FILE: Glasgow Mayor Harold Armstrong speaks during a meeting of the Glasgow City Council.
(BRENNAN CRAIN/WCLU NEWS)
BY BRENNAN D. CRAIN, WCLU News
GLASGOW — Councilmembers signaled their support on Monday evening to extend a cable television franchise agreement with the Glasgow EPB.
Essentially, the council was given an ordinance to readopt and extend the existing agreement for five years. They last extended it Nov. 26, 2007, on a 15-year basis.
“I was thinking that if we went 15 years and all of a sudden the cable was outdated, and there wasn’t that many subscribers, I didn’t want to obligate the electric plant board to do something outside of the range that they felt comfortable with,” said Glasgow Mayor Harold Armstrong.
The mayor cited dwindling cable subscriptions as a reason he suggested a shorter contract. He said he receives “weekly” calls about other cable television mechanisms such as satellite services.
Councilperson Terry Bunnell suggested the ordinance amendement, which was eventually adopted, to extend the agreement for 15 years much like the council did in 2007. He cited three reasons he felt the longer contract would better serve the community.
“The Glasgow Electric Plant Board is investing a lot of resources into cable and internet service,” he said. “And a five-year contract, in my opinion, is too short – based on the resources they need to employ.”
Dave Puskula, superintent of the GEPB, said internet and cable services are provided via the same network. The GEPB recently announced a broadband improvement project, which is expected to take a few years to complete.
Puskula said the GEPB could work with either agreement, but he supported the 15-year extension due to the added “stability.”
“We want to survive and thrive as a plant board, offering cable and internet just like you would want us to,” he said.
Councilmember Marlin Witcher was the only one to vote against the measure. It must be approved under a second reading before it takes effect. The Glasgow Council will likely do that at their Nov. 14 meeting.
