A special meeting of the East Amwell Township Committee came to order at 7:30 P.M. Present at this meeting were Mayor Larry Tatsch, Deputy Mayor Kathleen Machnik, and Committee members Richard Spiegel, Patricia Cregar and Linda Lenox. Also present were Township Committee members elect, Peter Kneski and Tim Martin. Township Administrator, Timothy Matheny, was not present at this meeting.
In compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, a copy of notice of this meeting was filed in the Clerk’s Office, posted on the bulletin board, and published in the Hunterdon County Democrat, on November 21, 2007 and December 13, 2007. Notices were also sent to the Star Ledger and the Courier News on December 10, 2007. The purpose of this meeting is to hold the public hearing for the renewal of the Cable Television Franchise filed by Comcast of Central New Jersey II, LLC, as required by law. The public is invited to attend and comment. Action may or may not be taken.
Mayor Tatsch introduced Mr. Robert Clifton, Director of Government and Community Affairs from Comcast Cable. Mr. Clifton had a short statement to make with regard to the consent ordinance Comcast is seeking from the Township. Comcast’s current certificate of approval is expiring on June 30, 2008. Comcast is seeking renewal of their Cable Television Franchise. Upon close of the public hearing, the Township will have 30 days in which to issue a consent ordinance, or a resolution of denial. This 30 day time frame is flexible however, as long as the Township and Comcast are still in negotiations; the Board at Comcast has no problem with issuing an extension. The consent ordinance that Comcast is seeking is a “right of way”. It is not a contract that will obligate the Township to do anything, except to allow Comcast to continue to operate their plant along municipal rights of way. The consent ordinance is non-exclusive, meaning any other cable provider can come in and seek the same right to offer service. The East Amwell Township Committee must consider Comcast’s application on its own merits and judge the application on the following four criteria:
1. Has the cable operator substantially complied with the terms of the existing franchise and with the law?
2. Has the quality of the operator’s service including signal quality and response to customer complaints been reasonable in light of customer needs?
3. Does the operator have the financial, legal and technical ability to provide the services and equipment that they propose to provide?
4. Is the operator’s franchise renewal proposal reasonable to meet the future cable related needs and interests of the community?
5.
There are two areas that the State and Federal government will not allow the Township Committee to consider in a renewal:
1. Rates - (These are governed by State and Federal statutes.)
2. Programming - (The cable operator’s channel line-up is protected under the First Amendment.)
Mr. Clifton stated that he realized that most questions he receives are about programming and rates, and he would do his best to answer those questions as well. Mr. Clifton then thanked the Committee for the opportunity to be in attendance at the meeting and said he would answer any questions.
The Mayor asked Committeeman Spiegel to open any line of discussion.
Committeeman Spiegel stated he had met with Mr. Clifton on December 19, 2007 to discuss the responses to the questionnaire provided to the public by the Cable Advisory Committee. The top response on the questionnaire was with regard to the New York/Philadelphia channel line-up.
Mr. Clifton stated that the decision to carry either New York or Philadelphia programming is based on FCC regulations. The FCC uses the Neilson rating system. East Amwell falls into the New York viewing area.
Mr. Clifton said at some point in 2008 Comcast will add their channel, C&E, which will carry weather for this region. The FCC requires Comcast to carry the New York channels for this area. If there is channel space available, Comcast will put on some Philadelphia channels. If channel space becomes filled, and Comcast has to make a decision to remove some programming, they will remove Philadelphia channels, because of the obligation by the FCC to carry the New York channels. With regard to the five foreign language channels, Mr. Clifton said Comcast is obligated by Federal law to carry a channel provider if they have a strong enough signal to reach Comcast’s transmission point. If these channel providers apply for a “must carry” Comcast must carry them at the lowest level of service, which is the “Limited Basic” level, channels 2-20. He stated Comcast would not agree to a contract renewal that mandated Comcast come back to the Municipality and carry whatever the Municipality requested if there were an open space. Comcast will be moving to an all digital channel line-up within the next year and a half. Comcast has a tremendous amount of space on the digital channel line-up. On February 17, 2009, the over the air local stations will be broadcasting in digital. Those who are already a cable customer will have little or no problems enjoying their favorite programming. The Federal Government may provide coupons for those who cannot afford digital boxes. Comcast has also been discussing retransmitting the digital signal they receive back to their customers in analogue form for those who do not have digital capabilities. Comcast has a 10% discount on basic level of service for those individuals who qualify for the “Prescription for the Aged and Disabled”.
