County will enter into fiber optic agreement

Apr 10, 2012 at 02:52 pm by Observer-Review


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County will enter into fiber optic agreement

    SCHUYLER COUNTY—The Schuyler County Legislature authorized chairman Dennis Fagan to execute a contract with Southern Tier Network for use of specific strands of their “dark fiber” fiber optic telecommunications network in Schuyler County during their regular meeting held on Monday, April 9. The agreement will run for 30 years at a cost of $188,370 and is subject to the approval of Schuyler County Attorney Geoffrey Rossi.
    In response to questions from the public, Fagan said that access to the fiber optic network will be a “huge benefit to this county.” He said that Ontario County has had great success with their network and he believes they are now leading the state in job growth, “in large part because of the fiber network.”  The Southern Tier Network is modeled after the Ontario County network. Fagan explained that even with wireless technology, the wireless networks still need a “backbone” of connectivity. The contract will give the county an indefeasible right of use for certain fiber strands on the network operated by Southern Tier Network. Southern Tier Network is a not for profit established to manage the $12.2 million fiber optic network loop that will extend through Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben Counties.
    In other business:
    • The legislature passed two local laws which require some individuals under probation supervision to pay a fee for the services they are receiving. Local Law Intro. No. 1 of the year 2012 amends a 1997 local law to include youthful offenders in a law that authorizes the collection of an administrative fee from individuals on DWI supervision. The fee will range from $10 to $30 based on where a person falls within the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Local Law Intro No. 2 of 2012 requires that individuals subject to drug and alcohol testing as a condition of their probation pay a one time $50 fee at the onset of their supervision.
    • Chairman Dennis Fagan provided an update as to the redistricting effort currently underway in the county. He explained that Rocky Kambo had attempted to rework the districts using existing town lines but that the resulting population numbers were not satisfactory. Fagan said that the election districts may have to be modified to meet the population representation goals. Kambo has prepared a map with new district lines, and Fagan said that, “at first glance, it looks like the numbers are in pretty good shape.” Fagan said that there will be two or three alternatives and that the legislature will try to set up a public meeting to discuss redistricting around the first week of May.
    The next meeting of the legislature is scheduled for Monday, May 14 in the legislative chambers.

 

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