Red Bay officials looking for better phone, TV service

RED BAY – Meetings with officials from two local communications companies yielded positive results for residents in Red Bay.

At their July 18 meeting, city council members discussed the poor service several residents have reported from the city’s cable provider, MetroCast, with company officials. Council members cited instances of the cable channels freezing for a several-day period of time and a lack of communication as the main problems.

In an e-mail to Mayor Bobby Forsythe provided at Monday night’s city council meeting, Rick Ferrall, the Southern regional manager for MetroCast, said he believed the July 18 meeting was the best they had ever had with city officials and that he now believed everyone had come to a better understanding of why the city’s customers had been experiencing various problems.

“During the meeting, it became obvious that MetroCast has got to do a better job of communicating with the franchise authorities in the communities we serve,” Ferrall said. “I have asked my director of operations to do a quarterly letter or newsletter that keeps each of you up to speed on the improvements and changes we make.”

As previously requested by the council, Ferrall also provided verification from Comcast representative Chris Skelton that showed the fiber optic line installed to bring Huntsville-based channels to Red Bay was in fact in place.

Also at Monday’s meeting, council members received word from Dave Hargrove, a governmental affairs representative for AT&T’s North Alabama coverage area, that Red Bay should receive 3G service in their area between the months of September and October instead of the previously forecasted date of July 2012.

In other business, the council addressed the following items:

• Approved Ordinance 11-08-01 updating Red Bay’s hiring and hiring policy so as to reflect the changes made necessary by the recent Supreme Court ruling in Scott vs. Coachman.

• Accepted the low bid of $72,976 from Warrior Tractor and Equipment Company from Athens for a new backhoe for the city.

• Set the Dixie Youth Board at five members.

• Approved to have Sen. Roger Bedford draft an ordinance to set the salaries for the mayor and council for the 2012-2016 term to be the same as the current mayor and council.