The city of Nelsonville reached an agreement Sept. 18 with Nelsonville TV Cable, Inc. that will provide free Internet and cable access for any city building in Nelsonville, at the request of City Manager Fred Holmes.
Four meetings were needed to work out the kinks in the franchise agreement because of complaints from Nelsonville Cable owner Joe Edwards. At the Sept. 8 city council meeting Edwards said the contract contradicted itself and also did not coincide with Federal Communications Commission regulations. He was unavailable for further comment.
The Nelsonville Cable Franchise Agreement is a 10-year, non-exclusive contract, City Council Vice President Greg Smith said.
"This is not an exclusive contract. Any other TV cable company that wants to come in here and establish a franchise is free to do so," Smith said at last night's council meeting.
Councilwoman Della Clowes raised her concern about the length of the agreement. She suggested that a five-year plan might have been more beneficial. Clowes does not want the council to look back in 10 years and regret its decision.
But Smith disagreed.
"We granted the 10-year contract with the understanding that we would get the kind of service everyone has been happy with for 40 years," Smith said.
The only way the length of the contract can be reduced is if the cable company is sold, Smith said.
Receiving Internet connections for free will save the city a significant amount of money, although an exact figure was not available.
Another stipulation of the agreement set the rate for basic 22-channel service at $15, which Smith hopes will encourage older customers to continue their subscriptions. The price can only be increased by the actual cost to the cable company for providing the service.
The contract will be brought in to the next council meeting on Oct. 6 for review by council members.
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