Residents of DeKalb who subscribe to AT&T cable services won’t be seeing any major changes in their cable carrier anytime soon.

The DeKalb City Council agreed to a new 10-year contract with AT&T Broadband after the council found the company had improved its service and customer relations.

Several council members expressed concern that the company might return to old practices were they to agree to a 10-year contract. First ward Ald. Andy Small even proposed an amendment to the ordinance, seeking to reduce the contract to 5 years.

“We need to send some type of a message back to AT&T that we expect a certain level of service, and 10 years is not the best way to do so,” Small said.

City Manager Jim Connors responded to the amendment, indicating the company had complied with all of the council’s requests to improve its service, although there was room for continued improvement.

City Attorney Margo Ely also concluded the 10-year proposal was the best way to go, and the company had agreed to several conditions in the contract that the council likely would lose if it only approved a five-year deal.

Small rescinded his proposed amendment afterward, indicating he merely wanted AT&T representatives present at the meeting to take the message back to the company that these issues are of high concern among the council members.

Representatives from AT&T indicated the proposed 10-year agreement was in the best interests of both parties, and said many of the problems were because of consolidation of several branches of the company at the time the contract was to be renewed. They also said these types of problems should not resurface in the future.

To ensure strict adherence to the contract, Ely said several “hammers” had been added to the contract that allowed the city to punish the company for poor service in the future, including revocation of the contract.