South Berkshire towns to offer early voting options
Great Barrington — Many towns in southern Berkshire County will offer early voting options in advance of the election on Tuesday, Nov. 8. All registered voters are eligible to vote early. Early voting will be available during the regular business hours of each town clerk’s office Monday, Oct. 24, through Friday, Nov 4. Additional hours will be held at the Town Hall of each town listed unless otherwise noted.
| Town | Regular Hours | Additional Hours |
| Alford | Thursday, 8-11 a.m. | Saturday, Oct. 29, noon-2 p.m. |
| Egremont | Monday-Thursday, 1-3 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m.-noon |
| Great Barrington | Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 29, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 26, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Senior Center; Wednesday, Nov. 2, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Housatonic Community Center, 1064 Main St., Housatonic |
| Lee | Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 29, 8 a.m.-noon |
| Lenox | Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 29, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. |
| Monterey | Monday, 9 a.m.-noon; Tuesday, 4-8 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-noon | Saturday, Oct. 29, noon-5 p.m. |
| New Marlborough | Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m.-noon |
| Otis | Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m.-noon |
| Sheffield | Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Saturday, Oct 29, 9 a.m.-noon; Tuesday, Nov. 1, 4-7 p.m. |
| Stockbridge | Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. (office will be closed Friday, Oct. 28) | Saturday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m.-noon at the Senior Center |
| West Stockbridge | Tuesday and Thursday, 1:30-4 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 29, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. |
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MBI to begin rollout of pole surveys
Westborough — The Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI) has selected a vendor to begin pole surveys in unserved western Massachusetts towns, a critical first step in the preconstruction phase which ensures that utility poles and other infrastructure can support the build-out of broadband infrastructure in the region.
Five towns are in the first group where pole surveys will take place and represent those towns that have either exited the MBI’s town readiness process or will exit shortly: Ashfield, Egremont, New Salem, Shutesbury, and Wendell. While these five towns constitute the first group utilizing the MBI’s support to move forward, the MBI has structured its pole survey program to allow additional towns to move into pole survey work without additional delay. For towns proceeding toward a town-owned solution, the pole survey work will be followed by design, engineering, make-ready, and construction steps.
The MBI’s selected vendor, Osmose Utility Services, began pole data collection services in Ashfield on Monday, Oct. 3, and will start in Egremont on Monday, Oct. 10. Work is expected to last four to five weeks in each town. Dates for pole data collections services in the next round of Last Mile towns have not been finalized but should begin within the next four to six weeks.
The pole survey process involves in-person technical surveys of every pole. During pole survey work, residents may see technicians driving through their towns collecting a series of data on each pole such as photos of each pole and associated hardware; detailed height measurements; an accurate plot of a pole’s location taken via GPS technology; and the pole’s overall condition including an engineering analysis of the pole’s ability to bear the weight of new broadband infrastructure.
The kickoff of pole survey work comes on the heels of several grant awards made since the MBI and the Baker-Polito Administration announced a new framework for implementing Last Mile broadband projects in unserved communities in early May.
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