The recent decision by Davidson and Mooresville to purchase the local cable television and internet system continues to make headlines – for both news and opinion. Thursday’s Charlotte Observer reports that the towns have approved a contract setting fees they will pay to Bristol Virginia Utilities, which they plan to hire to operate the system. Meanwhile, Davidson mayoral candidate William E. Jackson Jr. continues to argue that the cable system purchase was a mistake, most recently through a commentary published in the Aug. 17 Charlotte Business Journal.
The five-member board overseeing MI-Connection, the newly formed cable television and internet consortium, approved the contract with BVU last week. BVU will run the system serving Davidson, Mooresville, Cornelius and parts of Mecklenburg County. According to the Observer, the contract sets the fees the Davidson-Mooresville consortium will pay BVU once the consortium takes over the system in December.
Mr. Jackson’s latest newspapr commentary says the towns made a mistake in investing $75 million in “yesterday’s technology” and could hit a minefield when it comes to cable programming. He also wonders if the N.C. Local Government Commission will approve the sale of bonds to pay for the purchase.
LINKS
Aug. 17, 2007, Charlotte Business Journal, “Why Cable System Purchase Is a Mistake,” By William E. Jackson Jr. (Subscription may be required)
Aug. 23, 2007, Charlotte Observer, “Town’s credit line to pay for cable costs”
I notice that the Town is revamping Depot street to make it safer for parked cars. But, don’t you all find it interesting that the Town will not be burying the ugly and vulnerable telephone poles and exposed lines? Why? It is so expensive. Yet, the town planner and several of the commissioners, through their unbridled hubris and downright stupidity, shell out wateful dollars — thousands, even millions — on a fatuous cableTV project. Well, this fanily has just converted to satellite TV, so there one less cable TV subscriber.