No phone service for 30 days; electricity interruptions frequent
BY RACHEL DOVE
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PILGRIM — Unreliable utility service is nothing new to Meathouse Road residents in Pilgrim, but the last month has been exceptionally trying. They have had landline phone service for two days since June 17, and electrical disruptions have become a daily occurrence.
Mack McCoy has lived on Meathouse his entire life and works for the Martin County School District. McCoy cares for his parents and depends on a basic landline phone to communicate with their physicians and other medical providers.
“Before I go any further, I need to explain our situation here,” said McCoy. “We are one of the few places in the county — and I think I’d be safe in saying within Eastern Kentucky — that has to depend on three different companies to acquire phone, cable and internet services.”
McCoy said those services are “mediocre at best with a price tag far from cheap.”
“Since that’s the only option we have, we pay the price,” he said. “But it’s too bad we don’t receive reliable service in return.”
McCoy’s area experiences one electrical outage after another, the longest lasting five days.
“Lately, it’s been like a third-world country in our community,” said McCoy. “Phones are out, the internet is slow and sometimes you can’t even access it. Since the bad storm in June, we have suffered through one electrical outage right after another. The only service we haven’t lost is the water, but after all the reports I’m seeing from across the county of outages with that utility, I won’t be surprised if we have issues before it’s all said and done.”
McCoy filed formal complaints against the third-party company, Lingo (the phone carrier that serves the area), and AT&T, which owns the phone lines and is responsible for making the repairs.
McCoy pointed out a section of the phone line that was shredded to pieces by falling tree limbs during the June storm. He said no technician has been on the scene that he is aware of, and he’s tired of his community being short-changed.
“It would be different if we had a cellphone tower close to us so we could use mobile phones, but that’s not the case,” he added. “When our landline is out, we can’t make a call. Since we have a lot of elderly folks in our neighborhood, many of them with health issues, this isn’t just creating an inconvenience; it’s creating a health risk and safety hazard and is a recipe for disaster should an emergency arise.”
McCoy explained that although families try to check on one another daily, he fears that if an emergency occurs in the middle of the night, there would be no way to call for help, whether it’s a medical emergency or a circumstance that needs a quick police or fire response.
McCoy feels the common denominator in all the utility outages is the need to trim trees out of the direct path of the lines and remove those that are uprooted.
McCoy said a representative with Asplundh advised him last week that the company would start correcting the tree problem as soon as possible.
“Victor Slone had met with several of us shortly after being appointed as judge/executive before his health began declining,” stated McCoy. “He told us he would do everything he could to get broadband service for our area. He planned to stay on top of the need to have trees cut and cleared from the power line right of ways, but I have faith in Judge Colby Kirk to continue the efforts.”
McCoy does not plan to stop with his complaints to the PSC and the FCC. He is taking his concerns to elected officials. He also plans to draft a petition and collect signatures in hopes of getting a cell tower in the Wolf Creek/Pigeon Roost area.
“I think we should receive the same consideration as any other community in the county,” said McCoy. “We’ve lost several families that were good neighbors on Rockhouse for this very reason. They chose to relocate to an area where having reliable utilities was not a problem. Those who call it home love it here and don’t intend to leave, but we could do without the hardships created by these circumstances.”