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Grand Island Town Board: Town receives $67K from cable company

Sat, Jan 21st 2017 07:00 am

By Larry Austin

Island Dispatch Editor

Newfound money has walked its way into Grand Island Town Hall.

Councilwoman Bev Kinney reported Tuesday during the Grand Island Town Board meeting that Charter Communications, which merged with Time Warner and has taken over cable services for Grand Island, this week "walked a $67,540 check into the Town Hall for underpayments" of money owed under contractual obligations.

Town Supervisor Nathan McMurray said the contract called for Time Warner to pay the town "money for every new sign-up."

Kinney said the town's Cable Communications Advisory Board worked all year on a new Time Warner/Charter agreement and conducted an audit that discovered Time Warner had shorted the town money owed under the terms of the contract.

"The audit we did led by that team said, 'Wait, you guys are dramatically short.' And they knew it," McMurray said of Charter.

Charter paid up this week. McMurray praised Kinney and the Cable Communications Advisory Board for their work.

Kinney also reported that Charter representatives indicated that now that despite the merger of Charter and Time Warner, negotiations for a new contract will not start from scratch, but rather take two to three months to complete. It will be the first new contract since 1995, Kinney said.

One element of the new contract may include a $300,000 grant to the town that "could afford us production equipment" for the Town and Grand Island Central School district, Kinney said.

McMurray praises Cuomo's plan on natural resources

McMurray praised Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his plan to protect New York's natural resources.

"This year, Gov. Cuomo put forward a litany of proposals that will help protect New York's natural resources and create a more sustainable future," McMurray said Thursday. Cuomo has proposed 35 initiatives during his recent State of the State tour.

The governor's office called the plan "a bold, comprehensive set of proposals that aim to drive economic growth, strengthen the middle class, bolster the state's vital infrastructure and create a more sustainable environment. This agenda will continue New York's legacy as a national leader in advancing and safeguarding progressive values and social justice and ensuring opportunity for all."

"New York's most precious asset is its natural beauty, and with his proposal to finish the Empire State Trail and spur a clean energy economy, we can ensure visitors and New Yorkers alike can come and take advantage of everything this state has to offer year after year," McMurray said. "These proposals will help build on the beauty that makes our state so special and I applaud Gov. Cuomo for working to make them a reality."

The next regular meeting of the Grand Island Town Board will be at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 6, in Grand Island Town Hall, 2255 Baseline Road. The board will hold a joint meeting with the Grand Island Board of Education Monday, Jan. 30 (the fifth Monday of the month), at 7:30 p.m. at Grand Island High School.

Grand Island Town Board

  • Supervisor: Nathan McMurray
  • Council members: Ray Billica, Chris Aronica, Bev Kinney, Mike Madigan
  • Send comments to the board at [email protected].

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