WOW infrastructure installation plan

WOW's installation contractor will be installing their underground infrastructure in four phases that correspond to the four sub-associations in Central Park.

MISSDIG is on-site today in the Manors to mark all of the existing underground utilities.  As soon as that is complete, the contractor will begin underground work within the Manors.  When the work in the Manors is nearly complete in a week or two, MISSDIG will begin marking the utilities in the Meadows and then the contractor will shift their underground work to that sub.  The same pattern will follow for the underground work in the Gardens and Kensington sub-associations.

Click here to read more about the WOW's Central Park infrastructure installation project.

Installation of WOW Internet, Cable & phone infrastructure

Brian Sommers of WOW Internet, Cable & Phone met with board members from Central Park yesterday morning to walk us through their construction plans.

Click here to read an outline summary of the information they provided.

WOW! update

Earlier today, on behalf of the Board of Directors, president Mike Grobbel signed "Right of Entry" and "Grant of Easement" documents giving WOW! the right to come onto our property and use the easement given them to install their coax cables and pedestals.

By the end of this week, similar documents will have been signed by all of the other Board presidents within Central Park, opening the way for WOW! to begin the design and installation of the infrastructure necessary to bring their broadband Cable TV, Internet and phone services to the residents of the Manors and all of Central Park.

Assuming the remaining documents are signed this week, design will begin the following week and construction will begin before the end of October 2013.  Based on this timetable, WOW! services should be available to all Manors and Central Park residents no later than the end of this year.

AT&T U-verse Update

As I mentioned late last summer, AT&T technicians were prepping the hardware in our rear yards in advance of making their AT&T U-verse service available to residents of the Manors.

Several weeks ago their salespeople were here in the Manors going door-to-door offering introductory pricing to those who signed up for U-verse. A co-owner tells me that she signed up for the U-verse service and when the technician came out to begin the installation, he discovered that there was insufficient signal strength at the connection point in the rear yard. He said that the only way he could make a satisfactory installation would be to mount an amplifier on the exterior of the building and therefore the co-owner declined to have the service installed. She did not want to take a chance on getting a marginal signal plus she didn't want to have to prepare and submit an Alteration Modification Request for the amplifier installation.

I just now entered my address in the "Can I get U-verse?" box on this page and got the following answer (click to enlarge):

Minutes of the Annual Meeting held on Jan. 19, 2011

Click here to read the unapproved minutes of the Annual Meeting.

AT&T U-verse

You may have noticed the presence of several AT&T workers in and around the Manors over the past few days. I spoke with one of them today and he says that they are making minor changes in the telephone wiring terminal boxes in our rear yards that are needed to support the expansion of their U-verse Cable and Internet service to our area. U-verse uses the Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) architecture to provide high-speed Internet access and high-definition television signals to their residential customers. Their network uses fiber optic cables that terminate at large digital multiplexer boxes that must be installed within 3,000 to 5,000 feet of the customers each box will serve. AT&T's existing telephone service copper wires are the final link in the network they use to deliver the U-verse programming to their subscriber's homes. The AT&T worker I spoke with indicated that they plan to very soon install a digital multiplexer box that will be close enough to serve the units at the Manors.

WOW Cable & Internet Service

I'm sorry to report that my efforts to bring WOW Cable & Internet Service into the Manors have been in vain. Easement agreements were drawn up but the Board of Directors for the Meadows Homeowners Association have so far declined to sign the documents. Therefore, I've just been informed by WOW's Director of Operations for SE Michigan that we have lost our place in their queue of 2010 expansion projects.

Without the Meadows easement agreements, WOW is unable to bring their cable infrastructure into the Manors. Even if the Meadows Board changed their mind tomorrow, it would be 2013 at the earliest before WOW could have us inserted into their expansion plans.

If you decide to switch from Comcast to a satellite television service, please note that you must submit an Alteration/Modification Request prior to having your satellite dish antenna installed and that there are restrictions on where your antenna may be mounted. Please read Article III of this document for more details.

WOW! Cable and Internet Service Update

Since I wrote this message for the Fall Newsletter, the boards of both the Gardens and Meadows Associations have agreed to join us in pursuing the necessary easement agreements with WOW! Cable and Internet. Those two Associations are now in the process of submitting the Right of Entry documentation to WOW, which I have already submitted for the Manors. It appears that WOW is willing to cover most, if not all, of the costs involved with the easement agreement surveys and documents.

As more information becomes available, I will post it here.