Tekoa city telephone up for debate

The fate of a city-run payphone in Tekoa is up for discussion.

The payphone, installed outside the current library and former city hall across from the Empire Theatre, costs the city $852 in yearly payments to Frontier Communications.

At the last city council meeting in December, Mayor John Jaeger asked councilman John Guidice to check into whether the phone had been the source of invalid 911 calls.

“There might not be any, which would be nice,” said Jaeger, who indicated he had reason to believe that juveniles may be playing around with the phone.

The town once had two payphones with another one located outside the grocery store.

The council will discuss removing the last one as a budget item at its Jan. 23 meeting.

“We're always looking for ways to save money,” said Jaeger.

Will the town pull out the phone if they determine it has been subject to prank use?

“I doubt if we will,” Jaeger said. “We'll throw the idea against the wall and see if it sticks one way or another. We know that people in town who don't have phones use it.”