DALTON, Mass. — The Cable Advisory Commission continued its efforts in negotiating a new contract with Charter Communications during its meeting on Monday evening. 

 

During the meeting, the commissioners spoke to attorney William Solomon over the phone, during which they reiterated some of their priorities during the negotiation process. 

 

These priorities include adding to the contract a 5 percent gross revenue, capital funds, funding for fiber optic cables to enhance connections, and updated equipment needed to handle this upgrade. 

 

The commission voted to recommend hiring Solomon for the negotiations. Although Solomon does not usually charge less than $225 an hour he agreed to charge the town $200 an hour for his service because he enjoys the work. 

 

 

The last time the town had a contract was in 1997 with Time Warner Cable, which was purchased by Spectrum in 2016. 

 

The 1997 contract requires that Time Warner Cable give the Dalton Community Cable Association 5 percent of the gross revenue, which is used as the operating budget 

 

In the new contract with Charter Communications, commissioners urged the need to retain this percentage.

 

Commissioners and station manager Michael Sinopoli urged the need for new equipment as the current equipment is outdated. They also requested that upgrading to high definition be included in the contract. 

 

The fact that the association is on its current coaxial cabling could be problematic because of the possible quality of the signal and high cost of upgrading, Solomon said. 

 

They would also like to have added to the contract a requirement of Charter Communications providing Dalton Community Cable Association a contact person to expedite troubleshooting. 

 

Solomon will be sending the legal services agreement draft to the town manager and commission Chair Rachel Branch. 

 

He is going to create an outline of the issues based on the commission's discussion and will also set up an additional two meetings to discuss their needs and interests.