Residents to speak out over cable TV service

Date: 5/9/2014

By G. Michael Dobbs news@thereminder.com
CHICOPEE – City residents will have an opportunity to speak about their feelings on their cable television service, but Mayor Richard Kos warned there is nothing the city can do about either programming selections or pricing. It is time for the city to renew its license with Charter Communications and part of that process will be a public ascertainment hearing at 6:30 p.m. on May 12 in the City Council chambers at City Hall. Kos told Reminder Publications the current license expires on Nov. 30. He said the city has hired an attorney from Boston to advise the city in “this highly regulated and controlled area of law.” Kos said the hearing would be “an opportunity for people to talk about problems [they’ve had with Charter]; an opportunity for people to be heard.” Kos has appointed a Cable Television Advisory Committee consisting of Thomas Bardon, John Dumont, Joel McAuliffe, George Moreau, Joseph Dziok and Michael Zaskey. The group has a community survey they would like residents to fill out that is available online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/ChicopeeTV or in paper form available at the Mayor’s office, the City Clerk’s Office, the Council on Aging , the City Council office and the public library. The survey asks questions on what kind of service customers have received, the quality of the picture they receive, how problems have been resolved whether they watch public access programming and what kind of programming would they like to see on the city’s public access channels. The information will be used in the renewal of a new agreement with Charter.