DALTON, Mass. — As the Cable Advisory Commission works to update its contract with Charter Communications, questions have arisen about whether the town can recover the unpaid capital costs from the past four decades.

 

"They have been benefiting from operating in our town for 40 years," commission Chair Richard White said.

 

The commission was re-established to negotiate a new contract with Charter Communications.

The last time the town had a contract was in 1997 with Time Warner Cable, which was purchased by Spectrum in 2016. It met on Monday, though the meeting agenda was not posted on the town website.

 

"Here in Dalton, they have an excellent program, but their last license where they got capital was signed in 1997. So, they haven't had capital for a while, which is an issue," the town's attorney William Solomon said. 

 

White, who has been on the commission for a number of years, thought concerns about the unpaid capital costs were raised to a Spectrum representative but that nothing ever came of it. 

 

According to Solomon, whether the town can reclaim these costs is unclear, because the cable company may claim the statute of limitations has passed for some of the payments. 

 

Additionally, the ability to reclaim those costs depends on what documents are available and how the franchise agreement defines capital costs and obligations.

 

The commission plans to meet with a Charter Communications representative in October to negotiate the new 10-year license contract which will include Public, Educational, and Governmental capital, capital contributions, franchise fees, connections, and other items to be negotiated to help meet Dalton Community Cable Association's needs. 

 

The public access channel is in its fourth decade broadcasting on topics including public interest, education, local news, and local sports. 

 

On Dec. 31, 2024, the subscriber number was 1,288. The number of subscribers, like many public access companies, is impacted by streaming services, as well as Charter related issues. 

 

The commission intends on having a public hearing to engage the community, including students, seniors, and local businesses to discuss and show support for local cable access programming and the needs of the community, Solomon said. 

 

Included in its discussion with Charter, the town intends on demonstrating the station's needs and how it has been neglected over the last few decades. 

 

"The bottom line is there are great capital needs at this facility because of the fact that it's been ignored for whatever reason for so long. We got to catch up here, and we have to upgrade technology substantially," said Henry "Terry" Williams III, interim town manager. 

 

Where the station is at is unbelievable, and it is time to bring it up to the 21st century, he said. The commission developed a capital plan for the station and is ascertaining other ideas on ways to address its needs, which will be completed by Sept. 30. 

 

The station has been making do with obsolete equipment, including a modulator that is no longer being made. 

 

"They do not make this equipment anymore. So, when these last two go, we scraped up two on our own, because they don't make them and when I called Spectrum, they said they can't do nothing for me. That was my concern," station manager Michael Sinopoli said.

 

The station's outdated equipment limits it to standard definition and a 4-by-3 aspect ratio, while new televisions are high definition with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

 

Initially, Time Warner Cable provided the modulator, then at some point the station had to buy its own from eBay because the company wouldn't pay for it, Commissioner John Ostresh said. 

 

Additionally, the station's internet connection is very slow and not sufficient for streaming for modern broadcasting needs. 

 

There are also issues with connectivity to other important locations, such as the Senior Center and schools, which affects the ability to broadcast from those sites.