Lake Santeetlah – One local municipality’s council voted to allow one of its roads to be cut, so at least two residents can have better Internet access.
The Town of Lake Santeetlah Council voted 4-1 at its Aug. 12 meeting – with councilman Keith Predmore opposed – to allow Thunder Island Drive homeowner Richard Nash to take the next step toward cutting through the road to bring Internet to his home. A second homeowner will also benefit.
The council previously discussed the issue at its July meeting before deciding that it needed to solicit more information from the homeowner.
“Originally, Mr. Nash was going to be the only one to benefit from this, but now we have another neighbor who would benefit,” said Lake Santeetlah Mayor Jim Hager.
Hager said Zito Media’s cable ran only along the opposite side of the road, necessitating the cut to bring service to the opposite side.
In response to a question from councilman Kevin Haag, he also said there was no way to bore under the road in the spot the cable needed to cross.
Councilman Roger Carlton spoke in favor of the measure, saying that it had gone on long enough without the board taking action.
“I think it’s time to get this off our plate,” he said.
In his email communications with the town, Nash said Zito had not been helpful and had insisted that it was the homeowner’s responsibility to reach the tap, located on the side of the street opposite his home.
Other news and notes
The meeting also brought good
news from the town’s water quality reports.
The council voted earlier in the spring to test water quality at several points on the lake after periods when it is used heavily. So far, one baseline was conducted shortly after the plan was approved, as well as tests conducted after the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays. The final planned test will be conducted after Labor Day weekend.
Carlton said the test results had looked very good so far, even with some turbidity found near a construction site earlier in the summer.
“We’ve gone to four different sites – with four different tests – and they all were clean,” Carlton said. “They were all very clean.”