With a new communications manager on board, the Rancho Murieta Association Communications Committee prepared Wednesday to move forward on two long-postponed projects: rebuilding the cable system and installing a new phone system. The committee also voted to replace the music channels on RMA cable with a similar service.

At the committee meeting, General Manager Nick Arther  said a request for proposals for the cable system upgrade is 80 percent complete, and joked that he and Communications Manager Paul Venturella had been working on it “since about 30 seconds after he got here.” Venturella started with the RMA staff Jan. 18.

The proposal is expected to go out to contractors between Feb. 12 and 19, with a deadline of March 8 for bids. The Communications Committee would review the bids with staff.  “Once the committee blesses one or more, then we would take that to the Finance Committee,” Arther said. If things go according to plan, the board would consider the committee recommendations and approve contracts for the cable work at its March meeting, and the project could start as early as March 22, according to Arther.

Committee member Ray Matheny makes a point as Communications Manager Paul Venturella listens.

Fixing the cable system tops the RMA board’s list of goals for 2010, and it has a completion date of Oct. 31.

“If I read the board correctly, the will is there to get this done,” RMA President Jim Moore, the committee chair, told the committee. “I think we have the votes to get this moving.”

“There is adequate money earmarked to do it,” Arther said. “... Now’s probably the best time to do it, because of the condition of the economy ...” 

RMA members make a reserve contribution for cable as part of their dues. An earlier plan to fix the system came to a halt two years ago during the controversy over making participation in the cable system optional. Since then, over $500,000 has accumulated in cable reserves. 

Arther said the request for  proposal utilizes staff input and information from a consultant’s report on the cable system that was prepared last year. “The bids will be comprehensive,” he said.  “The RFP ... is very exacting as to what we want.”

The project will upgrade the bandwidth of the system  as recommended in the consultant’s report, and contractors would have access to maps of the system included in the report. Although the consultant’s report didn’t address cable replacement, Venturella said that will be part of the project. “It is a major rebuild of the system,” he said.

Later in the meeting, the committee talked about how to deal with cable problems that will persist after the system is upgraded because of faulty equipment and wiring inside homes.  As an example, Maintenance Manager Rod Hart showed the committee about two feet of old metal cable filters. The filters were removed from two homes that recently opted out of RMA cable TV service because of poor reception. “If they’re having problems, we got to get the trust of the members back to call us and give us the opportunity to go out there and check it,” Hart said.

Some committee members pointed out that RMA’s responsibility ends with getting a good signal to the house, but Venturella disagreed.  “Their problem is our problem,” he said. “So we need to not necessarily put the burden on us to fix it at our cost, but to provide them ways to get it fixed ... If we fix the system, if they have bad fixtures, it hasn’t worked for them. ... We can’t just walk away.”

A vote for a new phone system

The committee voted unanimously to recommend spending up to $25,000 for a new telephone system for the RMA. In the discussion before the vote, Arther noted the project had been talked about “for well over 18 months.” Arther brought the committee three bids. The committee supported the staff recommendation for the one Arther said was not only the lowest, but the best because it warrants the equipment for five years. 

It’s estimated the new system will save $4,000 annually.

The recommendation will go to the board for approval at this month’s meeting.

Bringing the music back

At Venturella’s recommendation, the committee voted unanimously to replace music channels that until recently were part of  RMA digital TV cable service.  The channels disappeared because they are no longer offered by MTV, Venturella said, but  Digital Music Services offers a similar line-up for the same price.