From WRIL -
At the most recent regularly scheduled Pineville City Council meeting on Monday July 8, 2019, Mayor Scott Madon made the announcement that the local Spectrum Cable/Internet/Phone Service office would be closing and customers would have to either pay their bills online or go to the Middlesboro office for payment and/or acquiring or exchanging equipment.
Since then the city has created a petition to possibly stop this move from happening. Here is the petition in full from the city of Pineville:
Whereas it is a primary mission of Main Street Pineville to retain local businesses as well as advocate for local businesses and to recruit new businesses; Main Street Pineville is generating this petition to ask Spectrum to reconsider the closing of the Spectrum office located at 218 Park Avenue in Pineville, Kentucky. Main Street Pineville Board Chairman, Colby Slusher stated, “If this community will sign this petition stating that you will cancel your spectrum service if they decide to pull our local office, we may be able to prevent this closing. Please stand firm and let’s hold them accountable!”
Each signature on this petition reflects a current Spectrum customer who will cancel their Spectrum service if the location stated above is closed. The closing of the Pineville location brings up several concerns for both the City of Pineville and Main Street Pineville: The current franchise agreement between Spectrum and the City of Pineville was negotiated and finally signed within the past year.
The closing of the Pineville location was never discussed in any conversation while working on the franchise agreement. In fact, Spectrum has yet to notify the city of its' intentions to close the Pineville location. Unreliable internet service is an increasing concern among Pineville residents. If the Pineville location is closed, online bill-pay would become the most convenient option for Pineville customers. Without reliable internet service, the customers could be presented with a hardship as they would be forced to drive at least 14 miles to simply pay a bill.
Many Bell County residents rely on the Pineville location for bill payment. Closure of the Pineville location would place a hardship on county residents as some could be forced to drive up to 30 miles to simply pay a bill. The Middlesboro location currently experiences long wait times for bill payment. If the Pineville location closes, the influx of customers at the Middlesboro location would create unbearably long wait times. As people stop in Pineville to make a bill payment or to visit the Pineville location, many patronize local restaurants, groceries, gas stations, etc.
The closing of the Pineville location could cause a negative impact on the Pineville business community as well. We are positive that many more concerns exist throughout the Spectrum customer base across Bell County. We urge you to state those concerns as you sign this petition. We also urge you to call Spectrum customer service at 1 (833) 267-6094 to express your opposition to their decision.
It is our intent to reverse the corporate decision to close the Pineville location, by showing the number of customers committed to canceling their service if this location closes.
Here is the link to sign the petition https://www.change.org/p/spectrum-oppose-the-closing-of-spectrum-s-pineville-location