AMHERST — Representatives for Amherst Media, the town’s public access channel that broadcasts meetings and oversees a communications and technology center on College Street, are urging the Select Board to postpone signing a new 10-year contract with Comcast until the cable company provides adequate money for capital needs.
Even though Comcast is offering $950,000 over the life of the deal, more than double the $450,000 in capital money included in the contract signed in 2006, this amount falls short of the $2.2 million requested by Amherst Media and the Cable Advisory Committee. The proposal also doesn’t include high definition broadcasting capability for the public access, education and government channels.
“We’re limping out of this contract,” Amherst Media Executive Director James Lescault told the Select Board Monday, explaining that the 2006 capital allocation was insufficient, leaving Amherst Media unable to upgrade its mandatory cable equipment. “We barely have the equipment for what you’re asking us to do on a daily basis.”
But following months of negotiations, Peter Hechenbleikner, in his final day as interim town manager, said the Select Board should vote in favor of the 10-year contract he helped reach.
“I would advocate for approval of this agreement,” Hechenbleikner said, adding that the arrangement is more favorable than he thought the town could achieve. “I do think it’s a good deal.”
In addition to the increase in capital spending offered in the new proposal, the contract maintains that the town would get the maximum 5 percent of Comcast’s annual gross revenues to help pay for the public, education and governmental, or PEG, channels. Amherst Media officials are satisfied with this part of the contract, which funds operating expenses.
The proposed contract also permits the town to continue using the institutional network, or I-net, for three more years. I-net is a fiber network that allows live broadcasting by Amherst Media, and carries the town phone system, email and security camera feeds.
The board agreed to delay a decision on the contract, with Chairwoman Alisa Brewer saying that the agreement could be voted on at its meeting Aug. 29.
The Select Board must approve or deny the new contract by Sept. 14, which would mark 180 days from when it issued the request for proposal, Hechenbleikner said. The deal would go into effect Oct. 16.
A third option, Hechenbleikner said, would be to try to sign a three-year deal that would continue terms of the existing contract.
The risk of denial, he said, would be having Comcast go to court seeking to impose the terms of the new deal.
“It would be very expensive and it would be unlikely we’d end up with a better deal,” Hechenbleikner said.
Lescault said the so-called ascertainment process, in which the Cable Advisory Committee solicited feedback from residents at public hearings last fall, indicated residents want more from Amherst Media.
The reconfiguration of equipment, some of which is more than 25 years old, would provide the expected and required quality signal to Amherst residents, but it is an expensive, Lescault said.
In addition, Comcast’s own surveys indicated willingness of customers to pay the higher “franchise-related costs” fees, which are collected monthly from the 7,045 subscribers. These fees could go up from .86 cents to $1.21 per month.
“It isn’t impacting Comcast’s bottom line, they’re not giving us anything,” Brewer said. “Subscribers are paying for this.”
The Select Board also received a memo from Stephen Brewer, the president of Amherst Media’s board of directors. Brewer is married to Alisa Brewer, and she disclosed during the discussion that she has no financial stake in the outcome.
“Our position is that the capital amount in the previous contract was inadequate, which has resulted in an insufficient ability to stay current with technology and to do recordings and live broadcasts from different venues in town,” Stephen Brewer wrote. “Technology has moved far faster than our previous contract allowed, which is why we’ve requested a larger amount this time, to catch up and stay current over 10 years.”
Lescault said it is time for the town to push back against Comcast, and that the town should reconvene the Cable Advisory Committee to discuss future negotiation tactics.
“It is Amherst Media’s belief that the town has more negotiating room for potential monetary gains then is currently outlined in the town manager’s tentative agreement,” Lescault said.
But Hechenbleikner said there is not much, if anything, left on the table. Select Board member Constance Kruger asked what kind of leverage the town has in “pushing harder.”
Hechenbleikner said that is not realistic. “My belief is the town has pushed very hard to accomplish much of the high priority things that were in our RFP,” Hechenbleikner said.
Select Board member Andrew Steinberg said the board may need to hold an executive session to strategize on how to handle potential litigation with Comcast, though Hechenbleikner said this may not be legally possible under the Open Meeting Law, since a lawsuit isn’t certain.
In addition to the letter from Brewer, the board received a handful of other letters about the cable deal, with most supporting the request for more capital money from Comcast.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
