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Sackets Harbor, N.Y., gives ultimatum to RidgeviewTel(Watertown Daily Times (NY) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 11--SACKETS HARBOR -- The village Board of Trustees set a deadline Tuesday for the Internet service provider RidgeviewTel to comply with the terms of its contract with the village or have the contract terminated. Trustee F. Eric Constance proposed that a letter be sent to the company saying that all of its contractual obligations must be met by Jan. 12, ahead of the village's next board meeting, or the village would terminate its contract. RidgeviewTel agreed in March to provide the village with free Internet and Internet-based phone services and to create wireless hot spots at downtown businesses, in exchange for installing an antenna and associated equipment on the village's water tower, enabling it to do business with area residents. But village officials say they never received all of the agreed-upon services. Internet service to municipal offices has been incomplete, and no Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, phone service has been set up. No hot spots have been activated in the downtown business district. That means the village has continued to pay $600 to $700 per month in phone bills, instead of receiving the service for free from RidgeviewTel, Treasurer James E. Yuhas said. Meanwhile, RidgeviewTel has been doing business with town and village residents, Mayor Michael R. Kinnie said. The village board decided at its November meeting to send the Colorado-based company a letter laying out its concerns and warning the company that if significant progress wasn't made within the next 30 days on meeting its contractual obligations, the village would terminate its contract. At Tuesday's meeting, Mr. Kinnie said the company had begun to make progress in the week before the meeting. Wires left ungrounded in the village office were secured last week, and a representative of the company spoke with Mr. Kinnie about possible locations for the downtown wireless Internet hot spots. Another concern for the village is that the company's equipment has interfered with the village Fire Department's radio signal. At the village meeting, Mr. Kinnie said he'd discussed the possible installation of shielding devices to fix the problem with the RidgeviewTel representative he spoke with earlier in the week. Regarding the phone service, Mr. Kinnie said the RidgeviewTel representative told him the company had encountered some technical problems with providing the service in the region and it would be a few months before RidgeviewTel would be able to provide phone service to the village. The projected months-long wait for phone service upset some trustees, and RidgviewTel's other steps toward providing the promised services weren't enough to pacify the board. The trustees, led by Mr. Constance, determined that a more strongly worded letter should be sent to the company in advance of the next board meeting. Two other companies pay the village $10,000 and $13,000 per year to have their equipment installed on the water tower, Mr. Yuhas said. Mr. Kinnie said RidgeviewTel, which specializes in providing rural broadband Internet access, offered residents of the town of Hounsfield increased options for Internet access. "As far as I understand, there was limited Internet service in the town before," he said. "So this antenna opened up the opportunity for residents to have more access to Internet services." It's unclear how many people in Hounsfield receive Internet service through RidgeviewTel, but a customer service representative at the company said RidgeviewTel does offer service in Sackets Harbor and the town of Hounsfield. No one at RidgeviewTel was available Wednesday to comment on the contract with Sackets Harbor. In other business, the board approved a proposed amendment to the Planned Development District zoning law that will allow part of a residential unit at Fort Pike Commons Apartments to be rezoned for commercial use. The change will allow the apartment's office to be moved on site and will allow certain modifications to the building's exterior. Any other commercial use of the space would have to come before the board. The board followed the Planning Board's recommendations in the matter. The board also approved the election by the membership of the village fire department of Helene Stewart-Rainville as the new emergency management services coordinator, and the expenditure by the fire department of $130,000 in grant funds to purchase new air packs. To see more of the Watertown Daily Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.watertowndailytimes.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |