Internet woes

LINDA DROLLINGER
Posted 12/20/17

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — The petitioner stood at the edge of the dais, pleading her case to supervisor Gary Maas, deputy supervisor Edwin Grund and councilperson Anna Story at the December 13 …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Internet woes

Posted

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — The petitioner stood at the edge of the dais, pleading her case to supervisor Gary Maas, deputy supervisor Edwin Grund and councilperson Anna Story at the December 13 Cochecton Town Board meeting. With barely constrained frustration, she asked Maas how she could get Spectrum service at her home on Tyler Hill Road in Cochecton Center. She’d been trying to get it for years, since before Spectrum bought out Time Warner Cable. But her requests to both companies always brought the same response: the initial connection charge will be $15,000.

She said when she heard that figure, she hung up the phone and turned to her telephone provider, Frontier, for Internet and television service. But she alleges that Frontier has not made good on its promise of reliable high-speed Internet service. Only recently, her PC indicated download speeds of half the promised rate. “At those download speeds, it is impossible to see videos and live-streaming events,” she said.

When a Frontier repairman verified her claim, he admitted that peak-use congestion is probably responsible for the slowdown. But facility upgrades needed to rectify the problem are slow in coming. “So, what can I do?” she asked the board.

Maas assured her that she was not the first and will certainly not be the last person to be effectively denied cable service based solely on her home’s location in a sparsely populated area. “We can’t compel private companies like Spectrum to provide service to everyone; their business decisions are determined by demographics and profitability studies,” said Maas.

The petitioner pointed out that, while almost certainly true, Maas’ answer did not help Cochecton residents obtain the quality of Internet service they need to operate home businesses in a competitive global marketplace, take advantage of online education courses, or enjoy the routine conveniences of online shopping and YouTube viewing. That hardship, unique to rural America, has yet to be addressed by local, state and federal governments.

In other business, the town adopted a resolution to opt out of New York State’s paid family-leave program, available to employees who work at least 20 hours per week for a minimum of 26 weeks. The program provides paid leave for newborn care, military service and care of a sick family member. With Paul Salzberg and Sean Nearing absent, the vote was unanimous.

Fire district liaison Story reported that Ed Kraack was elected fire commissioner, with six votes. Two write-in candidates received two votes and one vote respectively,  in light voter turnout.

The humorous note of the evening came when Maas told how, while cruising state senator John Bonacic’s Facebook page, he noticed that a list of constituent towns failed to include Cochecton. He e-mailed Bonacic with one word: “Cochecton?” Receiving no reply, Maas sent a second e-mail, this time noting that Cochecton was conspicuously absent from the constituent list. And this time he got a reply. Apparently, Bonacic’s staff was unaware that Cochecton was part of his district, but would add it to the list.

Before recessing until the year-end meeting at 6:30 p.m. on December 28, at which time planning consultant Tom Shepstone will re-join town board and planning board members to further develop and refine a comprehensive summer camp zoning ordinance, the board set its reorganization meeting date for January 2, 2018 at 6:30 p.m.

lake huntington, internet

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here