Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 7, 1991 TAG: 9103070438
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I think we are there," Roanoke Vice Mayor Howard Musser said after a nine-hour meeting with cable company executives from Roanoke and corporate headquarters in Atlanta.
"We have an agreement in theory," said Bernie Langheim, vice president and general manager of the cable TV company.
The accord is contingent on approval of county officials, who left before the meeting ended because of prior commitments. But city, town and company officials seemed optimistic the county will approve it.
Musser, chairman of the localities' negotiating committee, said both sides made concessions Wednesday on issues that had stalled the negotiations and produced a "tense" bargaining session last week.
Even though Musser said neither side got everything it wanted, the localities appeared to get most of what they had sought.
No increase in rates will be necessary to pay for the $20 million investment the company plans once a new franchise is approved, Langheim said. As part of the upgrade, Cox said it would boost capacity from 35 to 62 channels with fiber-optic technology and make other improvements.
"Programming and the cost of doing business might cause rates to increase in the future, but what we agreed to today will have no effect on rates," he said.
Musser had told the company earlier that he didn't think a new franchise should require higher rates even though the localities wanted more channels, better governmental access and a more liberal service-extension policy.
One major stumbling block had been the length of the franchise. The company had sought a 20-year agreement; the localities wanted five to 10 years.
The accord calls for two six-year agreements. If Cox meets the localities' requirements during the first six years, the franchise automatically will be renewed for six more years, Musser said.
The company also agreed to spend $480,000 during the first four years to equip a studio for government and educational public access channels. It must also provide access to government and educational channels at 21 public buildings - including schools, libraries and fire stations.
The company also will extend service throughout Roanoke. Parts of downtown and some public housing projects do not have cable.
Cox also agreed to lower the housing density requirement for extending service in Roanoke County from 50 homes per mile to 25. This would provide cable service to 65 miles of additional streets and roads in outlying areas, Langheim said.
The extension policy had been a major concern of county officials. O.D. Page, a consultant hired to advise the localities during the negotiations, had said that some cable companies have wired areas with densities as low as 10 homes per mile.
The localities had requested an expansion of the system's capacity to 72 channels. The tentative agreement calls for 62, but Musser said that might be increased depending on the number of government and educational access channels.
The old franchise agreement expired Dec. 31. The localities twice had to approve 60-day extensions to give the negotiators more time.
At least two members of the county Board of Supervisors had said they might not agree to another extension if an agreement wasn't reached by the May 1 deadline.
Langheim said both sides had been frustrated by the negotiations and seemed determined to resolve the issues Wednesday. The meeting had been scheduled to last three hours, but the negotiators remained at the table an additional six hours.
"There had been some misunderstanding and after that was cleared up, we agreed to agree," said Langheim.
Musser said the meeting began on a tense note, but "things started moving early, and we decided to try to resolve the whole thing before we quit."
If the county's negotiators approve the agreement, Musser said it will be submitted to the Regional Cable Television Committee and then to the governing bodies.
by CNB