III. Discussion

The interim grant program administration rules adopted in D.03-09-071, in conjunction with eligibility criteria, the approved application process and the creation of a working group, have permitted the efficient award of rural infrastructure grants. The grant program administration rules are as follows:

· Staff initially selects qualifying applicants and proposes for our consideration by resolution the applications to which we should award grants.

· Each grant applicant shall have an approved fiscal agent.

· All funds disbursed from the grant program shall be kept and maintained in a separate and distinct bank account with the approved fiscal agent as the sole trustee of such funds.

· The fiscal agent shall provide the account information 60 days prior to the first request for disbursement according to the approved payment schedule.

· Payments will be made after completion of approved milestones and upon request for payment from the fiscal agent according to the approved payment schedule. Payment requests shall include an itemized accounting of reimbursable amounts. The Commission shall disburse the funds within 60 days of receipt of a complete request for payment that conforms to the approved payment schedule or as soon thereafter as is otherwise practicable.²

· Rejected grant applicants shall submit a request for reimbursement and an itemized accounting of reimbursable amounts to the Commission within 90 days of the mailing of the notification rejecting the phase II, feasibility/construction, application.

· All funds shall be spent exclusively on telecommunications infrastructure and amounts necessary to comply with Commission grant administration directives.

· The fiscal agent shall provide an accounting, including expenditures and account balances, on a quarterly basis until no funds remain in the account. Upon completion of the infrastructure work, records shall be reviewed by an independent Certified Public Accountant and an Attestation Report should be submitted to the Commission to ensure that the work was completed and paid for as represented.

· Grant recipients shall complete the infrastructure work according to the approved milestones for project deliverables. Unanticipated construction and implementation delays shall be reported to the Commission within 60 days of failure to achieve an approved milestone.

· Failure to secure funding for project costs exceeding the required project cap also shall be reported to the Commission within 60 days of the failure to secure funding.

No party recommends any change to the interim rules. Therefore, they should be adopted as the final rules.