IRVINE : Public Hearing Set on Cable Contract

Cable television subscribers will get one last chance Tuesday to offer their opinions on whether the City Council should renew its contract with Community Cablevision. The company’s current 15-year contract with Irvine expires in August.

The council said earlier this month that it intends to renew Community Cablevision’s contract for 13 years. By law, it must hold a final public hearing before adopting a renewal ordinance. The hearing will be held as part of the regular City Council meeting.

Under the proposed terms of the contract, the Irvine Co.-owned cable company will be required to increase the number of channels offered from 38 to 60 and increase channels to 80 by the year 2002. The proposal will also require the company to provide $650,000 during the first few years of the contract for the purchase of equipment or facilities needed to produce public education and government programs.

Community Cablevision officials have made commitments for millions of dollars worth of improvements to the cable system that would sharpen the picture and make the service more reliable. The company has been criticized for the quality of its transmission and for failures in the video when one of many picture amplifiers throughout the city fail.

Company officials will not disclose how much monthly cable service charges would increase because of the improvements and payments to the city. By federal law, the city is not allowed to regulate service fees.