Monterey To Apply For Wi-Fi Grant

The town of Monterey plans to apply for a grant to help bring Wi-Fi to the downtown area.

The board of mayor and aldermen voted Monday night to apply for an Appalachian Regional Commission grant to help fund the project.

Alderman Nathan Walker said the deadline to apply for the $52,500 grant is Friday.

“There’s not a lot to it, as far as just mapping out what the downtown area would be and the equipment cost,” Walker said. “It would be a quick turn around just to put it in there to see if we would qualify and get it, but I think it would be a great thing for the community for us to consider. Especially for tourism.”

If awarded the ARC grant, Monterey would be required to designate $22,500 towards the project.

The exact price to conduct such a project remains unknown but Walker said the grant funding should cover the downtown area.

“Just to do the basic downtown area here on Commercial Avenue, I think it would fall well within the $75,000 amount of the grant,” Walker said. “We could expand that as needed depending on what the equipment cost is.”

According to Walker, applying for the ARC Wi-Fi grant will not prevent the town from applying for other ARC grant opportunities.