East Longmeadow selectmen approve Charter/Comcast cable license swap

Date: 10/9/2014

EAST LONGMEADOW – At its Sept. 30 meeting, the Board of Selectmen approved Comcast Form 394, through which Charter Communications’ cable license agreement with the town would be transferred to Comcast.

Previously, representatives from Charter Communications and Comcast met with the board at its Sept. 1 meeting and presented details about the proposed transaction, which is dependent upon Comcast and Time Warner Cable Inc. merging.

As part of the agreement, Comcast and Charter would exchange 1.6 million Tim Warner members for 1.6 Charter customers.

Town Counsel James Donahue said the board could have decided either to approve or disapprove of the transfer of resident cable accounts before Oct. 16. If the board did not take action, the transfer would have been deemed as approved by the board on Oct. 17.

Either way, the transfer of local accounts seem likely to occur if the merger were approved, he added.

“If I remember correctly, by law we still have to negotiate with Charter for the new agreement even though the handwriting’s on the wall,” Board of Selectmen Chair Paul Federici said.

Donahue noted there was nothing of substance that would seem to create any great objections for Comcast taking over Charter’s operations.

However, he stated that several questions posed to Comcast representatives regarding a separate limited liability company (LLC) to handle the local accounts were unanswered.

“The questions were basically, you have a LLC, which is a separate legal entity that’s going to hold the franchise,” Donahue explained. “But all of the information that we’ve received, with respect to the company that’s going to own and operate the license, dealt with Comcast.

“So, bottom line is even though there’s no legal accountability to Comcast or by Comcast for the operation of the local franchise, their personnel and expertise are going to be the ones managing it,” he continued.

In other business, Selectman Angela Thorpe addressed her unprecedented removal as Board of Selectman chair on Sept. 16 by a vote of 2 to 0.

“I admit, there is much I still have to learn and if I have offended anyone or if the process has taken too long for some then let me simply apologize,” Thorpe stated. “With regards to the personal attacks, they are baseless and therefore I will not dignify them with an answer.”

Thorpe added that she has respect for her two colleagues despite disagreements.

“Public service is a privilege,” she explained. “Let’s move forward together and continue to make East Longmeadow the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”

 At it’s Sept. 2 meeting, town resident Steve Seitz called for Thorpe’s immediate resignation, claiming Thorpe abused her power and mismanaged town employees.

Selectman William Gorman said he investigated several incidents, including an incident at Country Side Sore, in which Steitz believed Thorpe abused her position as the board’s chair. 

Gorman stated that he met with the store manager in the alleged incident. He said Thorpe denied being there, however two store employees stated otherwise.

Another incident, which Gorman said he witnessed, involved Thorpe allegedly utilizing her badge to receive special treatment at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

Investigations into the he alleged incidents are ongoing.

At its Sept. 16 meeting, the board also voted to close the warrants for the Special Town Meeting scheduled for Oct. 27.

Article 1 would clean up abandoned properties owned by banks, Federici said. One property with particularly high grass is located off of Westwood Avenue and Maple Street.

“I believe the intent of it is to set up a fund of money so we can have local landscapers take care of those and we’ll fund the cleanup through that fund,” he added. “And then what we do is bill the owner and if the owner doesn’t pay it becomes a municipal lane on the property and in the event that the property sells, then we’ll get paid eventually.”

Article 2 involves increasing the budget for the animal control officer and potentially purchasing new equipment. 

“The animal control officer in the couple years that he’s been here has done a great job going out and finding animals that aren’t licensed,” he explained. 

Article 4 would also increase the salary for the new town accountant, Sara Menard, who was approved by the board for the position on Aug. 19 after several interviews for the position.

Federici said the town has been without an accountant for September, which should be enough money saved to pay for the increase in Menard’s salary.

“In theory, we have the money in the budget to do it but we want to be out there to show what the increase is going to be,” he explained.