$50 Dish Grounding Inspection Fee passed by Omaha, Ne

[rlaurinojr]

The old link was taken down, however, I found an update to the story here:

Omaha.com - The Omaha World-Herald: Metro/Region - Satellite dish revenue unclear

This councilman is a real winner. He states in this story that:

“I'm sure there are good installers of these and bad ones, but we can't roll the dice on public safety,” he said Wednesday.

Which begs the question to be asked: When was the last time a roof-mounted satellite dish fell off a roof and killed or maimed someone? When was the last time a satellite-related malfunction burned down a house as he stated that while out on a jog he had an epiphany that there is electricity running to those dishes. Have any of these events called for a public reaction or is this just an over reach of government into our pockets and private affairs. Furthermore, It is Dish and Direct TV's responsibility to install their equipment. This undue fee and scrutiny should be placed with them.

And this little gem:

"Jerram said that when he was campaigning this year, a few people said they didn't like how some rooftops are cluttered with the dishes. Jerram said he began taking more notice of the dishes during his exercise runs and discovered that they have electricity running to them. That got him thinking about safety, he said."

Unbelievable.

 

[Andrewwski]

Electricity? Wow.

Touch the end of a RG6 from a satellite receiver and you may feel a little zap, nothing more than licking a 9V battery.

It's clear that he has no clue.

 

[FED-UP-INSTALLER]

Hmmm! $50 to inspect a ground??? thats more than I make to install it

 

[lineman20109]

Hmmm! $50 to inspect a ground??? thats more than I make to install it

Time for a career move! The city of Omaha is hiring!

 

[Pen15head]

satellite voltage is what 18-20 volts max dc?

if its the electricity in it, then perhaps the city should go after the telecom companies. voltage across the telephone lines is at 48 volts regularly, but at ringing will commonly reach 90 volts at 20 hz and can peak as high as 120 volts in different frequencies.

i hope dish and direct bankrupt their budget in legal fees.

 

[Stargazer]

I have been shocked a few times this year by 120 volts (tonight I just got shocked again) there is a BIG BIG BIG difference between that and 18 volts on a coax cable. You dont feel 18-20 volts unless you got a cut or something then you feel a little tingle. I also know what it feels like to get shocked when the phone rings when I was working on the phone line. That stung, not as bad as 120 volts but almost as bad.

Dish and Directv very well could bankrupt their budget in legal fees. That would set an example out of them. Or it could go the city's way and then many others will follow once other cities know what they can get away with. This could backfire on Dish and Directv.

 

[Tron]

"Tron said that when he was surfing the internet, he noticed how some local governments are cluttered with thieves. Tron said he began taking more notice of these criminals during his nightly forum reading and discovered that they have kickbacks running to them. That got him thinking about corruption in public office and the need for Federal investigations, he said."

There, that's better...

 

[Wally]

Pure idiocy and rankly unfair.

1. Cable is exempt
2. Every three years? They cite plumbing and electric is inspected ... and that this is not different. Then INSPECT everyone PLUMBING AND ELECTRICAL every 3 YEARS, and see what outcry ya get.
3. $50 is onerous. $15 might have slipped by, but they went for way too much.
4. "wires of electricity going to the dish" - a pure moron making assumptions about electricity he simply does not know about ... and want to make policy based on!!!.

Don't they realize when they tax us out of existence, they lose their base???????

 

[guapoharry]

I believe the guy is listed as a personal injury attorney...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1Io2J9Tggw"]YouTube - Chris Jerram[/ame]

 

[Awohar]

So I emailed all 4 City Council members who voted for this, and just stated they should be ashamed for passing this, and I wanted to know why this did not apply to cable. I did not use any profanities. 2 have sent me very kind emails, but I want to post my response from Garry Gernandt:

"Spoken truly by a disgusting uninformed human, you should be ashamed of yourself."

That is the exact email he sent me, what a self serving low life. Here is his contact info:

Garry Gernandt

District 4

(402) 444-5522

Garry.Gernandt@ci.omaha.ne.us

Forward that to all the local news stations. They will run with it. They all love political controversial subject matter.

 

[harshness]

lets see cox pays fees to the city and Dish/Direct tv doesn't they don't even need to be regulated by Omaha they already have it easier than cox.

What Cox pays for is the right to use city right-of-ways to run their cabling. Satellite doesn't use these to deliver their service.

Grounding is important but given that the worst result of failed grounding in a satellite system is fried equipment, what children's lives are they saving? Does a grounding inspection insure that the dish isn't going to topple? I thought that was pretty much assured by the necessity that the dish remain solidly mounted to work reliably.

It is cable and phone wires that often have a close proximity to voltages that might injure or kill. Most cable and phone companies still bring wire into the home.

