Bid awarded for Ritzville fiber buildout

RITZVILLE — Installation of fiber optic cable within the Ritzville and Lind city limits will start sometime this fall and should be finished by spring 2025. Adams County Commissioners awarded a $2.97 million contract to Zero Db Communicatons of Spokane for the first phase of the broadband project.  

Adams County Public Works Director Todd O’Brien said some areas of Ritzville already have access to fiber, but that the project will expand that access throughout town. The Lind portion will connect to an existing fiber line and build a fiber backbone around town.  

The project is funded through a $10.3 million grant the county received from the Washington Department of Commerce in 2022. The goal, O’Brien said, is both to expand the network and provide high-speed service.  

O’Brien estimated construction would begin by late September or early October. The contractor must accept the agreement, which then goes back to the commissioners for their approval. The contractor then has 10 days before the clock starts.  

Work should continue throughout the winter, with completion projected in March or early April 2025.  

“A lot of the work is hanging aerial (lines) on power poles,” O’Brien said, although some sections will be installed underground.  

Due to long lead times for some items, county officials already purchased a lot of the necessary materials, O’Brien said.  

Adams County Commissioner Dan Blankenship said that with the start of construction approaching, he’s been getting questions from constituents asking when it would be available. 

“Soon,” Blankenship said.  

The county is working on the buildout; actually providing internet to individual homes and businesses will be the work of private companies.  

The second phase of the project is south of the Othello city limits, the area around the Othello Golf Club and some newer housing subdivisions. Any kind of construction requires permits and county officials are working on getting all the permits they need. That process has been underway for more than a year, O’Brien said. 

County officials are working with three different utilities, and each company must evaluate its system and upgrade power poles where necessary. Permits also are required from the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District.  

“My guess would be we will be able to bid (the second phase) contract sometime late this year, or most likely early next year,” O’Brien said.  

If the permitting and contracting processes stay on schedule the second phase contract should be awarded about the time the first phase is finished, he said. 

The two projects already underway will be funded with the existing grant, O’Brien said. Any further expansion would require another grant; O’Brien said the application process for a second grant opens later this year.