I have resented AT&T”s attack on our county with their ugly installation of thick cables (probably fiber optic DSL lines?). The recent opinion letter “Ugly cables from Lakeport to Ukiah” reminded me of this travesty.
In the short two miles or so from Kit”s Corner to the Riviera, AT&T installed new poles and crossed Soda Bay Road eight times with the thick, ugly cables, not to access users on both sides of the road but to shorten their run and cut the cost of installation. Just east of the road there is a utility corridor with existing poles they could have used but for likely financial reasons they chose not to. Instead, they blatantly impacted one of the more scenic paths in the county, Soda Bay Road between Kit”s Corner and Lakeport. Elsewhere in the county there are similar ugly installations such as around the golf course at Hidden Valley Lake. In most communities (e.g. Tahoe, Napa Valley) this would not be acceptable, they would have to bury the cables or install them in a manner more considerate of our visual environment.
So now what? I think they should be forced to tear the worst examples down, but that is likely not going to happen. We can however, try to learn what happened and prevent future repeats. A few suggestions:
1) The county (or state?) should let us know who approved the routing and why community needs such as visual integrity were ignored.
2) Residents should also be told what constraints will be placed on future efforts to prevent similar results. “Anything goes in Lake County” is no longer acceptable.
3) Show AT&T that we don”t accept what they did by not buying or using their DSL Internet service, there are other options. I have already taken this powerful action.
I do realize that broadband Internet access is important to our residents and our economy. However, county officials and the companies that provide such services need to quickly understand that it is not acceptable to destroy the beauty of our community to provide it.
Ed Calkins
Kelseyville
