RESPONDING TO FEEDBACK FROM A HEARING that was held in Worthington, MA on February 16, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) has changed its policy on distribution of funds to Western Massachusetts Towns interested in creating Broadband
networks. According to a February 27 article in the Berkshire Eagle, “. . . the MBI will free up money until now earmarked for internal engineering use by the Institute. Instead, it will provide millions of dollars intended for ‘professional services’ as direct grants to towns that want to build and own their ‘last mile’ systems.”
It is not yet totally clear what percentage of the “Professional Services” moneys will actually be made available to the Towns, and for what uses. For the Town of Hawley, given that its original allocation was . . . Continue reading
according to Hawley Selectboard Chair John Sears. He received an announcement letter via email dated February 1 from Joanne Bissetta, Deputy Director, Green Communities Division. The designation involves a commitment by the Town to take certain measures to effect increases in energy efficiency over time, and comes with a grant of up to $136,920 to make the Town’s buildings more economical.
