At last week’s Cole County Commission meeting, representatives from Wisper Internet and the Cole County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) gave presentations on their organization’s services.
Though internet access and conservation are starkly different services, both organizations outlined how they’re supporting Cole County residents.
Internet access
Now three years out since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Miller with Wisper Internet said internet access is more important than ever before. He said Wisper founder Nathan Stooke likes to say, “COVID brought 2030 to 2020.” Internet is now an essential utility similar to water and electricity, Miller said.
The timing of his presentation came from the recent completion of a fixed-wireless tower in Taos.
Miller said the tower is one of several serving the Cole County area. There are two towers in Jefferson City, one in Taos, one in Eugene, one in Lohman and one in Centertown. He also said there is a tower still in the design stage that will go up in St. Thomas.
Wisper provides fixed-wireless internet, Miller said. Instead of connecting from Earth to a satellite, he said, fixed-wireless connects “from Earth to Earth.” He said the technology is made by Tarana Wireless.
Tarana creates “base nodes” that are put at the top of communication towers. Then, “remote nodes” are installed at companies, residences, schools and other buildings needed wireless internet. The remote nodes receive the wireless signal by being in the line of sight of the base nodes.
This usually means nodes need to be installed as high up as possible, to increase line of sight. The wireless signal can also bounce from node to node, meaning if a house is out of the line of sight of the base node on a tower, it can still get a signal by being within the line of sight of other houses with remote nodes.
Miller said Wisper primarily serves underserved and unserved populations, especially rural ones. Wisper provides internet access to around 20,000 customers across Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana and Illinois.
Mandy Tyron, the marketing coordinator at Wisper, said each tower has an eight-mile radius of coverage and often overlaps with other towers. Tyron showed the commissioners coverage maps that displayed an increased amount of connectivity in areas where Wisper has set up shop.
Miller said Wisper has identified around 800 houses in Taos that would get a 90 percent connectivity rate using the new tower.
The company’s mission to serve rural communities is aided by federal funds and programs. Miller said Wisper received $122 million from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2019 through the Connect America Fund (CAF).
The CAF is a program meant to ensure underserved and unserved rural communities in the United States have access to high-speed internet. Miller said Wisper has committed $2 million of that money to serving Cole County.
Wisper customers can also apply for help from the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), previously known as the Emergency Broadband Benefit, Miller said. The ACP subsidizes internet bills and provides discounts on devices like phones and tablets for customers who receive Medicaid or free/discounted school lunches.
Miller said Wisper’s research shows about 14 percent of households in the Taos/Blair Oaks school district are eligible, and 57 percent of households in the broader Jefferson City school district are eligible.
Conservation
District Manager Michele Brautigam represented the Cole County Soil and Water Conservation District at the meeting. She was accompanied at the meeting by John Loesch, the chair of the SWCD board, vice chair Mark Thompson, board treasurer Kevin Kerperin, board member Roy Raithel and district technician Jim Frank.
Brautigam began her presentation with a brief history of the SWCD. She said Missouri’s soil and water commission was founded in 1943 as a response to the Dust Bowl. The individual districts, Cole County’s included, were created between 1944 and 1946, she said.
Brautigam explained the districts get their funding from a one-tenth of one percent sales tax passed in 1984 that is divided equally between Missouri state parks and the Department of Natural Resources soil and water conservation program.
The tax funds a state cost-share program that lets farmers and landowners implement soil and water conservation practices.
The Cole County SWCD participates in six cost-share categories: Sheet, rill and gully erosion; grazing management; animal waste management; nutrient and pest management; sensitive areas; and woodland erosion.
There are some 30 “practices” within those six categories, Brautigam said. The most common practices are cover crops, nutrient and pest management, pond and spring development, grazing systems and livestock exclusions.
To assist farmers and landowners, Brautigam said the SWCD visits farms to help decide which practices would be compatible and beneficial, reviews conservation plans, conducts inspections and does soil loss determinations.
The SWCD also has two no-till drills available for rental by farmers to stop erosion.
On top of the cost-share benefits and equipment, the SWCD also participates in several local conservation events, including Envirothon, the Mid-Missouri Grazing Conference, Grazing School and Forage Day.
“These practices conserve soil, which consequently improves water quality by reducing sedimentation in rivers and streams, plus helps promote good farming practices,” Brautigam said.
For more information on Cole County SWCD programs, visit https://mosoilandwater.land/cole.