A grant may help residents in Monterey get connected to broadband Internet.
That was one of the main topics of Monday’s e-Community Leadership Team meeting.
With broadband unavailable in Monterey, about 50 residents banded together in an attempt to get their city connected.
As a result, a grant was applied for, on behalf of Monterey, to the Community Connect Broadband Grant Program.
The national program awards grants to rural communities with a population up to 20,000 people.
According to the program’s Web site, the grant will give those communities a chance to benefit from the advanced technologies that are necessary to foster economic growth, provide quality education and health care opportunities, and increase and enhance public safety efforts.
As part of the grant, Monterey needs a community center, or another location, where 10 computers can be set up to serve the people of Monterey.
The Monterey Baptist Church has agreed to allow the computer lab on its property, if Monterey receives the grant.
ConnectKentucky’s Sage Cutler, who runs the e-Community Leadership Team meetings, said his hope is that the residents of Monterey will hear about the grant within the next few months.
Also on hand at the meeting was Scott Vogeler, representing Liberty Communications.
LIberty Communications is a private Internet provider currently installing broadband in the Gallatin County area.
Vogeler was invited to the meeting to discuss how his company might possibly be used in Owen County.
Vogeler said Liberty Communications already has one tower in place in Gallatin County and is scheduled to finish a second one Friday, which will allow a wider range of residents in Gallatin County to receive the Internet service.
The new tower can reach a 15-mile radius, which may extend into parts of northwest Owen County.
Vogeler said his towers are around 1,000-feet high and are able to reach most areas within the 15-mile distance, depending on trees or other obstacles which might cause interference.
He said he was interested in extending the business into Owen County, if residents were interested.
Right now, residents in Gallatin County with cable pay $30 per month for the service and those without cable pay $60 each month, plus an installation fee.
He also said there were other options for leasing, or for more advanced systems, which run at higher prices.
Also at the meeting, Cathy Matthews, from the Owen County Public Library, reported that the adult computer classes have been a big success, and that the library is beginning to concentrate on specialized classes to focus on specific aspects of the Internet.
Matthews said the feedback from the classes has been very good.
Owen County Judge-Executive Billy O’Banion reported that the fiscal court is getting closer to having its Web site up and running, and his hope is that it will be in effect by July.

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