Saturday, October 23, 1999
Officials study cable model system
BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WADSWORTH, Ohio — At first glance, this quaint little community of 17,000 residents doesn't look like a town at the cutting edge of tomorrow.
But as Warren County municipal leaders found out Friday, looks can be deceiving.
More than a dozen officials took a fact-finding trip to the Medina County city Friday to tour its $4 million government-owned telecommunications system. Wadsworth and Lebanon are the only two Ohio cities with their own cable system.
Municipal officials toured Lebanon's $7.2 million system in late September.
The Warren County Municipal League has proposed a study to assess the feasibility of linking other Warren County cities with Lebanon's municipal cable system. The proposal asks all communities interested in participating in the study to contribute up to $2,000 for the study.
The proposal had received mixed signals with some communities, with Mason, Morrow and Franklin immediately jumping aboard, while other communities opted to sit back and watch the process evolve. But those communities who may have been on the bubble were reassured by what they saw in Wadsworth.
“The trip today convinced me that we at least need to participate in the next step, which would be the (feasibility) study,” said Middletown City Commissioner Jerry Banks, who also serves as secretary-treasurer of the municipal league. “I think it is an opportunity that we just can't walk away from.”
Mr. Banks said Middletown leaders will address joining the study at its Nov. 2 meeting. He said he anticipates fellow commissioners will support the study, contrary to reports that the city would reject it.
“I don't imagine our discussion on this issue will last more than a couple of minutes,” said Mr. Banks. “It's a no-brainer.”
Wadsworth's distance-learning center won the greatest acclaim from municipal leaders. The center, which was estimated to cost more than $300,000, links Wadsworth High School to the University of Akron through a fiber optic connection, enabling students to take college-level courses without leaving the high school and at no extra cost.
Students can interact with a professor at the university via television cameras and monitor. Included in the distance learning link are various other local schools in Wadsworth's district.
“Distance learning saves parents money and offers students the opportunity to gain valuable college credit while remaining at their own high school,” said Chuck Parsons, superintendent of the Wadsworth school district. “This is a program of the future and is on the cutting edge.”
Mason school officials agree.
“This is one of the fascinating aspects of fiber optics,” said Jim Roughan, a technician for Mason City Schools. “Our superintendent is very excited about the possibilities of such a program in Mason.”
Municipal officials also toured Wadsworth's public access studio, WCTV.
Carl Boltz, executive director of the municipal league, said a special meeting Wednesday at the Houston Inn in Mason will give a report to the membership unable to attend the tour. He said the deadline for interest in the feasibility study will be pushed back to the end of November.
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