Town receives first of back franchise reimbursements
The Daily Mail
May 11, 2009, online

CAIRO - The news that Mid-Hudson Cablevision has paid the town of Cairo more than $30,000 in franchise reimbursements was met with applause at the Town Board workshop Thursday.

Councilwoman Janet Schwarzenegger has been working for several weeks to recover the $30,182 bill, which was from 2007 and due by March 16.

Franchise reimbursements are paid every second year.

Schwarzenegger said she expects to receive a payment for the 2005 reimbursement later this month.

Schwarzenegger has been working with Pat Johnson of the Public Service Commission to come up with a new franchise agreement, which will be the subject of a public hearing before the board meeting on June 17.

Under the new agreement, the company will pay 1.5 percent interest on late fees and will pay the reimbursement in January rather than in March. The franchise agreement will be for 15 years.

Schwarzenegger said that the new due date will benefit Cairo .

“That will be very helpful,” she said. “We get low on money in January.”

No smoking in playground

Also at the workshop Thursday, the board voted to ban smoking in the playground area of Angelo Canna Park.

It was agreed that children playing at the playground may be tempted to pick up a cigarette stub or could step on something still lit.

Schwarzenegger suggested that cute signs featuring bears could be created for the playground.

However, the board decided that signs provided by the Rip Van Winkle Tobacco-Free Coalition of Columbia and Greene Counties will be posted at the playground.

The board discussed banning cigarettes from the entire park, but did not decide to do so.

“I do not have a problem with saying the whole park should be no smoking,” Supervisor John Coyne said.

He suggested that an area of the park could be designated as a smoking area. But, he said, he did not want burned cigarettes ending up in the creek.

Councilwoman Alice Tunison pointed out that musicians who perform under the pavilion may smoke, as well as event attendees.

“See how it goes, we can expand it,” Councilman Raymond Suttmeier said.