Lake Santeetlah – One local municipality is looking at ways to increase its Internet speed.
Town of Lake Santeetlah council member Roger Carlton gave a presentation discussing possible ways to improve Internet service for town residents at the Oct. 14 meeting. He said the consensus from many providers was that the town was too small of a group of customers for any large investment to be made in improving service, due to their data centers being located in larger cities, including Knoxville, Asheville and Chattanooga. Carlton gave the presentation in lieu of broadband expert and Town of Lake Santeetlah homeowner Chris Bradley, who could not make it to the meeting.
Carlton emphasized the effect that the slow internet was having on the area’s economy, as well as on full-time residents.
“It’s hard to get people who need to be connected to vacation here because the Internet is so unreliable,” Carlton said.
He emphasized that there were possible funds for the county to undertake a broadband project, should it desire to do so.
“The federal money is there, and there’s nothing stopping the town from using that for internet, and the state has funds as well,” Carlton said.
Carlton said there were four providers that could potentially serve the town: Zito Media, Frontier, Starlink and Balsam West.
“I use Frontier and it’s reliable, but it’s (as) slow as cold molasses,” Carlton said.
Of the providers, he said the report pointed to Balsam West as the best choice for the town.
The company – which is owned in part by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians – already has a fiber line running along U.S. Hwy. 129. The line could be connected to then antenna on the town’s water tank, allowing connection for Lake Santeetlah.
Town officials have met with representatives to from Balsam West in the past and were told that it would take $1 million to connect the fiber line to the town.
Mayor Jim Hager said he would reach out to Balsam West to arrange a second meeting.
Additionally, a motion from Carlton to provide a $700 bonus to election workers failed. Town attorney Craig Justus expressed concerns over the legality of the request, which was sent by the county for communities to pay bonuses to election workers
Condominium discussed
A public hearing was also held for a variance on the plans for the Lakepoint properties site, which will see 10 condominiums built on the site of the former Thunderbird Mountain Resort.
Lakepoint Attorney Bob Oast said that as the project progressed, their had been determined that the parking deck originally planned to go under the units would not be necessary. Instead, new architectural drawings have detailed a that surface parking only will suffice.
The change would only require minimal grading, with no need for major excavation. The updated site plan has 27 parking spaces, including two accessible spaces. Five additional spaces are located at the cottages. The updated plan has 160 square feet less paving than the original
Carlton made a motion to approve the variance with some changes, including the number of parking spaces being reduced to 25, the loop road being paved in its entirety, and the nearby fire pit being gas and having some type of retaining wall around it
After Oast and his clients with Lakeview spoke in a recess, Hager asked for the motion to be continued until 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, when the town has several other public hearings scheduled.