Five new utility poles will be installed throughout Greenwood.
The poles will be installed for FiberTech Networks, a Rochester, New York-based company that provides fiber-optic phone and Internet service. The poles will be installed along land the city owns near 998 Carmen Lane, 528 Green Meadow Drive, 841 Granada Drive, 661 Hacienda Place and 400 Valley Oaks Drive, all off Smith Valley Road.
The poles will allow FiberTech to offer faster Internet and phone service. They were recently approved by the Greenwood Board of Public Works and city council, Greenwood city engineer Mark Richards said.
The company does not need any additional approvals before installing the five poles, Richards said.
Two of the five will be disguised as street lights instead of utility poles. Those two poles are located within the Valle Vista subdivision off Smith Valley Road. The neighborhood has stricter standards for the appearance of new structures, including utility poles. While the three other utility poles will be made out of wood and be the same height as a traditional telephone pole, the two within Valle Vista will be made out of metal, Richards said.
Ten utility poles were installed in Greenwood last year for the same company. Four of the 10 poles installed last year were within the Valle Vista subdivision, and the rest were installed either off Smith Valley Road, Stop 18 Road or near Endress Place.
The company already has started underground work for the new utility poles, Richards said.
