Updated May 17, 5:30 p.m.

The New York federal judge overseeing the Adelphia cable bankruptcy case has finally told Davidson and other area towns how much it would cost to buy the local cable TV and Internet system.

The long-awaited ruling starts a 30-day countdown for Davidson, Cornelius, Mooresville and Troutman, which plan a series of public hearings next week on the proposed purchase.

The cable system has been in limbo because of the 2002 bankruptcy of Adelphia Communications. Time Warner Cable, which has been operating the cable system temporarily, would like to keep it. But the towns have the right of first refusal to buy the system under their contracts with Adelphia.

PRICE NO SURPRISE

The price — $3,810 per subscriber – is the maximum the towns had expected, according to officials from Cornelius and Mooresville interviewed Thursday. It matches what Time Warner says it paid when it acquired most of Adelphia’s assets last year with partner Comcast.

“$3,810 is the number the consortium has used all along when doing their financial modeling,” said Cornelius Town Manager Anthony Roberts. “The financial models work with that number.”

Time Warner has been managing the 10,730-subscriber system temporarily and would take over permanently if the towns don’t buy.

TOWNS SEE OPPORTUNITY

The four-town consortium is actually smaller than a group of local governments that started out looking at the purchase proposal last year. Huntersville, with the largest number of subscribers, has opted out of the deal. And with Huntersville out, Mecklenburg County also has decided to stay on the sidelines.

Some Huntersville town board members agreed with critics of the proposal, who have argued that local government should stay out of the cable business.

But officials in Davidson and the other three towns see an opportunity in the deal. They believe they can provide better service, keep prices down and upgrade the system more quickly than a large company would.

Upgrading the system could be especially important for economic development: Increased system capacity for Internet access could help the Lake Norman area towns lure businesses that have stayed away in the past because of inadequate network access.

“We think we owe it to the citizens of Cornelius, and I’m sure the other towns feel the same way, to take a hard look at this and determine can we provide a better product. I think we can,” said Mr. Roberts, the Cornelius manager.

THIRD-PARTY MANAGER

The towns met Monday night in Mooresville to talk about details of their cooperation. Frank Rader, a Mooresville commissioner, said the group has both a financing proposal and an interlocal agreement ready to go.

The interlocal agreement spells out how the towns would cooperate and share revenues and expenses.

The financing package, meanwhile, would involve a bond offering underwritten by Bank of America, with advisory help from First Southwest Corp., an investment advisor in Mooresville, Mr. Rader said.

The towns also plan to hire Bristol Virginia Utilities to run the system. BVU, as it is called, has experience operating a publicly-owned cable system in Bristol, Va., and has been helping the towns study the purchase proposal.

Some critics of the idea of government-owned cable have predicted that the purchase will be a failure, and that taxpayers would end up footing the bill.

But Mr. Rader said he believes all the pieces are in place to make the deal work, without extra help from taxes.

“The nice thing is that subscribers are paying for it. If you’re not a subscriber, you’re not paying,” Mr. Rader said.

PUBLIC HEARINGS

A series of public hearings on the purchase is scheduled in the towns over the next two weeks. Cornelius will set a firm date next week, according to Mr. Roberts. Here’s the schedule:

Davidson Town Hall, Tuesday, May 22, 7 p.m.
Mooresville Town Hall, Wednesday, May 23, 7 p.m.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Troutman, Thursday, May 24, 7 p.m.
Cornelius Town Hall, Monday, June 4, 7 p.m. (TENTATIVE)