ALBANY — The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today announced that it will hold public statement hearings in the City of Glens Falls, Warren County; Town of Colonie, Albany County; Village of Valatie, Columbia County, City of Gloversville, Fulton County; City of Plattsburgh, Clinton County; and the Village of Lake Placid, Essex County regarding the options for area code relief in the 518 area code region.

 

In areas where number exhaust has been anticipated, new area codes in a given geographic area are generally provided through an overlay or through a geographic split of the existing area code. An overlay option means that one new code is used throughout the entire geographic area for all new telecommunications services, while existing phone numbers generally are not affected. In a geographic split option the existing 518 area code would be divided into two geographic sections. In one section, current and new customers would continue to use telephone numbers with the existing 518 are code. In the other section, all customers, including customers who were previously using the 518 code, would be assigned to and required to use the new area code.

 

Public Statement Hearings

 

The public will have an opportunity to present comments at the hearings before an Administrative Law Judge to hear this case. A verbatim transcript of the hearings will be made for inclusion in the record of the proceeding. The public statement hearings will be held as follows:

 

TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2016 – GLENS FALLS

Crandall Library

Christine L. McDonald Community Room

251 Glen Street

Glens Falls, NY 12801

 

Information Session                            5:00 PM

Public Statement Hearing                    6:00 PM

    

 

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2016 – LATHAM

Colonie Town Hall

534 New Louden Road

Latham, NY 12110

 

Information Session                  12:00 PM

Public Statement Hearing          1:00 PM

 

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2016 – VALATIE

Ichabod Crane High School

Auditorium

2910 Route 9

Valatie, NY 12184

 

Information Session                            6:00 PM

Public Statement Hearing                    7:00 PM

 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 - GLOVERSVILLE

Gloversville City Hall

Council Chambers

3 Frontage Road

Gloversville, NY 12078

 

Information Session                            6:00 PM

Public Statement Hearing                    7:00 PM

 

 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016 – PLATTSBURGH

Town of Plattsburgh Town Hall

151 Banker Road

Plattsburgh, NY 12901

 

Information Session                            6:00 PM

Public Statement Hearing                    7:00 PM

 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016 – LAKE PLACID

Olympic Regional Dev. Authority Conf. Center

2608 Main Street

Lake Placid, NY 12946

 

Information Session                            1:00 PM

Public Statement Hearing                    2:00 PM

 

 

In the hour prior to the public statement hearing, staff will present an information session on the various options for an overlay or geographic split and will be available to answer questions on the presentation. The information session will be immediately followed by the public statement hearing where all those wishing to comment will have an opportunity to make a statement for inclusion on the transcribed record.

 

It is not necessary to make an appointment in advance or to present written material to speak at the public statement hearing. Persons will be called to speak after completing a request card. The public statement hearing will be held open for a minimum of one hour, and will be kept open until everyone wishing to speak has been heard or other reasonable arrangements have been made to include their comments in the record. A verbatim transcript of the hearing will be made for inclusion in the record of this proceeding.

 

Disabled persons requiring special accommodations should call the Department of Public Service's Human Resources Management Office at (518) 474-2520 as soon as possible. Telecommunication Relay Service users may request a sign language interpreter by placing a call through the New York Relay Service at 711. Individuals with difficulty understanding or reading English are encouraged to call the Commission at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services.

 

Other Ways to Comment

 

For those who cannot attend or prefer not to speak at a public statement hearing, there are several other ways to send comments to the Commission regarding this proposal. Comments should refer to "Case 16-C-0297 – 518 Area Code Relief.”

 

Via the Internet or Mail: Go to the Web site (www.dps.ny.gov), click on "Search," enter the case number (16-C-0297), and then click on "Post Comments" at the top of the page. Alternatively, e-mail comments may be sent directly to the Secretary to the Commission at secretary@dps.ny.gov or they may be mailed or delivered to Hon. Kathleen H. Burgess, Secretary, Public Service Commission, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350. All written comments will become part of the record in this proceeding and will be reported to the Commission for its consideration. All submitted comments may be accessed on the Commission's Web site (go to www.dps.ny.gov, and then search using the case number). Many libraries offer free Internet access.

 

Toll-Free Opinion Line: You may call the Commission's Opinion Line at 1-800-335-2120. This number is set up to take comments about pending cases from in-State callers, 24 hours a day. These comments are not transcribed verbatim, but a summary is provided to the Commission.

 

Comments submitted via these alternate means are requested by August 19, 2016.

 

The Commission’s decision in this proceeding, when issued, may be obtained by going to the Commission Documents section of the Commission’s Web site at www.dps.ny.gov and entering Case Number 16-C-0297 in the input box labeled "Search for Case/Matter Number". Many libraries offer free Internet access. Commission documents may also be obtained from the Commission’s Files Office, 14th floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223 (518-474-2500). If you have difficulty understanding English, please call us at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this press release.