PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Residents will have the opportunity to speak on the renewal of the city's cable television license with Spectrum. 

 

The city has less than two years left for its current 10-year contract with with Charter Communications Spectrum. For the next nine months, the newly reconstituted Cable Advisory Committee will be completing an "ascertainment" process in preparation for negotiating the new contract. 

 

During this period, the committee will conduct public hearings at which residents have the opportunity to express their concerns regarding their cable services. This process will need to be completed by the end of September next year.

 

Issues such as internet service and access to certain channels -- such as out of Boston -- are not part of the contract under the current status of the law and cannot be directly addressed by the contract.  

 

"The only things that will be written directly into the contract will be things about video service, which would be things like cable TV, and everything related to cable TV, including apps that deliver cable TV service, multichannel video service, rental of cable boxes, customer service, anything like that. Those are all fair game," said committee member Shawn Serre, executive director of Pittsfield Community Television.  

 

"But if you want to negotiate things about the internet, or phone service, or the things that the cable company provides, even though they're over the same wires that are strung throughout the city and underneath the sidewalks, that's generally a no-go."

 

Spectrum will put forward a contract proposal, however, the committee may reach out ahead of that to address some of the issues residents bring up.

 

"The roles of this committee have changed since it was first created in the '70s. The ability of the local communities has been constrained since then," City Solicitor Stephen Pagnotta said. 

 

 "This committee, this municipality is not without power to negotiate items on a cable contract, but it doesn't have the power it had and '70s and '80s." 

 

Cable Advisory Committee voted to invite someone from the state Department of Telecommunications and Cable to a future meeting to provide their perspective on the contract. 

 

It also voted to appoint a subcommittee consisting of a Shawn Serre to work with the City Council and city solicitor to do research into the cost and scope of legal counsel to help with the negotiations with Spectrum.

 

The committee will vote on whether moving forward with legal counsel is worth pursuing based on Serre's report.

 

Pagnotta said he had reached out to attorneys who specialize in these types of contracts and got a rough cost estimate from one of $7,000 to $14,000.

 

"This type of a contract is important. As well as having sufficient knowledge about this contract and other contracts throughout the commonwealth, [specialized legal counsel] will allow this committee to have a better understanding of the points, the pressure points if you will, that can be put on the cable company, what items that may not necessarily be required to be in a contract could be included," Pagnotta said. "So there is, I think, great value in having somebody available."

 

The committee also elected Sarah Hathaway as the new chair and set the next meeting for Jan. 12 at 6 p.m.