All the recommendations Committeeman Spiegel and Mr. Clifton discussed have been sent to Mr. Clifton’s Vice President. Mr. Clifton stated Comcast provides, as a standard offer to franchises here in New Jersey, one drop of free cable to each school, library, and municipally owned building. To schools and libraries they provide one internet connection to a non-network computer. The franchise the Township is considering is a cable only franchise. The franchise fee is regulated, and is currently 2%,
Mr. Spiegel asked Mr. Clifton to discuss the grant money Comcast provides for municipalities. Mr. Clifton said Comcast’s goal is to get the longest franchise term the governing body is willing to give them. Their state-wide average is 18 years. The grant money is based on the number of subscribers in the municipality, and the length of term of the franchise. Grant money is given for franchise terms of 12 years or more. Comcast calls it a “Technology Grant” however, the grant money is provided to the municipality to use as they choose. Mr. Clifton will send a proposal with the free services that were discussed, the option of a local access channel, plus the various increments in franchise terms once he gets the final figures of the number of subscribers in the municipality. This will be by the end of the year.
Questions of Mr. Clifton were opened up to the Committee.
Ms. Lenox asked if the change to digital in February of 2009 will require any different wiring on the outside of homes. Mr. Clifton responded “No”. Comcast is already finished with the changes needed.
Deputy Mayor Machnik went over the points that were discussed for clarification.
A digital channel does not necessarily mean the channel is in HD or high definition.
Mayor Tatsch opened up questions from the public.
John Seramba - 111 John Ringoes Rd.
Mr. Seramba is a member of the Cable TV Committee. He commented about the deficiency of a prior cable company, RCN, and said he feels that progress is being made.
Doug Paternoster – 20 Welisewitz Rd.
Mr. Paternoster had a question regarding High Definition channels.
Mr. Clifton responded that the high definition channels are added as contracts are negotiated with the providers. The high definition channels are then added to the digital package.
Tim Martin – Township Committee Elect member
Mr. Martin had a question about the cable card.
Mr. Clifton responded. The current cable card Comcast has is not two way. Comcast has not had any problems with the digital channels, but the card does not work for ordering Pay Preview.
Committeeman Spiegel stated that any of the cable companies can go for a state-wide franchise, which means the cable company deals directly with the homeowner.
Mr. Clifton said Comcast has had great relationships with all the municipalities that they currently operate in. The state-wide franchise is seven years in length. Comcast likes to have a longer length franchise term. The longer term benefits both Comcast, by guaranteeing them revenue for a longer length of time and better bargaining power on Wall Street, and the municipalities because Comcast can then offer grant monies and free services to the municipalities. Mr. Clifton said the reason why municipalities previously wanted a shorter franchise term was cable operators would build their system and then leave, not maintaining them properly. Comcast offers digital cable, internet service and phone service. Comcast will not let their system fall into disrepair because then they would lose all their customers, and go out of business.
Committeeman Spiegel reiterated the point that to get grant money from Comcast, the Committee will have to agree upon at least a twelve year contract.
Floyd Menchek asked if the cable franchise would be open to everyone in the Township, and how far the cable company runs a cable to the home without cost to the homeowner.
Mr. Clifton answered, that the franchise is open to everyone, and Comcast will run the cable two hundred feet without cost to the homeowner. The homeowner is responsible for the cost of the labor and materials to get the cable to the home beyond the two hundred foot mark.
Doug Paternoster asked if Comcast had any flexibility with regard to tailoring a cable line up to a municipality.
Mr. Clifton responded. Comcast has very little flexibility, because most of their contracts were either nationwide or regional-wide. Comcast’s philosophy is to standardize the line-up, with the only difference being the local access channels, or the New York or Philadelphia broadcast channels. The name change to “Comcast” on the billing and brochures would probably take place in March or April of 2008.
There being no further questions, the Mayor thanked the public for their comments. Mayor Tatsch reconfirmed that Mr. Clifton would get back to the Committee with regard to the number of subscribers and the different scenarios regarding franchise lengths and grant monies.
Mr. Clifton will request an extension in writing from the Board of Public Utilities so there would be no negative implications if negotiations continued in good faith beyond the stated deadlines.
Mayor Tatsch and Mr. Clifton exchanged thank you.
Committeewoman Linda Lenox made a motion to close the public hearing, seconded by Deputy Mayor Kathy Machnik. All in favor. The public hearing for Comcast was closed at 8:35 p.m.
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Carolyn Fritsch, Deputy Clerk Taken from Tape