Hamilton County’s new Broadband Task Force is asking the public to fill out a survey to explore connectivity issues within the county. The survey will help the task force identify areas where broadband connections are weak or nonexistent.
“The pandemic has shown us just how important it is to have county-wide connections to do schoolwork, work from home or manage a business,” Hamilton County Council president and task force member Amy Massillamany stated. “While the majority of our broadband concerns are located in the northern part of the county, this survey will help us identify other pockets where we could use a boost.”
The survey opened May 11 and is available at surveymonkey.com/r/HamCoBroadband. It will remain open for three weeks. Hamilton County’s school districts will be sending information home with students about the survey.
The State of Indiana has encouraged counties and regions to use the results to create their own broadband maps with support from Purdue University. Federal and state dollars may soon be available to address the issues.
In addition to Massillamany, members of the Hamilton County Broadband Task Force include Hamilton County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt, Jordan Musall with Hamilton County Tourism, Corby Thompson with Boomerang Development, Jeremy Hunt and Brad Fruth with Beck’s Hybrids, Chuck Haberman with the City of Noblesville, Jack Russell with OneZone Chamber, Kai Chuck with the City of Westfield, Jason Pearce with Riverview Health, Tom Kouns with Hamilton Southeastern Schools, Lea Jessup with Sheridan Schools, Andrew Swickheimer with Noblesville Schools, Craig Wolfgang and Dave Slabe with Hamilton Heights Schools, Barry Neuman with Carmel Clay Schools, Dan Brita with Westfield Washington Schools and Carol Sergi with Hamilton County Economic Development.
