FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ECFiber Supports Hoyt Hill Farm
Seeks Resolution By Christmas
Royalton, VT – November 19, 2021: ECFiber’s leadership team expressed disappointment at the recent suit filed by Arend Tensen, attorney for Amber and Scott Hoyt and Hoyt Hill Farmstead, LLC. ECFiber’s leadership and attorneys have been working hard and successfully to bring all parties together to understand and resolve the Hoyt’s claims for five months. The Hoyts’ claim stems from installation of fiber on “easement poles” crossing fields used for hay which the Hoyts assert resulted in non-magnetic stainless steel wire debris getting into feed eaten by their cows. ECFiber understands that, to date, three cows have died, and a necropsy turned up fragments of “lashing wire” used to tie the more delicate fiber-optic cable to the steel “strand” for support. The work was done by Crammer O’Connor Fiber Genesis, a subcontractor for Eustis Cable, which has a contract to build the ECFiber network. Attorney Tensen’s decision to file suit at this sensitive time, at the precise moment when the parties and their respective carriers had come to the table in good faith, has likely significantly delayed resolution of the Hoyts’ claim.
“This is a most unfortunate set of circumstances after ECFiber worked tirelessly to bring the parties together in the hope that we could resolve the matter, determine responsibility, and ensure that those who are responsible are held accountable,” said ECFiber Chairman, F.X. Flinn. “When we first learned about the extent of the Hoyts’ claim in late May 2021, some advised staying out of it and letting this play out in the courts; after all, our contracts are crystal clear that properties must be cleaned up, and that insurance has to be in place. But this is about our community and the well-being of our neighbors—watching and waiting is simply not good enough and not who we are. Putting issues of liability aside, this is why insurance exists and why we have always, and will continue to, press for a swift and fair resolution.”
ECFiber hopes to see this matter concluded, or at least well on the way to complete resolution, by Christmas – this year, not Christmas 2027. The Hoyts want resolution, the community wants resolution, and so does ECFiber.
ECFiber is a Vermont municipality akin to a water district, and consists of 31 member towns. Formally known as the East Central Vermont Telecommunications District, it has no taxing powers and is funded entirely by municipal bonds backed by customer payments for service. Each member town of the district has one vote on the board, which meets monthly. As the only successful model for providing world-class broadband to every home and business in rural Vermont, it is being emulated by 8 new communications union districts (CUDs) that have been established throughout the state. ECFiber, Vermont’s first CUD, is the brainchild of ValleyNet’s leadership. ValleyNet designs, builds, and operates the ECFiber network under a contract with the district. ValleyNet, Inc. is a non-profit internet service provider that began providing dial-up access in the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire in the early 1990s.
“ECFiber continues to build out world-class broadband necessary for our communities to thrive, and we are going to insist on responsibility from all our partners, and that our contractors take the lessons learned here to heart.” Flinn concluded.
For additional information please visit ECFiber.net or contact:
Dennise R. Casey
Casey, Inc.
dennise@dennisecasey.com | 802.233.9436