Village of Plainfield now has free Wi-Fi
The village of Plainfield used CARES money to set up free Wi-Fi for residents. “The village itself has good signal, but it starts to fade out near the school. We are hoping to use more CARES money to buy another tower or two to put in that area to increase the signal,” said Mayor Avery Dotson.
The village found out they could apply for CARES money through the Linton Township Trustees. The village and the township each applied for the money and were given separate amounts. “We had meetings to see what the community thought the money would be used for and they had some great ideas,” said Dotson. “Mr. Masloski (superintendent of Ridgewood School District) came to our meetings to see how the school district could help.”
“It was one of those times when all of the pieces just came together,” said Dotson. The village purchased all of the needed equipment for the project and Ridgewood School District is paying for the service. “The township donated their portion of the money to the school district to help pay for things they needed that their grant wouldn’t cover, and they agreed to pay for the service to help their students in this area.” The Wi-Fi is firewalled and filtered so students cannot access certain sites online, just like the service at Ridgewood Schools.
“We really wanted to do something to help the kids who have to do remote learning. Anyone can come to the village and use the Wi-Fi. The password is on the window at the post office. You don’t have to go in to see it. The system is up and running pretty good,” said Dotson.
Dotson also said the church in Plainfield wanted to help and have agreed to open their community room for anyone who needs a place to study. “Again, we helped them with purchasing cameras and other things they needed to do their services online and they helped us. This has just been an amazing experience with everyone helping each other.”
“I’m just real proud of our community. People came to the meetings and they offered suggestions and helped in any way they could. It’s a good feeling to see the community come together and want to help,” said Dotson.
Category: People & Places
