The Monongalia County Commission has allocated nearly $1 million in funding for broadband expansion and a new access road to the KOA Campground under construction in Mylan Park. The initiatives aim to enhance local infrastructure and improve connectivity.

Commissioners approved a letter of support for a grant of up to $400,000 from the Industrial Access Road Grant Program. The funds will be used to construct a new access road to the $12 million KOA Campground currently being developed at Mylan Park. 

The Monongalia County Development Authority submitted the application on behalf of the Mylan Park Foundation.

Ron Justice, president of the Mylan Park Foundation, also explained that the new road will provide direct access from Chaplin Hill Road to the campground, passing by the J.W. Ruby Community Center and county buildings. The infrastructure improvement aims to support the campground’s operations and accommodate the larger vehicles commonly used by campers.

“It will be a state road coming right by the county building, right by the J.W. Ruby Community Center from Chaplin Hill into the KOA Campground,” Justice said, outlining the significance of the new route.

Justice noted that the road’s design is essential to ensure safe navigation for large recreational vehicles. “When you’re navigating with these larger motor homes, you can’t go on a 20-foot road and navigate safely,” Justice said. 

In addition to a new road approval, Commission President Sean Sikora confirmed that the broadband expansion will be carried out in partnership with Frontier. The project includes the installation of 11 miles of fiber optic cable, extending from the Gladesville Road area to Halleck Road. 

“The overall cost is $953,519, and the contribution by Frontier is 17%, and the county is contributing 83%,” Sikora said, as reported by Metro News Television. 

Earlier this year, Monongalia County partnered with Comcast in a $17.8 million initiative to connect more than 2,100 unserved or underserved addresses. Commissioners recently approved an additional contract to bring broadband to the Stewarts Run and Snake Hill areas.

“Seventy-four unserved addresses and there are about six underserved addresses, and On Path is another 171—so, that’s another 171 customers that will have another option,” Sikora said. “So, overall, the possible number of addresses affected will be 251.”