(11/21) November’s Town Council meeting introduced a draft ordinance allowing the Town to enter into additional agreements with cable providers without needing to make changes to the Town’s Code.
The discussion began last year when the Town Council requested Town Manager Sean Williams investigate the possibility of obtaining a fiber optic network for residents and for town use. The Town currently uses Comcast for phone, cable TV, and internet access, but, per the Town Code, the agreement is nonexclusive, which means the Town can search around for better pricing and services without penalties. However, with the agreement being in the Code, they would need to go through the official process to codify any agreements with other providers.
That being said, Walkersville is one of the only municipalities in the area that has their current agreement with Comcast in the Town Code. This Ordinance would repeal and replace Chapter 18 of the Code, which specifically deals with cable television franchises, keeping the current agreement with Comcast in place and allowing the burgess and commissioners to enter into agreements with other entities without needing to be codified moving forward.
Williams said the Town was looking at Shentel, a telecommunications company offering Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) to 182,000 homes. They utilize Glo-fiber for their fiber optic broadband services. By implementing a fiber optic-based system, the Town could see higher speed internet than its predecessor DSL because DSL uses copper lines to transmit electricity while fiber uses thin glass strands carrying light. Because light is faster than electricity, speeds up to 100x faster than DSL are possible. Other benefits of fiber include decreased risk of wildlife damage and less long-term wear and tear.
Shentel currently has cable franchise agreements with the City of Frederick, Middletown, and recently signed with Thurmont. Emmitsburg has discussed signing on with them as well.
According to Williams, the Ordinance allows the Town to sign the agreements with Shentel to begin development of the installation plans of the fiber optic equipment that will bring Walkersville faster speeds and steadier service. He also said, "This [Ordinance] is simply to clean up the Code and make it easier for the burgess and commissioners to conduct business."
He hoped that with the introduction of the Draft Ordinance in November and a successful passing of the Ordinance in December, the Town could quickly move forward with the plans.
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