The Greenburgh Town Board last night unanimously approved an agreement with Verizon that will bring cable competition to Greenburgh residents. Greenburgh is the first municipality in Westchester County to offer cable competition to its residents.
The 10-year agreement will bring substantial funding for Public Access, Educational and Government (PEG) stations and equipment, including an initial amount of over $88,000. Councilman Francis Sheehan was charged by the Town Board to negotiate the contract with Verizon, which resulted in more than three dozen substantial improvements. Greenburgh will receive an unprecedented five PEG channels, one each for public access, education, and government, as well as two additional channels, one each for government and education. Councilman Steve Bass’ efforts helped to make sure there would be enough PEG money for educational purposes for kids.
An additional benefit to residents will be the capability in the near future of broadcasting from Woodlands Middle/High School and the Edgemont School District.
For the first time, residents who live in unincorporated Greenburgh, but attend village schools, will be able to see educational programming from their own schools.
The agreement has to go before the New York State Public Service Commission for approval before Verizon can begin to offer service, but the Town Board is hopeful this will happen in a timely manner.
The vote last night was the culmination of two years of hard work, initiated by Town Clerk Alfreda Williams, which paid off in a big way for the residents of Greenburgh. The Town is looking forward to signing a new contract with Cablevision that will provide real competition and even more money for PEG equipment and programming.
To see the contract, please follow the link below.
http://www.greenburghny.com/FCpdf/Final%2DCable%20Franchise%20Aggreement%2DVerizon%2Epdf
