NEWRY — If all goes as planned, many residents will finally have access to cable television and cable phone service by the end of August.

That’s what selectmen learned Monday after more than 10 years of fighting for access with various cable companies through the court system.

“They’re working on it. It’s a start,” Town Administrator Loretta Powers told selectmen.

She said Time-Warner Cable service would be extended along:

• Bear River Road to Riverwood Drive (3.6 miles)

• Riverwood Drive to the end of the road (0.10 miles)

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• Bear River Road to Branch Road (1.6 miles)

• Branch Road to the end of the road (1.3 miles)

• Valley View Road (0.76 miles)

• Riverbank Road (0.12 miles)

• Mountain View Road (0.20 miles)

• Deer Run Road (0.09 miles)

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• Powder Ridge Road: Douglas Road (1.2 miles); Ski View Road (0.10 miles); Mammoth Road (0.10 miles); and Veil Road (0.20 miles).

Cable service, however, will not be extended down Lone Pine Road or to the Black Bear Inn. Additionally, Powers said, it won’t go above Douglas Road.

“Lone Pine Road has almost enough people, but the houses are too far back from the road,” she said.

Selectman Steve Wight said the town had negotiated with various cable providers for service for a decade, although Code Enforcement Officer David Bonney said he thought it was more like 15 years.

“They’ve been promising they’d do it for 10 years,” Wight said. “We even had a lawyer who was so mad at the cable company that he took on our case for nothing.”

In other business, a propane-fueled generator was installed last Thursday at the Bear River Grange Hall, Powers said. That means the town can now offer the hall as an emergency shelter during extended power outages.

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Selectman Wendy Hanscom advised the board that Newry’s state valuation is projected to rise 11.8 percent, from $426 million to a preliminary $476 million.

“We’ve been going up about $50 million a year,” she said.

“But it’s the lowest percent increase we’ve had in three years,” Wight said.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com


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