Council comes to terms on new cable contract
15-year agreement calls for borough to receive 2 percent of gross receipts
BY SHERRY CONOHAN
Staff Writer
LITTLE SILVER — Red Bank Regional High School will get a television studio, compliments of Comcast, if Shrewsbury goes along with Little Silver and Red Bank in renewing its franchise with the cable television company .
The Borough Council on Monday night voted 5-0 to introduce an ordinance renewing its contract with the cable company for 15 years. Councilman Douglas E. Ryder was not at the meeting.
A public hearing on the new contract was scheduled for the council’s Nov. 3 meeting.
Borough Business Administrator Michael D. Biehl said Comcast would provide a one-time grant of $70,000 to Red Bank Regional High School for a television studio, if the three towns that the high school serves agree to a 15-year extension of their franchises. The proposal from Comcast includes channel access for the high school, he added.
Councilman Jonathan H. Bitman said Red Bank had verbally committed, but he didn’t know Shrewsbury’s plans.
The contract specifies that if all three municipalities adopt a term of 10 years for their franchise renewal, Comcast will give Bank Regional a one-time grant of $30,000 for television production equipment.
If all three municipalities adopt a term of 15 years, the grant will be $50,000 for television production equipment. It also will provide all equipment necessary for the transmission of a cable television signal from the high school to the company’s head end, and from there to cable television subscribers in the three municipalities on a dedicated governmental/educational access channel to be maintained by Comcast.
Biehl said the borough also gets a new benefit from Comcast with the franchise renewal — Internet access for the municipal offices.
The contract the council approved specifies that Comcast will provide the borough a one-time grant for cable- and technology-related needs in the amount of $20,000. Biehl said the borough was taking it in kind.
Comcast also agreed to continue to provide residents with a systemwide public access channel, maintained by the company.
The contract provides that Comcast will pay to the borough 2 percent of the gross revenues from all recurring charges in the nature of subscription fees paid by subscribers for cable television reception.
Comcast’s franchise applies to the entire borough under the contract.