CityWest may charge people with long driveways extra

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Up until now, CityWest has been offering to install high speed internet to Cortes Island homes for free. They did not take some of the island’s long driveways into account. This has changed, CityWest says some people will need to pay extra.

As Regional Manager Dino Tsakonas explained, “We're talking thousands and thousands of dollars to get to one person sometimes. It's just not feasible, but if the customer can kick in a little bit and then amortize over two years, it definitely can work.”

While there is a grant for the Last Mile project, it only applies to the first 30 meters.

“We've got people with one kilometer driveways!” said Tsakonas.

Blue Jay Lake Farm’s driveway is three kilometres long, and the 6 to 8 homes there would like internet too.

Then there are the homes around Tiber Bay.

CityWest is still offering free installation for up to 100 metres. They will make that 250 metres, if customers want the last 150 metres on top of the ground.

“If you wanted it buried the whole way, there could be some costs for that too,” said Tsakonas.

However CityWest has agreed to amortize the cost over two years.

“If you have to amortize 500 bucks over two years, it's going to just make your life a lot easier anyway. I see it as a win-win, but it's a tough conversation to have when everyone thinks it's going to be free,” said Tsakonas..

He expects to be talking to a lot of Cortes homeowners over the next few weeks.

“If someone knows their driveway's already long, give me a call 250-202-6004.”

Meanwhile, crews are working in Squirrel Cove and Mansons Landing right now.

“We've got some more contractors coming to the island. So the drop is going to start happening a little quicker.”