Monday, 11 March 2019 16:57

"Misquoted" by Township Supervisors over Blue Ridge Franchise Fee???

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Note: This article was originally posted on BarrettCommunity.com

I attended the supervisor meeting on June 22, 2010 to express my displeasure as a member of the community about the Blue Ridge Communications franchise fee. My concern was with an exclusive franchise agreement in place, our service would suffer, as there is (and was) no other choice of TV / Internet service provider. What will motivate Blue Ridge to improve their services with no competition?

However, the meeting minutes indicate the exact opposite:

Barrett Township Supervisors - Meeting Minutes - June 22, 2010:
Discussion was held on a request by Covington Creations with regard to requesting an increase in the franchise fee collected from Blue Ridge Communications. The supervisors felt there was no interest at this time.

So not only was my comment incorrectly recorded, they also used my company name instead of my actual name. Was this intentional?

Coincidently, in 2011 (the following year), Barrett Supervisors passed an ordinance increasing the Blue Ridge Franchise fee from 2% to 5%. Were they able to do this because of the false statements recorded in the meeting minutes? In 2019, the Franchise Fees are expected to be $80,000.

Just another reason why these public meetings should be recorded and accessible to the public and/or live-streamed.

Disclaimer: The ideas expressed above are the personal thoughts and opinions of Nate Covington and do not necessarily reflect the position of Barrett Township or its Board of Auditors.

Last modified on Tuesday, 22 March 2022 12:03