A photo of the Weakley County Courthouse in Dresden, Tennessee. In the foreground is a statue, sculpted by Russ Faxon on 2010, of Ned Ray McWherter, who served as governor of Tennessee from 1987-1995. The Dresden courthouse was designed by Marr And Holman. The limestone Weakley County Courthouse was built in 1949. This photo © Capitolshots Photography/TwoFiftyFour Photos, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Dresden, Tenn.–By a vote of 17 to 1, the Weakley County Commission approved a partnership with WK&T to provide county-wide broadband infrastructure.
The vote followed two public meetings and heated debate on the issue. The lone ‘no’ vote was cast by Commissioner Donnie Essary.
Presentations were made at the meeting from WK&T and it was reported the cost to Weakley County for Phase II is some $10.5M which will be matched by WK&T. WK&T is pursuing grant funding to assist with the project, whose total cost is some $26M.
Weakley County Mayor Jake Bynum has been a strong proponent of the project and said before the meeting, “While I have been an advocate for and passionate about broadband expansion, not every commissioner may vote in favor of the resolution. Please consider this; these commissioners are part-time legislators who give their time and energy to serve you and the county. I believe each of them, regardless of their decision, will be casting their vote based on what they believe is in the county’s best interest.”
Phase I is underway and is bringing broadband to a limited area in Weakley County; Phase II is intended to cover the remaining areas.