Tekoa will keep its payphone

The City of Tekoa has decided to keep its payphone.

After discussion by the city council on the $852 annual expense, a decision was made at its Jan. 23 meeting.

“We decided to leave the phone,” said Mayor John Jaeger. “It's probably the only emergency phone for people who don't have a cell phone. And there's not a lot of cell service in Tekoa.”

Installed outside the current library and former city hall – across from the Empire Theatre – the phone is maintained by Frontier Communications.

The city once had two payphones with another outside the grocery store.