Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Cable company adding channels; nothing said about rate increase

Changes are coming for customers of the Hope-Prescott Video Company, with several more channels being added to both basic and digital cable.

Charles Launius, manager of the cable company, speaking to the Prescott City Council at its Feb. 16, meeting, began by talking about the tower the company has attempted to give to the city. He said some concern has been expressed on the city's part.

This concern was addressed by Bruce Morebeck, an attorney with Wehco Media, the parent company. Morebeck said the company has certain liabilities with the tower, which isn't being used anymore. "We thought we'd try to find someone to use it or bring it down. We can't put it on hold and need to go one way or another," he said, "but we'll take care of it."

Morebeck said all involved have the same problem, but something has to be done about it. The company, he continued, wants to eliminate its exposure with the tower and would sell it to the city for $1 and lease the land to the city while providing the money for the lease.

"We understand you have no use for the tower, so there's no use in continuing the debate," he said. "We need to clear it. We've held it open for a year. It needs to be painted right now and there is an expense in this. It amounts to a gift horse."

Morebeck said it didn't benefit the company to give the tower to the city and it wouldn't try to push it on Prescott.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the Nevada County Rescue Unit's communication problem has been resolved and he could see nothing in the foreseeable future the city could use the tower for.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission was offered the tower for communication purposes, but also declined it.

The cable company will tear the tower down.

Launius told the council about the new channels being added to both basic and digital cable. Basic cable will soon be getting Tune Disney, along with the Cartoon Network, FX, CNBC and the Financial News Network. Digital cable will see the addition of the Fox sports package, five new sports-related channels, including the Speed Channel. It will also get High Life, MBC (a black entertainment station with family-oriented programming) and Great American Country.

There will also be some changes on the premium channels, as Showtime is being dropped because it hasn't been selling. Instead, the company is adding the Starz package of 21 channels. Starz offers such programming as all westerns, true stories, and popular movies.

Launius said most of the Starz package is good family entertainment, unlike Showtime, which, he added, was going more hard core than the company liked.

However, customers will need a digital box to receive the digital channels, he said. The box, though, does more than convert the digital signal to an analog one for the average television.

The box provides a series of menus showing what's playing along with an option of being reminded when something is on the viewer wanted to see. It also has more than 40 channels of digital music and parental control, along with the ability to lock channels out. The box, he said, costs $8 a month.

There was no discussion at this time about the possibility of a rate increase for the additional channels and services.

In other business, Jon Chadwell, executive director with the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, updated the council on what's going on around town.

He said the bid for the fire station on the east side of town has been awarded, with a pre-construction conference held. The dirt work will begin when there has been a solid week of dry weather in the area.

The area has been measured, he said, and the council will have to decide how close to put an drive by the street, as there isn't a lot of room for one.

The building for Prescott Rubber, Inc., he said, is complete, with equipment being shipped in. Once the equipment is in and has been tested, the company will begin hiring. So far, 182 applications have been received for 10-12 jobs. Letters will be sent to applicants letting them know when they can formally apply for the positions.

"We've been getting calls daily about these jobs," he said.

The first part of plans for the walking/jogging trail are being finalized, he said. "I hope to have an interlocal agreement signed by the next meeting."

No site testing needs to be done for this project, he said, as the information from the Nevada County Health Unit can be used.

Drainage work is being done on the sidewalk project at this time, Chadwell said. Pipes are being installed, along with catch basins for when it rains.

A lot of interest has been expressed in the street resurfacing project as well, he said, with a number of contractors already calling to see when they can bid.

During the first week in March, he said, he will drive the streets with engineer Mike Marlar and Jay Hensley, of the Arkansas Asphalt Institute, to look at them and see what needs to be done where.

It may not be feasible to do as the city had originally planned  work in all wards at the same time  because of logistics, Chadwell said. The contractor will decide how the paving will be done, usually beginning with the areas needing the least preparation work. There are also issues of ditch work and drainage to be addressed.

A new aerial photo of the city will be taken to provide an overhead view of all the streets.

Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, said the new playground equipment has been installed and turned out better than hoped. It will be inspected by the state to make sure it meets all guidelines before the city is given the grant money.