Forest County commissioners on Wednesday approved the sale of a repository property in Marienville and tabled the sale of another Marienville property.
Commissioners gave the OK to the sale of the former Carol’s Cafe at 115 Cherry St. in Marienville to Jeremy Weaver of Port St. Lucie, Florida, for $501. The commissioners said there was no contamination on the site from a nearby former gas station.
The commissioners tabled a motion to sell a former gas station at 101 Cherry St., also a repository property, for $501 due to concerns about contamination on the site.
The commissioners decided to wait until they had more information about the situation before making a decision about selling that property.
In other business Wednesday, commissioners announced the courthouse was reopened to staff on Monday and business may be conducted in person by appointment.
Looking ahead, the commissioners said their top priority this year is broadband expansion.
“We are looking to expand,” commissioners chairman Mark Kingston said. “We have a project started in Yellow Hammer and we will go as far as the money permits with broadband buildout,” he added.
The county has Appalachian Regional Commission funds to use for broadband, among other sources of funding.
The Abraxas facility currently has broadband access provided by Mobilcom.
The county is waiting for the final steps to hook up the Pigeon tower and provide broadband there.
Broadband related work is also underway in the Marienville, Kellettville and Neilltown areas and along Loleta Road.
Kingston said providing broadband to people living in the valleys is difficult.
“I think we will probably have to string wire into the valleys,” commissioner Bob Snyder said.
Kingston said he is still hopeful the county will be able to use state police poles when the contracts for them are up.
“I’m afraid there will be several areas we will not be getting to for a few years because they are so hard to get to,” Snyder said.
Another project the commissioners have been asked to undertake is to research what areas will see internet providers coming in this year.
Kingston said there are some areas where broadband services may be taken care of due to a government auction of broadband frequencies to internet providers.
