Cable deal ready
Published on April 9th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - Town selectmen could vote and sign into law a ten-year agreement to establish an independent non-profit PEG access corporation as early as next Tuesday.
Although officials planned on signing the agreement at last night's selectmen meeting, town counsel Bill Solomon, the author of the comprehensive agreement, requested that the board delay its vote so that the town's finance and advisory board could comment on the agreement.
"I did speak with the finance chair and with the approval of this board I've made arrangements to go over this with the finance and advisory board," said Solomon. "I'd like to postpone your vote to next Tuesday, that way the finance committee would get their opportunity for full deliberation and input," he added before the selectmen voted unanimously to grant his request.
According to the agreement's newest draft, the town would provide $580,000 to the newly formed corporation thirty days after both parties sign the contract. Of that money, $420,000 of those funds would be provided for access facilities and equipment. In addition, the town will provide 4.5% of the monies the town receives on a semi-annual basis from its licensed cable service provider, currently Comcast or MediaOne, Inc. Although the town will provide the funding for the corporation, it will not have direct control over the independent entity.
In return for receiving that semi-annual funding, the newly formed business, to be called Stoneham Community Access, Inc.(SCA), will provide access programming, services, equipment, and facilities for the town's public access, educational access, and governmental access channels. Specifically, the organization would have a primary responsibility to draft user policies, acquire and maintain equipment, and assist in the production and post-production of the public access programming.
Although Stoneham will retain control over the government channel and education channel, the corporation would also aid users of the two stations in the production of programming, and acquire the equipment/facilities needed to maintain the town owned channels. The agreement also includes a provision that could temporarily transfer the responsibility of running the town's two stations to SCA. In return, the company would be appropriated an additional _% funding for operating each channel.
Unveiling a first draft of the proposal last Wednesday night at a special selectmen meeting, Solomon reviewed the terms of the agreement and listened to some of the concerns of attending selectmen. Leading the pack in offering advice, selectmen Charlie Smith expressed his concern over what equipment the corporation should be responsible for maintaining. Saying that the corporation should receive the ownership of any town property such as cameras, studio equipment, and other related items, Smith argued that the town should turn over those assets to the corporation to protect the Stoneham's interests.
"That way if the snake breaks, you fix it," reasoned Smith, suggesting that because the corporation shall assume responsibility for maintaining and updating all its production equipment, transferring town owned property to the business will obligate the company to repair and maintain that equipment as well.
Nodding in immediate agreement, Solomon has included in the newest draft agreement provisions to transfer all current town-owned equipment to the corporation.
"You know that's a good point," responded Solomon. "I'll put a provision in the agreement. Let's give them ownership of what's downstairs (at town hall)...but of course they'll have the maintenance responsibility," said Solomon.
Although he did not attend either of the last two meetings discussing the agreement, Stoneham resident John DeGeorge echoed similar concerns over the properties and equipment acquired under the agreement. Specifically, DeGeorge, who has expressed his concern over the proposed corporation at selectmen meetings in months past, questioned what would happen to properties acquired by the company if the town decided to terminate its contract.
"I can see the legal ramifications if we owned all the equipment...I would sway with Solomon on that point. But I still feel strongly that any capital building should be owned by us and leased to the corporation so the town can get some revenue," said DeGeorge.
While the agreement does not contain any language concerning the lease of buildings, Solomon has added clauses to the newest draft that would obligate the corporation to return back to Stoneham all assets it acquires in the event of the dissolution of SCA or the termination of the agreement. Related to the ownership of any studios, Solomon also included provisions requiring that the access studio be located in Stoneham and be open to the general public for at least forty-hours per week.
Listing other changes made to the agreement, Solomon also outlined the process through which the corporation's board of directors would be hired. Specifically, the town attorney has included language that would allow the board of selectmen, the school committee, and the town's chamber of commerce to each appoint one member to the board.
That specific clause also stems from a suggestion by Smith last week that the selectmen and other town authorities appoint all members of the board of directors. Solomon, who suggested that the board of directors elect future board of directors, cautioned that allowing town departments to appoint directors could hurt Stoneham down the road.
"They're going to get in trouble and they're going to say, we're a town entity and we don't want that liability," explained Solomon.
To prevent the corporation from making that claim, the agreement explicitly states that, "directors selected as provided herein are not, and shall not be deemed to be, municipal officials or employees for any purposes, and they shall have no obligation...to the entity which appointed them."
Saying that the agreement would represent one of the most detailed PEG contracts in the commonwealth, Solomon also urged selectmen to trust in the protections the document has provided to protect the town. Included in those protections are required annual reports, annual performance meetings, performance evaluation hearings, and independent reviews by third parties and independent contractors that would confirm to the selectmen whether the corporation lives up to its agreement.
"You don't want to micromanage this too much," warned Solomon. "If the board thinks something is unreasonable, we can tell them," he added.
Despite those assurances, DeGeorge hopes that the board will take a step back and fully and adequately review the document.
"I know this thing has been in the works for a long time and I can't understand why the agreement wasn't in place last January. At the same time, I don't understand why you would rush it when it's already so late. You should give the selectmen time to look over it first," said DeGeorge.
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