Petition support/testimony EcliptixNet Northport internet provider e-mail

To: EcliptixNet Customers
Subject: EcliptixNet_Scoop Tower Site Petition_Support and Testimonial Information

Dear EcliptixNet (EBI) Customers,

Thank you all so much for the many support letters we have received. EBI will present them all to the both the Stevens & Spokane County Commissioners!

In an effort to provide full disclosure of the events and actions taking place with regards to EBI and the availability of our service to all of you as an effect of the termination of our Scoop Tower lease, EBI is including with this email, the official correspondence, on record, that has taken place between EBI, Stevens County, and Spokane County. The information included in this email, as well as the attachments, should dispel any questions, concerns, rumors, or misinformation heard from other parties. Please keep in mind that the attachments to this email are official, legal documents and testimony of EBI and are recorded as such in both Stevens and Spokane Counties. Thus, attesting to the nature and validity of the information contained therein.

After speaking to many of you personally, we understand that perhaps our notice should’ve been given much sooner – that way, more time would’ve been available to collaborate. We do apologize for this. However, this was a tricky situation that was given a lot of thought; do we notify our customers and perhaps cause an immediate panic, or do we try to get this worked out quietly. We also wanted to pursue other alternative routes for providing uninterrupted service to all of you prior to raising a concern with this issue. However, much to our astonishment and distress, those possible alternative routes proved to have extremely limited and poor results.

Therefore, we had to pursue an extension to the collocation lease and truly felt this extension request would have been approved, especially since we provided substantial detail on the effect the immediate termination would have on all EBI customers. EBI provided an official extension request to the Scoop Mountain Communications Site Manager, Mr. Mark Curtis, Director, Stevens County Information Services (SCIS), on October 20, 2011 (attached, Att-1). However, to EBI’s frustration, a disapproval of our request was received from Mr. Curtis, on October 26, 2011 (attached, Att-2). In this response, Mr. Curtis stated that “the Stevens County Board of County Commissioners [Stevens County] reviewed [EBI’s] letter dated October 20th, 2011 to relocate [EBI’s] equipment onto the new Scoop Mountain communications tower; however [EBI’s] request was not approved.”

The Scoop tower site is a site being co-developed by both Stevens and Spokane Counties and according to Section 5 of the Radio Site Lease between the two Counties, “[Spokane County] may sublease space on the Improvement to third parties subject to [Stevens County’s] prior written consent, which consent will not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed.” Therefore, EBI took the next step by petitioning the Board of Spokane County Commissioners (Spokane County) for such an extension. This petition for collocation extension (attached, Att-3), was provided as testimony to Spokane County on November 1, 2011 in an open meeting. Mr. Curtis, along with Stevens County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Mr. Lloyd Nickel, were present via teleconference at the meeting as representatives of Stevens County.

Three parties provided testimony to Spokane County; EBI, Mr. Curtis, and importantly, the Undersheriff of Spokane County, Mr. Jeff Tower. Mr. Tower, as a Project Manager of the development of the Scoop tower site, is one of the deciding individuals for all actions pertaining to the site. Provided as testimony by Mr. Curtis to Spokane County, several concerns for not allowing EBI to remain in operation on the Scoop tower site were disclosed. However, Mr. Tower provided testimony that he saw “no foreseeable reason not to allow [EBI] to remain on the site.” This made it apparent, at least to EBI, that the position of not allowing EBI to remain on the tower site was coming from SCIS, and not of Spokane County.

At the outcome of the meeting, Spokane County requested additional information from both EBI and Mr. Curtis, and further issued a Memorandum to Stevens County requesting their attendance via teleconference at a follow-on meeting scheduled Tuesday, November 8, 2011, at 9:15am (attached, Att-4). EBI issued further testimony per Spokane County’s request, and included comprehensive responses to the concerns and claims testified by Mr. Curtis in the November 1st meeting (attached, Att-5).

As a next step, EBI will issue additional testimony to Spokane County, to include all supporting emails and letters received from our subscribers, further expressing the devastating financial impact this termination will have on EBI, as well as the overwhelming financial, economic, social, educational, and medical impact this termination will have on our subscribers.

Again, EBI cannot begin to tell you all how thankful we are to have all of you as our supportive and dedicated customers! From the overwhelming support we have received, we realize how the broadband service we provide you affects your lives and what it means to you, your family, and those of you who have them, your business. Your messages truly do portray the critical necessity of broadband technology in all of your lives and it means so much to us to be able to fulfill this crucial need – we hope to be doing so for many years to come as we only get better…and faster!

We would be happy to personally speak to whoever has further questions or if preferred a community meeting. EBI would appreciate whatever continued support you would be willing to provide and encourage you to contact your elected County Commissioners to express your concerns/inquiries/grievances, and/or contact Mr. Curtis. Due to the nature of their contact information being publicly available online at the Stevens County contact website, EBI can legally provide as follows:

Stevens County Commissioners Mark Curtis, Director
215 S. Oak Street Stevens County Information Services
Colville, WA 99114 215 S. Oak Street, Room 113
Phone: (509) 684-3751 Colville, WA 99114-2836
Fax: (509) 684-8310 Phone: (509) 684-7505
Email: Commissioners@co.stevens.wa.us

As further announcement, there is a meeting being held next Tuesday, November 8, at 9:15 am, by the Board of Spokane County Commissioners, which will include the Stevens County Board of County Commissioners and Mark Curtis via teleconference. EBI will be present in Spokane, and urge any, if not all of you, to attend the meeting at either the Spokane County Commissioner’s Hearing Room in Spokane, or the Stevens County location in Colville (Stevens County Courthouse, 2nd Floor, Rm. 214).

Thank you all again for the massive support we have received regarding this issue. We look forward to serving you, uninterrupted, for the next many years!

Have a great day!

Jeff and Jennifer Tamietti
EcliptixNet Broadband, Inc.
Colville Phone: (509) 563-3272
Spokane Office: (509 279-0393
Email: Support@EcliptixNet.com

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