Will
RM get Kings
channel? RMA board will weigh costs and decide
::
Related coverage: RMA facing
10 percent dues increase in 2007 (October 7, 2006)
Published
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The Rancho
Murieta Association Finance Committee recommended approval
for digital cable TV channel contracts Thursday, but left
the three-year contract for Comcast SportsNet -- the Kings
channel -- for the RMA board to decide at Tuesday's
board meeting.
The
Comcast contract requires SportsNet to be part of basic
cable service and doesn't include a 30-day cancellation
clause.
The
monthly cost per subscriber would be about $2, making
it one of the more expensive channels, along with the
Disney Channel and ESPN, that RMA members pay for through
their dues. The channel would start airing Nov. 1 if
the contract is approved.
It was pointed out at the meeting that the most
expensive channel in RMA basic cable is ESPN, which costs
$3.67 per subscriber.
Two years ago, the board decided not
to enter into a 10-year contract for SportsNet after the
Finance Committee recommended against it and the Communications
Committee voted in favor of adding it.
At
Thursday's
meeting, Justin Jordan, a member of the current Communications
Committee until recently, said the issue in 2004 was the 10-year duration of
the contract, not the pricing.
"I believe a lot of people would like to
get the Kings on basic cable," said Jordan, who is currently a contractor
for RMA broadband. "It's an important part
of building this system into something people want."
Finance
Committee member Frank Pumilia agreed that the Kings
games would be "great
to have" in the basic cable line-up, while resident
John Weatherford said adding the channel would serve "the
few at the cost of the many."
The terms of the contract
require the channel to be available as part of basic cable.
The
contracts are for the new digital programming the RMA will
offer next year. Digital programming is an integral part
of a plan the association has adopted to upgrade the cable
system and offer more services.
Director Chris Pedersen,
who chairs the Finance Committee, suggested the committee
approve the contracts that have a 30-day cancellation clause
and send the Comcast contract to the board without making
a recommendation.
Pedersen
also said he would bring a discrepancy between the number
of RMA members – 2,320 – and
the 1,954 figure used as the subscriber base for cable
TV to the board's
attention. The issue was raised by Finance Committee member
Bobbi Belton. Wilbur Haines, who attended the meeting,
suggested doing an internal analysis to validate the numbers.
Jordan
said the numbers reflect a distinction between actual viewership
and the number of homes the cable passes.
The
discrepancy is not explained by the remaining unbuilt
lots, which number fewer than 100.
The committee also discussed
the Oct. 3 budget workshop that resulted in a proposed
dues increase of 10 percent, more than double what was
proposed in preliminary budgets.
The
CC&Rs allow the
board to increase dues up to 20 percent without a membership
vote.
In
past years, department budgets have undergone scrutiny
during the budget workshop. This year, the board spent
most of the workshop on cable issues. The directors not
only didn't challenge items in the department budgets,
they added $10,000 for contract services for recreation
in the final minutes of the workshop, although the request
hadn't been reviewed by the Finance Committee or
requested in the preliminary budget.
At
Thursday's
meeting, the Finance Committee began a belated questioning
of budget items that prompted Haines to suggest holding "a
post-mortem" after
the budget is approved.
If
we need to start saving money, we need to start looking
at where the spending is, said committee member Donna
McLeod, who indicated her focus would be on employee
benefits and wages.
Referring
to the loss of development-related fees, Pedersen said "the
gravy train has stopped" and people need to know
the financial impact of slowed growth.
"It's
nice to have a pristine area out here, but then you have
to pay for it," rermarked committee member Frank
Pumilia.
The
committee did not consider last-minute budget requests
Director Julie Sams has made for funding for a CC&R
review and a comprehensive survey and map of the community.
