Pittsfield Cable Committee to Begin Gathering Input on Spectrum ContractBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:45AM / Friday, June 02, 2023 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The ascertainment process for the Spectrum contract renewal is soon to begin.
Last week, the Cable Advisory Committee reviewed a draft plan for gathering public input and advocating for residents' cable needs. Pittsfield's 10-year contract ends in September 2024 and it is recommended that the negotiations take place over 12 months.
The hope is to meet with a school focus group June and a city government focus group in July.
Pittsfield Community Television will provide its capital plan by the end of July and the panel will request Spectrum's initial proposal in late June or early July. Once the initial proposal is reviewed, they can present and discuss it with the general public.
PCTV's Executive Director Shawn Serre suspects that Spectrum's proposal may not be delivered until the middle of the ascertainment process, so the schedule is a draft.
"I feel like we felt anxious for the last couple of months and we didn't need to feel anxious because it's kind of a hurry up and wait situation," Chair Sara Hathaway said.
The commission will discuss the focus group findings at its next meeting on July 20.
Shortly before the meeting, attorney William Solomon provided materials on how to make the meeting productive. Hathaway said that the groups need to understand they are not being handed a budget.
"We are putting together a capital plan that would be implemented with PCTV as part of our planning process," she explained.
Serre added that the panel needs to formulate questions that can lead to decent input from representatives of the school and city government with room for them to express what they would like to do with cable and public access.
To stay within the bounds of the Open Meeting Law, members will review Solomon's suggestions and submit comments directly to Hathaway so that questions can be written for the focus groups.
"The input that I've had so far is we're supposed to look back at how it's been used in the past, but also look forward how people would like to use it in the future," Hathaway said, pointing to Taconic High School's new video production CTE program.
To secure an agreement that meets the needs of the wider community, there will be a dedicated hearing for the general public, Pittsfield Public Schools, government, and for Pittsfield Community Television. This is targeted for September through November.
The committee was reconstituted last year for the contract renewal and in February, recommended Solomon as the legal counsel at a rate of $200 per hour.
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