Town Board Renews Cablevision Agreement

The Town of Oyster Bay Board voted unanimously Tuesday to renew its agreement with Cablevision, allowing the cable company to provide services to the town for another 10 years.

The vote came at Town Hall following a public hearing attended by a representative of the cable giant.

There were only a few speakers and only a handful of issues were raised before the vote was taken.

One problem that worried Councilman Anthony Macagnone as well as some residents was Cablevision's plan beginning in early September to make it mandatory for every television to have a digital cable box.

Councilman Macagnone explained that he still has two analog televisions in his house, and that there are residents he has spoken with that are in the same situation as he is.

Jeffrey Clark, Cablevison's  Director of Government Affairs defended the move saying  that "it's a very small percentage of our customers who still have analog."

Macagnone said the issue was not a deal-breaker. Another resident complained about being put on hold for long periods of time when calling the company, but town officials  argued that that's a problem with all cable companies.

Supervisor John Venditto said he has been pleased with the overall relationship Cablevision and the town have had, even though there have been minor concerns here and there. "Over the course of many, many, many years, it's been a pleasure," he  said.

Clark said he's equally glad the town re-upped with the company.

"It's been a long history since 1973 that we've been providing service to the residents of Oyster Bay. It's been a very mutually beneficial program and we look forward to another ten years of working with the town," Clark said.

There were other matters discussed at the board meeting dealing with Massapequa. First, the board agreed unanimously to give the Department of Community and Youth Services authorization to sponsor Pre-School programs at Marjorie R. Post Community Park , as well as the Syosset-Woodbury Community Center.

The board voted to allow the Association for the Help of Retarded Children along with the Recreation Division of the Department of Parks to sponsor the 3rd annual Autism Awareness Walk on September 26 at John J. Burns Park.

Finally they voted to allow the PAWS for Parkinson's Dog Walk  to be held at Marjorie R. Post Community Park on Oct. 24 to benefit the American Parkinson Disease Association. The regulation that prevents animals from entering any park or beach in the Town of Oyster Bay will be waived for the event.

The next town board meeting will be held on Sept. 7 at 10 a.m.