Monthly Archives: December 2021

Happy Holidays to All of You.

It has been a busy year pursuing the Borden Mountain site.  In late  October we got final approval from DCR for the temporary site. In mid-December, the temp site at Borden went live with a 35 ft mast and antenna array. We can access the Whitcomb Hill Summit site and the Chapel Loop site. 

 The Article 97 legislation (which would give us final approval to construct poles and towers and equipment) stalled just before being approved and sent to the governor for signature. It will get completed as soon as the legislature returns in January. Once the snow is off the mountain in spring, WiValley will get the permanent site up and operating. 

Because of the shorter mast of the temporary site, we don’t expect to be able to connect too many homes to Borden before late spring.  The antennas are CBRS only. The plan is to connect to Borden those who were connected elsewhere and have very poor service but would have great service from the current Borden site. Those who are now getting 12/2 will be left for now. Those who have not been able to be connected anywhere but would be good candidates for the temp Borden site, will be connected. Lastly WiValley will be connecting homes that should be served by Borden, but service will not be turned on until the permanent site is active.

At present we have 324 connected customers. Some have great service, some have fair service and some have poor service. WiValley is working to bring poor service customers to at least fair and hopefully great service.

MBI has notified us that the free hotspots in each town will continue until at least June 30, 2022.

At present I have no plan to hold an online meeting, preferring these emails. If you feel we need an online meeting please let me know.

Again, Happy Holidays to you all.

Kirby (Lark) Thwing
15 Pond Road
Hawley, MA 01339
Flight’s End, Owner
Town of Hawley Finance Committee, Chair
FHMS Broadband Network Committee, Chair
kthwingjr@gmail.com

To the members of the Sons and Daughters of Hawley,

The Board of the Sons and Daughters of Hawley has decided, sadly, that the Illumination Party, originally scheduled for the afternoon of December 12th, should be canceled. In the Autumn, 2021 issue of The Edge of Hawley, the event is listed as one that we did not plan to cancel this year, but, because of a mishap at the printer’s, delivery of the issue has been delayed, thus providing the Board with an opportunity to reconsider its decision.

The decision to cancel is based in large part on the fact that the number of new cases of COVID in Franklin County is reportedly higher now than it has ever been, and there is the new threat of the Omicron variant, as well. In addition to the danger of contagion, it now appears that the lighting of the Meetinghouse chandelier globes, which is the central activity of the Illumination Party, would be impeded by the presence of painters’ scaffolding, since the painting of the ceiling is not expected to be completed by December 12th.

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