Commissioners look to bring internet service to county

The Perry County Commission took the next step to bring the area into the future, especially when it comes to internet access.
The Commission met with Charter/Spectrum to discuss road boring for their equipment when they begin work in the coming weeks and months.
“We don’t want anybody cutting through a road, we would like them to bore under it if at all possible,” Perry County Presiding Commissioner Mike Sauer said.
Charter will have a 60/40 split in terms of wires and line underground and overhead.
Sauer reinterated the fact that the lines that can be seen and overhead are far enough off the ground that it doesn’t interfere with daily life, especially on county roads.
“We try to get the overhead lines up to 18 feet for industrial trucks,” Joe Vitale of Charter said. “We try to be 36 inches or deeper underground.”
“These combines are getting bigger and bigger every day,” Sauer said. “Just want to make sure that we don’t have to go back and redo something.”
Charter is working to provide internet service to the outlying parts of Perry County. The company recently worked on a similar project in Ste. Genevieve and Vitale hopes to start on Highway 61 and finish Ste. Genevieve in May.

However, he is aware that there are many areas of Perry County that need service.
“Our timeline for all of this is the beginning of 2025 and into the first part of 2026,” Vitale said. The very first project inside Perryville, once Charter finishes with Ste. Genevieve will be from the south.
“Our weak spots are East and West ends of Perry County and the Brewer area up north close to St. Mary,” Sauer said. “I would hope that those would be one of the first spots you go to because they have very little or no internet service right now.”
Vitale was open to starting wherever the most help is needed.
“We are a fluid team,” he said. “We will keep the area informed on what area we will be in and what roads will be affected as we move forward.”
Vitale noted that over the life of the project, he hopes to bring internet service to more than 1,500 homes.
“We want to bring 1 GB speeds to many households and that gives us the ability to expand to the rest of the county,” Vitale said.
Perry County Clerk Jared Kutz quipped with Vitale at the end of the talk.
“How do we get the Perry County coverage map looking like the Cape County one?” Kutz asked?