As a side note, one of the issues in my discussion about network address space allocation was whether we would really need a "/24" all to ourselves.  That remains to be seen, but given the limitations of the space considering the number of municipalities in the area -- and indeed beyond for whom the "44-net" has been allocated -- a plan for the emcomm community that allows for non-HamWAN "backup" is sorely needed.

I think it may be that the "/24" we were allocated may very well evolve into a "sub-regional" network with its own backup.  For example, maybe our "/24" eventually encompasses the Seattle Eastside communities and has both a link to the larger HamWAN network as well as a "local" backup gateway to the Internet for the sub-region.  

Again, it's all about setting realistic expectations for what HamWAN is and, equally important, what it isn't (yet anyway).