By Lark Thwing
As of 9/2/20
The short version is that we plan to complete the infrastructure 
(i.e., poles) by year end, but customer connections and service improvements will continue well into 2021 due to limited staffing. In Hawley, by late September, poles will be installed on Stetson Road, West Hawley Road near Savoy Road, and East Hawley Road near Sisum’s. Poles will be installed in other towns as well.
By the end of October we hope to have all the following poles in Hawley operational: Sidehill Farm by mid September, Forge Hollow by end of September, Stetson Road, West Hawley Road, East Hawley Road near Sisum’s by end of October. This is all part of Phase 3, which we expect to complete by the end of October.
Phase 4 will begin in mid to late October, and includes setting poles and making them operational on East Hawley Road near Scott/Yates, Plainfield Road , Lawless, and Borden Mountain in Savoy, a major site. Hawley Town Hall pole will be made operational in this phase. We expect to complete phase 4 by year end.
Please be patient. This is the plan and not a guarantee. It is reviewed weekly by WiValley, MBI, Design Nine, and me, and reviewed monthly by the FHMS Committee.
Customer connections will proceed at about 6/week until ‘WiValley is able to hire and train more installers. We lost an installer last week when he went home to support his family while his mom is hospitalized with covid-19.
Note that most operational poles have FHMS Guest internet hotspots at them unless they are not accessible or are on a highly traveled road like Route 116 or Route 2. The pole on Forget east of Grout Rd has hot spot service and Sidehill pole near the cemetery will have it by mid Sept. The poles that will be operational by the end of October will have hotspots as well.
Reach out to me if you have specific questions as others already have.
Kirby (Lark) Thwing
kthwingjr@gmail.com
