Herron Island Broadband Project Jeopardized by Permitting Challenges

Astound Broadband’s proposed plan to provide high-speed internet access to Herron Island has hit a roadblock.

First considered by Astound, known at the time as Wave Broadband, in 2022, the plan was included in the partnership signed between the company and Pierce County in September 2024. Under the agreement, Astound would build the infrastructure and deliver high-speed internet access to Herron Island and the Nisqually Region, two of the underserved areas listed among the county’s Broadband Incentive Districts.

The county agreed to contribute $7.15 million toward the $12.1 million price tag for the two projects, using about half of the funding it had received from the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan Act. Astound would cover the remaining $4.95 million. As required by the terms of ARPA funding, the projects must be completed by the end of 2026, or the money will be returned to the federal government. (see “Broadband Update: Comcast Connects Customers in KP North,” March 2025).

The Nisqually leg of the project is on track to be completed by the deadline, according to Astound Vice President of Operations Kevin Stamey.

That is not the case with the Herron Island project, where permitting challenges are forcing the company to rethink its original design.

The design involved transmission of a point-to-point microwave signal between a tower on the island and one at the island’s mainland ferry dock. Conventional fiber optic cable would then deliver the signal from the island tower to subscribers. The 40-foot towers would be built on concrete pads, secured in turn to concrete pilings drilled into the ground. Exploratory drilling would be needed to ensure the pilings reached bedrock at a depth of 20 to 30 feet.

Drilling in a marine environment required a Shoreline Substantial Development permit. Astound’s contractor, Redline Communications, filed an application for preconstruction exploratory drilling at the tower sites with the county Department of Planning & Public Works in February 2025. Following early input from PPW, the application was revised and finalized June 1.

On June 2, Kelsey Bean, PPW associate planner in charge of the project, requested reviews by county and state experts to ensure that the project conformed to all applicable plans, codes, and regulations. Reviews by local tribes were also requested, for a total of 13 stakeholders. Reviewers either sign off on the application or require revisions by the applicant.

As many home and business owners know, permit application reviews take some time. In recognition of the urgent need for high-speed internet access in underserved or unserved communities, the county passed the Broadband Development Incentives ordinance in 2022. Among other provisions, the ordinance fast-tracks applications for those projects.

“The county considers broadband to be a critical utility,” Pierce County Council Member Robyn Denson (D-7th) to KP News. “Our residents need adequate broadband for their daily lives: to work from home, take classes, access medical care, and more. This is an issue of public safety, equity, and opportunity,” she said. “Infrastructure projects in rural areas, particularly near shorelines, are always a challenge.”

According to PPW Public Information Specialist Christina Rohila, the department has been following the appropriate expedited review guidelines for the Astound project.

At a packed public meeting before the Key Peninsula Advisory Commission in Key Center in August 2025, mainland residents argued against the construction of the mainland tower. The consensus was that the tower would be an eyesore, and many asked why other options, such as an undersea cable, had not been considered.

Gabriel Hinman, an attorney hired by members of the group, argued that the location of the proposed site was not clearly identified on PPW’s material and questioned the department’s finding that the project was exempt from the Washington State Environmental Policy Act. (See “Herron Island Broadband Project Hearing Fills a Meeting Room,” September 2025).

In a review of the mainland project issued Oct. 2, Jacob Layman, PPW’s environmental biologist, noted that a wetland and fish and wildlife review was also required since the project was “within known, or indicators of, wetland and F&W areas.”

According to Layman, Astound needed to apply for a wetland verification as well as a fish and wildlife assessment, pursuant to Pierce County Code.

By that time, the project completion date was a little over a year away, and the timeline for project completion was getting tight.

The bombshell announcement came at Herron Island’s Nov. 8 monthly board meeting, when board president Ken Grant shared the news that Astound’s tower-based project “had effectively been cancelled.”

According to Grant, the company believed it would take a minimum of 10 months to get the outstanding permits to start any drilling tests. Since the project needed to be completed by the end of 2026, Astound might not make the deadline. Grant had been told that the company would be considering other options.

Kevin Stamey, Astound’s vice president of operations, confirmed that the tower solution had in effect been abandoned.

“Initially, the company had planned to deliver high-speed internet to residents of Herron Island via a point-to-point microwave signal from a tower at the Key Peninsula ferry terminal,” he said in an email to KP News. “The needed permitting processes took on more complexity and time than planned, which will prevent Astound from moving forward with the original approach, as we needed to complete the build within certain timeframes to be eligible for the needed grant support that made the project feasible.”

But the Herron Island broadband project itself is not dead yet, Stamey said.

“Astound is actively looking at the feasibility (of) other possibilities that include subsea cable and other forms of wireless networking,” he said. “We are currently evaluating options in collaboration with local stakeholders to see if there are scenarios that are operationally, environmentally, and financially possible.”

In a statement to Denson shared with KP News, PPW said that "Astound has expressed concerns about completing the Herron Island portion of the project by the ARPA deadline. We have received and are reviewing their proposal to modify the project.

"We are committed to working with Astound to resolve any issues to move this project forward to connect as many unserved households as possible with the allotted ARPA funds."