Verizon crews work on rewiring along Main Street last month. PHOTO/JERRY SPAR

Town officials have been making headway on resolving a scheduling disagreement with Verizon on its time frame for completing its work on the Main Street Corridor project, although a finalized schedule has not yet been achieved.

In a phone interview with the Independent on Monday, Town Manager Elaine Lazarus explained that Verizon was working in town last week. She emphasized that Verizon’s phase of the project needs to be completed as soon as possible.

“They have been doing work on a couple of poles during the past week,” she explained. “But the town needs Verizon to provide an update on its schedule to our project coordinator.”

She added that Select Board member Brian Herr, the board’s liaison for the Main Street Corridor Project, reached out to state Senate President Karen Spilka, who represents Hopkinton, for advice last week on how to proceed with negotiations. He announced this at the Aug. 5 Select Board meeting.

Said Lazarus: “While the town has coordinated various aspects of the project, it is a state project.”

“I think it’s just a matter of time before the scheduling issue gets resolved,” she continued. “Some of the other work on the project can’t be completed until Verizon does its work. It’s obviously a huge corporation that has many ongoing projects. But we do need to get this project completed as soon as possible.”

Lazarus said she appreciated residents’ patience at this time. She noted that the project is in its final stages after years of anticipation.

Michelle Murdock, the professional project specialist for the Main Street Corridor Project, confirmed via email Monday morning to the Independent that she has received no further information from Verizon.

In her project update released on Aug. 1, Murdock explained that Verizon planned to work in Hopkinton one or two days a week. When the town balked at this proposal, Verizon replied that it would have to commit to a full-time work schedule in town to have its efforts completed within four to six weeks.

Neither Murdock nor Lazarus provided a timeline of when the negotiations with Verizon took place.

In response to the impasse, Herr confirmed Monday that he contacted Spilka for assistance.

“We are approaching Verizon from several different angles,” he explained. “In texts and an email to Senator Spilka, I asked her to reach out to any statewide contacts she may have at Verizon and ask them to prioritize their work in Hopkinton.

“Our request is simple,” stressed Herr. “Could they please staff the Corridor Project daily with the right number of crews to get the work completed now?”

Despite the scheduling snafu, Herr complimented Verizon on its recent work and commitment to completing the project.

“Last week Verizon did great!” he stated. “There were crews here four days moving wires and pulling poles from the police station to Wood Street. Hopefully this week they will finish that stretch of their work.”

The next phase of Verizon’s job will be the underground wire transfer from the police station to Ash Street, he noted. After that, Herr stated, “we will be off to the races to finish the curbing, sidewalks, paving, striping and landscaping.”

“Verizon holds all the cards at the moment,” Herr added. “Any help from Senator Spilka and her team would be much appreciated!”