 

[harshness]

4. "wires of electricity going to the dish" - a pure moron making assumptions about electricity he simply does not know about ... and want to make policy based on!!!.

Ooooh... scary. Up to 28 volts is sent outside the house!

A POTS line brings in up to 100VAC every time it rings. How many people have been fried by watching satellite TV in the bathtub?

 

[Bogy]

This is not about the safety of grounding, it is about raising revenue for a city budget that is bloated with special interest spending.

What needs to be done is investigate exactly what is causing the budget crises. For example, here in Jacksonville, FL, we also are having a fiscal shortfall too.

Don, has the economic news of the past couple of years entirely passed you by? Many communities are having fiscal problems, and its not just because policeman, firefighters and schoolteachers are making to much money. Tax revenues are way down in most areas, because of the economic realities well covered by news sources easily found on either your computer or on your satellite provided news channels.
I wasn't aware you had moved to Omaha, to be aware of how bloated they are. Oh, wait, you haven't, you state you are still living in Jacksonville. I don't live in Omaha either, although four years ago I did live in Papillion, which is in Sarpy County, the tax haven to the south of Douglas County/Omaha, and I worked in Ralston, which IS in Douglas County, although not part of Omaha. Someone else blamed the city government for being foolish and not preparing for lean times. My memory is that Omaha is like most communities and states. They are prohibited from keeping large stockpiles of cash on hand for such emergencies. If they do attempt to do so, in the lush times they are beaten up for collecting way more money than necessary.

This is not to support the current proposal. The city council is attempting to do what local and state governments traditionally do when money is short, tax luxuries. In this case they went beyond the traditional booze and cigarettes, and decided to tax those obviously affluent citizens who flaunt their wealth with unsightly dishes on their roofs. (this is sarcasm folks, in case you don't recognize it.) From an earlier post, I'm betting at least 2 of the 4 council members are regretting being talked into this, and the proposal will very likely be "modified" at an upcoming meeting. A large turnout of people affected by the proposal will help this to take place. Believe me, as someone who worked for years to get a city council (not in Nebraska) to allow the placement of a cell tower, a few disgruntled citizens can have a big impact. However, the impact comes from citizens who can actually vote for or against the council person. They don't care if people from outside their local don't like them. Good luck to those of you in Omaha. If you care about this, make sure you and your friends are at the upcoming meeting.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Is that really even legal? What's next? Got to charge a fee to inspect your house's electric, plumbing, construction and everything else as well? Where does it stop?

Every New house built requires Footers, Electric,Plumbing ,Framing,insulation. Inspections in the state of PA. This is nothing new. But a Satellite dish inspection , well thats a little fishy.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

What about Cable installations? Those also have to be grounded too! Lets start charging an inspection fee on that.

I'm not sure how your cable company does it in your area, But Blue Ridge Cable in my are has their own grounded panel box on every customer apartment or house. Connected right to the main ground of the house. All new houses require 8' of grounding rod or cable connected Directly to the houses rebar that is installed into the Concrete Footer of the house. Thes are codes that are required for all New construction in North Eastern Pa countys I build houses in.

 

[vanalex]

$2,000,000 / $50 = 40,000 units

40,000 / 260 av work days a year = 153.8 units per day

153.8 units / 2 ( number of stated inspectors) = 76.9 inspetions per day


76.9 inspections per day per inspector YA RIGHT

Say they do this over a three year rotation and it is still 25.6 per day


Using their numbers this is totally unreasonable to expect that an inspetion will ever take place, just the attemt to collect a fee.

If this actually starts to happen, I think I would want to hold on to my $50 until the inspection actually takes place. I would hate to pay for a service that I never received.

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

Forward that to all the local news stations. They will run with it. They all love political controversial subject matter.

make sure you forward both in totality, do not edit it.

 

[Hall]

I'm not sure how your cable company does it in your area, But Blue Ridge Cable in my are has their own grounded panel box on every customer apartment or house. Connected right to the main ground of the house. All new houses require 8' of grounding rod or cable connected Directly to the houses rebar that is installed into the Concrete Footer of the house. Thes are codes that are required for all New construction in North Eastern Pa countys I build houses in.

What's your point ? I'm positive that with both E* and D* that their official policy is that their cabling be grounded too. Since only 20% of their residents have satellite, it seems to me that it would make a lot more sense to charge this same inspection fee to cable customers. Hey Omaha, do the math !!

 

[dishcomm]

I'm not sure how your cable company does it in your area, But Blue Ridge Cable in my are has their own grounded panel box on every customer apartment or house. Connected right to the main ground of the house. All new houses require 8' of grounding rod or cable connected Directly to the houses rebar that is installed into the Concrete Footer of the house. Thes are codes that are required for all New construction in North Eastern Pa countys I build houses in.

Is business picking up any for you?

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Is business picking up any for you?

Not overly busy, But Busy.