Red Bay council ready to address cable issues
RED BAY- Complaints have been taken and action will be sought as Red Bay mayor Bobby Forsythe and city council members have made arrangements to meet with representatives from the city’s current cable provider, Metrocast.
Issues ranging from channel clarity to billing changes will be brought before the representatives at the next regularly scheduled work session of the Red Bay city council on Monday, July 19 at 6 p.m.
“We encourage everyone who has ran into any problems whatsoever with their cable and/or the charges on your bill to write a letter, email or attend the meeting to let your voice be heard,” said councilman Brad Bolton.
“I know of people in town who have been dealing with this for a really long time and now is the time to make them either fix it for good or we may look into other avenues for cable services. I have had problems myself and the only way they are going to comprehend that there is something wrong is for us to show them, so I want to ask those who have had major problems to let us know here at city hall and we will relay the message to the Metrocast representatives.”
Metrocast representatives met with the city council on December 17, 2009 to discuss existing problems at that time.
Metrocast’s southern regional manager Rick Ferrall pleaded his case before the council. Ferrell said the company had been in conversations with Comcast, another major cable provider, to see if they could feed off their signals providing Metrocast customers with Comcast quality channels.
During that meeting, Councilman Mike Stockton said there needs to be a commitment and a deadline set by Metrocast in the immediate future.
Ferrall apologized for not having a deadline date, but states that Metrocast is committed to fixing all existing problems with their equipment.
Ferrall was scheduled to be back to give a deadline and provide details to what needs to be done to fix the problems at the Jan. 18 city council meeting, but canceled due to schedule conflicts.
In other business:
• Representatives with NACOLG came to discuss downtown revitalization ideas with council members, but no plans have been made as of yet.
• Red Bay Police Chief Jana Jackson announced a new position opening for a full-time certified police officer available. Applications will be accepted through August.
• Park and Recreation Director Joey Allen announced he would make plans with city engineer Rod Hawkins to construct a Red Bay Community Center. Allen said plans must be made first before seeking funds for the project.
• Council members elected David Corum to fill the three-year term left vacant by Joey Allen on the Park and Recreation Board. Allen turned in his resignation from the board to take on his new job as Park and Recreation director.
• Two vacancies on the Little League Board are now open. Sign-ups for the position will be posted at city hall until July 19.
• Council members elected Linda Oliver to be the instructor of “Generations online” (A program established to train senior citizens on how to use the computer and internet). Oliver will take the position pending certification by the Alabama Department of Labor through NACOLG.
