Stantonsburg board - Wayne-Wilson News Leader, Fremont, NC

17 January 2008 — Computer users in and around Stantonsburg will soon have a wireless option for internet access. The Town Council unanimously approved allowing Computer Central of Wilson to mount a wireless antenna on the town’s water tower.

Mounting the antenna will allow the company to provide wireless internet to customers miles outside of the city limits, a move that several citizens came to the meeting to support. Though citizens inside city limits have access to a range of internet providers, some in more rural areas of Wilson County have no options at all. Computer Central is seeking to change that.

The company has wireless antennas on county water towers, as well as in several municipalities, including Black Creek. They came to the Stantonsburg board last month to ask permission to mount an antenna on the town’s water tower, and offered two options for the town to generate some income from the project as well.

The board decided to table the issue until this month, when they could make a more informed decision.

Monday night, Mayor Bill Edmundson told the board he recommended that the town accept the proposal from the company, and that they select the option for a free internet connection in town offices, and to receive ten percent of the income of Stantonsburg-area customers after the tenth customer is added.

He also told the board that, though the town had hoped to use the free wireless connection with on-board computers in the police cars, the service is not compatible with the system. However, the company had done some research for the town and found a cost-comparable offer from Verizon that would work for the cars.

Mr. Edmundson said he had talked to customers in Black Creek, and they had all communicated that they were very happy with the services provided by Computer Central.

The board unanimously approved a motion to have the antenna mounted and receive services from the company.

In other old business, the board continued to discuss ways to cut costs to 911 dispatch in Wilson County. The board had agreed for the town to purchase a cell phone for the police department, to which calls to the office would be forwarded when officers were out. This was anticipated to keep citizens from having to call 911 for smaller incidents that require local police’s attention.

Chief John Hunt said that, after doing research, the department decided to do a 30-day free trial with Verizon, because it was the only company providing service to the area that would allow the phone to be in the town’s name and not an individual name.

He said that so far, the phone has reception in all areas of town. He added that he had received three forwarded calls on the phone that day, saving the town a little bit of money.

The other cost-saving device proposed was the on-board computers in police cars. The computers would allow the officers to connect to a database and receive information about people they pull over. Currently, the department must call 911 to receive this information.

Chief Hunt said he is seeking grant money to help pay for the computers themselves, but the board also discussed information regarding the wireless connection.

Mark Cannon of Computer Central reported that, according to his research, Verizon could provide the town with wireless cards and wireless internet access in the cars. He quoted a one-time installation fee of $149 and a monthly fee of $50.

Mayor Edmundson asked how that compared to the cost of 911 dispatch.

Chief Hunt said that, even after adjustments at the end of the year, monthly cost for 911 dispatch runs between $1,000 and $1,200 per month. He said in talking to towns that use on-board computers, the cost dropped to around $500 per month.

The board agreed that spending $50 a month to save $500 might be something to look into, but did not make a final decision since the department does not have the computers yet.

At the close of the meeting, Mayor Edmundson addressed a few issues of town representation. He began by encouraging the council members and citizens to offer a kind word, smile, or wave to people on the street. He stated that whenever he hears about people not wanting to live somewhere, it’s because the people aren’t friendly, and he wants to make sure that isn’t the reputation of Stantonsburg.

He also informed the town that a citizen had informed him that the website Wikipedia erroneously reported that nine registered sex offenders live in the town. Chief Hunt said that information is wrong, and said only one registered offender lived within the city limits. He said the others may have a Stantonsburg address, but do not live in the town. Mayor Edmundson directed the citizen to contact the website and change the information.

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Issue of 17 January 2008

Wayne Wilson News Leader
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