Buffalo Grove approves Comcast agreement that extends service

Buffalo Grove trustees this week renewed the village's cable franchise agreement with Comcast.

That was good news for the residents of the Columbian Gardens subdivision, which were annexed into the village in 2003. As of Dec. 1, the 79 homes in the subdivision, located near Milwaukee Avenue and Lake-Cook Road, will be able to receive local cable access channels, and its residents will actually get to watch their village government in action on Channel 6.

There are about 23 residents in the subdivision who receive Comcast cable service, but it is provided through the Vernon Hills node. Originally it was thought that in order to receive the Buffalo Grove channels, service would have to be rerouted through the Rolling Meadows node at a capital cost of $36,000.

Fortunately for residents, research by technical teams from Comcast yielded a low-cost solution by connecting through a neighboring residential development in Buffalo Grove.

In renewing the franchise agreement, Buffalo Grove is the last member of a Regional Cable Group that includes Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Palatine and Rolling Meadows to re-sign with Comcast.

Buffalo Grove Trustee DeAnn Glover said, "We have some things in our agreement that other communities do not have." She said those communities signed their agreements as written, while Buffalo Grove was able to negotiate with the cable provider.

Andrew Stein, a former candidate for village trustee and a 22-year resident of the subdivision, said, "It has not always been easy to get cable TV in our subdivision." He said the subdivision was hooked up to Vernon Hills' system because it was the only way it could get cable.

Village President Elliott Hartstein thanked village staff and Trustees Steven Trilling and Glover and Comcast for their efforts in producing a creative solution.

But Trustee Lisa Stone said that Comcast was required by federal law to provide government access channels to the subdivision without the village incurring the $36,000 cost. She told Comcast Governmental Affairs Manager Chris Nelson that the village should not have been forced to spend time researching that legal requirement to bring it to Comcast's attention.