Amenia gets tech funding but will cable reach town's outskirts?

AMENIA — Cablevision representative Roger Connor stopped by the Feb. 11 Town Board meeting last Thursday with an overdue $10,000 check for the town. The money will be used for technology improvements to the town’s television broadcasting equipment, which Town Videographer Gary Bonds explained would probably be used to upgrade to digital if the town moves into the Amenia Elementary School building.

The $10,000 grant, designated for public education and government access, was a part of the town’s negotiations for franchise renewal, which concluded last August. The money is designed to be used on capital improvements to video production facilities, Connor explained.

At the end of the meeting, after Connor had left, Bonds said that the money probably wouldn’t be spent for the next three months at least. He recommended it be put in some sort of a CD to accrue any interest it could in that time.

Bonds will begin to look into the new equipment around the time that Town Hall is hoping to move into the Amenia Elementary School building over the summer. The current system is run on tapes; Bonds said the new set-up will be digital and software driven.

“We’ve got an additional $2,500 as well, so we might just have enough money to do something interesting,� he told the board.

Will Deep Hollow

get connected?

While Conner was present, Councilwoman Vicki Doyle asked about the possibility of providing cable television and high-speed Internet access to residents in the more remote locations of town. Channel 22, the public access channel that town meetings and events are broadcast on, is only available to those with cable service.

Doyle explained she had spoken to Amenia residents living on Deep Hollow Road who were interested in receiving Cablevision service where none is available now.

Connor said that the company would be happy to put together a survey of the area, which would include a financial analysis of what it would take to extend its infrastructure (cable lines). State regulations mandate that a service provider like Cablevision is obligated to provide service in areas with more than 35 homes per square mile. Cablevision’s contract with Amenia stipulates that the company must provide service to areas with 15 homes per square mile.

Doyle estimated there were probably only five homes in the Deep Hollow Road area, but Connor said it was all a matter of the cost to create service lines versus the revenue Cablevision would receive from customers.