so far attracted roughly 10% of that number, at a cost exceeding $156,000 per actual customer. Astound signed a contract that included contingency limits. Now that construction is finished and the invoices are in, they’d like those limits raised because pole work and engineering came in higher than expected. Public Works says there’s still grant money left, so it’s not *new* money, just more of the same money that was already earmarked for a project whose actual adoption is a fraction of what was sold to the public.
Jake Seegers did the math. Commissioner Johnson has already asked why so few people signed up. The rest of the Board appears prepared to treat this as a routine contract amendment rather than a moment to ask whether another half-million dollars is a reasonable response to a project that has delivered service to roughly one in ten of the homes it was built for.
Starlink is not perfect. It has higher latency and can slow down when the cell is busy. But it also does not require $22 million in public capital to serve 141 households, nor does it come back asking for another $500,000 once the work is done. It simply works, or it doesn’t, and the customer decides whether to keep paying $55–$130 a month.
We were told this was essential infrastructure. What we got is a very expensive fiber network with very few customers and a contractor that would like the contingency caps raised after the fact. That is not stewardship. That is a sunk-cost argument dressed up as an agenda item.
If the Board is going to approve another half-million, the least it can do is explain, in plain language, why 141 households required $22.5 million when a satellite service that already exists could have covered them for the next century and a half.
Respectfully,
A Taxpayer Who Can Still Do Division
"Let's spend it before the grantors take it back. (grantors would be tax payers?)
https://www.usdebtclock.org
Exactly, Eric! That was my first thought when I read it in the packet. Astound wants the ARPA money. ARPA money! This broadband service was probably a part of the plan Jeff mentioned in his earlier article. Berry imposes the mandates; a lack of technology contradicts her County edict; presto, majico Astound provides internet access and connectivity thru an ARPA grant; nobody wanted in 5 years ago and people don't want it now. Wasteful!
SPENDING OUT OF HAND!!!! IT HAS TO STOP!!!!
I VOTED TODAY!!!! OOH, HERE I AM BABY, SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED, I’M YOURS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6To0fvX_wFA
JAKE SEEGER IS WATCHING OUR DOLLARS
Amen to that. First ask the commissioners what they'll cut to free up the funds for their next money laundering operation.
NOI, would we really get the answer? Of course not. We think, they spend/
I did too! Felt better than usual this time.
Kristin, it kinda feels like hope, maybe....only because we are more informed locally than the average bear. Will it change the good ole boy system? God loving and the creek don't rise, it will.
Agreed
Music is my meme. Turn it up!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bWXWg_wA1g
Very superstitious
Writing's on the wall
Very superstitious
Ladder's 'bout to fall
When you believe in things
That you don't understand
Do all that you can: VOTE!!!
Seegers is doing what the commissioners haven't: reading the contract, counting actual customers against promised connections, and calculating the real cost per subscriber.
Again why so many are scared of Jake. He is fiscally responsible!
All of a sudden, Johnson wants "measures", and he lets Clallam Conservation District - his pet group- slide. Did Rip Van Winkle finally wake up? Great job Jeff and Jake!
I'm taking our ballots to drop off at the Courthouse on Tuesday. VOTE JAKE!!
Take all that money and give it to law enforcement. Then tell all O.P. residents to choose a satellite service of their liking, ( Dish, Direct TV, Hughes Net, Star Link ). Hard wired systems are becoming a thing of the past. Star link has recently become more competitive.
You are absolutely correct broadband has always been limited by bandwidth (size of the pipe), whereas satellite can be wide open. I agree residents have better choices now.
When I was walking on the ODT between Freshwater Bay and Thompson Roads a few months ago, I ran in to the contractors installing the broadband cables along that thoroughfare which also serves as the access road for the residents of that stretch. The guy I spoke to told me that very few residents that they contacted along their routes in Clallam County wanted a connection. He went on to say that they'd encountered primarily beligerant homeowners that had been quite vocal about telling them to move on.
When you take the Commissoner seat you gotta clean this mess up.
jarhead, Seegers will take one seat out of three. It's not a solve but the beginning of the end of the good ole boy system as we vote each one out. Next year is coming up to get rid of another one.
Astound fees are astronomical. Every year for my condo in Port Angeles I would have to fight to lower fees for internet only. I recently switched to Verizon and the service is more reliable and way for affordable. I am near a Verizon tower. For my home in Freshwater Bay which would be available for the new Astound service, I chose to use Starlink. Again, it's way more reliable at a very reasonable cost. Why would anyone sign up with Astound?????? I highly recommend Starlink for the west end customers that can get it. Astound fees are higher and their service is subpar.
Absolute abuse of power and taxpayer dollars. 3 inept people that are bankrupting the Olympic Peninsula. How come Mieke didn't review this contract? Also on the Oct. 20 agenda is $4.1 million dollars in vouchers and payroll. How many of the 500+ county employees are working from home? I understand many Health and Human Services employee work from home due to personality conflicts.
I smell a rat
Rats, plural!
The 3 Amigos strikes again
You misspelled "3 Miscreanteers"
I would not trust Astound OR the shady criminal characters in our government in ANY way!
We have been using Astound for years and they lied to us about the discount/rate that we were supposed to have over 2 years ago, their customer service was VERY rude, nasty, and abrasive to us when we went in to negotiate a new service, and we just got hit with a higher monthly fee last July! We hope to go with satellite service in the near future and dump Astound and their shyster marketing lies forever~! We resent ANY of our tax dollars going to Astound in ANY way!
Sincerely, Mike
Please STOP any future payment to Astound! All of my neighbors in Freshwater Bay have Starlink. Affordable and reliable! Done with Centurylink after all the down times. VERY happy with Starlink performance and cost! NO more to Astound!
Are living just enough, just enough for the city?
I am so lost in this election. Who collects the votes.? Where are they deposited and who counts them? At one time I read the LWV's do. Anyone that counts the votes should be under video, that also includes audio. Why? Because we don't trust Clallam County voting system, especially with a recall vote not long ago.
I admit, I am going nucking futs. ; )
Why wouldn't we hire a legitimate accounting firm? The LWV's is far from anyone I would trust?
Found a interesting tool on The Olympic Herald
https://www.olympicherald.com/campaign-finance/?fbclid=IwY2xjawVCKvNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mAXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR6mi458wTrkIyFSPjBcHrBzafEbNmXCoB14HxWJY2SwVcRtDs9HYldMtY1aTg_aem_Tn9Q_KQHqZUo8MBl-gTjgQ