USDA officially announces $11,500 grant to the City of Decorah to help pay for communications utility feasibility study

U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Under Secretary Lisa Mensah visited Iowa Tuesday and officially announced that eight projects in rural Iowa are receiving a total of $300,000 in Rural Business Development Grants. 

The money includes an $11,500 grant to the City of Decorah to help fund a feasibility study of a fiber-optic broadband network in Decorah.  Also receiving money was the City of Calmar, which got a $48,393 grant to fund engineering and design work for a new business park.

The Decorah grant will be counted towards a $30,000 pledge made by the citizens group Decorah Fast Fiber, which promised to contribute up to half of the cost of a feasibility study, with a maximum of $30,000.  The group has also held a number of other fundraising events and has $18,500 set aside for the City of Decorah if the feasibility study costs as much as $60,000.  The Decorah City Council set aside $60,000 of city money to pay for a feasibility study, but Decorah Fast Fiber wanted to cover half of the cost as a way of showing community interest in the project.