The Wallowa County Board of Commissioners at its Monday meeting approved a grant application for technical assistance from the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau’s Rural Wireless Community VISION Program.

At the request of members of the Wallowa County Telecommunications Committee, the board also approved spending up to $1,300 from the video lottery fund for the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District staff to prepare the application, and providing electronic versions of maps and photos from the planning department to accompany the request.

Members of the telecommunications committee making the request were Marya Nowakowski, Rob Kemp and George Hill.

“We want to see real on-the-ground progress,” Kemp said. He noted that the kind of technical assistance offered by the VISION program would remove one of the main stumbling blocks to expanding telecommunication service in Wallowa County.

The committee members told the board they aren’t now even able to apply for available development money for wireless or wired broadband services because of the lack of information offered by this program. While it provides expertise, rather than dollars, they estimated the aid would be worth over $20,000.

They said that Cathy Britain of the Eastern Oregon Telecommunications Committee (EOTC) felt that Wallowa County has a good chance of getting assistance because of the challenging geographics of the county. The fact that Verizon is currently expanding its fiber-optic cable into the county is also a plus, they said.

According to a letter from the committee to the board, communities chosen to participate in the VISION Program will receive on-site regulatory, legal, engineering, and technical assistance from a team of Wireless Telecommunications Bureau staff experts. The program coordinates the efforts of federal, state, and local governments and the private sector to identify potential barriers and possible solutions in order to help bring the benefit of wireless broadband services to rural committees chosen to receive the assistance. The essay application for the program is due by Dec. 1.

Commissioner Dan DeBoie, who is a member of the telecommunication committee, agreed that the technical assistance is badly needed.

“We’re happy to help with this, it’s vital to the economic development of the county,” said DeBoie.

“You’ve got up to $1,300,” Commissioner Ben Boswell said after the request was approved. “Work quick, work cheap – the Wallowa County way.”