STRIB on Cities and Broadband Stimulus Criteria

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune picked up on the NTIA/RUS stimulus broadband workshop, which I wrote about yesterday.

Are Minnesota cities shut out by broadband rules?

Criteria for seeking stimulus funds require proof that cities are underserved, and Minnesota providers can argue they’re not.

By STEVE ALEXANDER, Star Tribune
Last update: July 21, 2009 – 12:47 AM

Federal grantmakers for broadband projects will meet in St. Paul today, but Minnesota cities hoping for a chunk of the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus money fear that the rules are written to shut them out.

The U.S. departments of commerce and agriculture, which have the authority to grant or lend $7.2 billion in federal stimulus money between now and September 2010, are holding a broadband workshop at the Crowne Plaza hotel in St. Paul. It’s one of more than a half-dozen meetings around the country and is likely to focus on the details of how to apply for the federal stimulus money.

But some applicants say the deck is stacked against them already because of rules governing the stimulus money. Northfield has given up on its application for now, Cook County is worried and Monticello, which found alternative funding because of a court decision, believes it could never have gotten stimulus money.

Full story on the STRIB business section.  Did I get a scoop?  Nah, not really, especially since the reporter does a good job of talking to people in the field and putting the issue into kitchen table English.  But it makes me feel like I did.

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