Source: Union-News (Springfield, MA)
Author: RICHARD NADOLSKI
GOSHEN, MA – The company chosen to provide cable television service to Goshen and Chesterfield has balked at the price of rental space for its satellite dish on a county-owned tower.
Barbara Striebert, a representative for Amrac Cable Co. of Waltham, said yesterday that $6,000 is too great a price to pay annually to rent “10-feet of vertical space” on the 180-foot tower which is located next to the town’s fire station.
“We can put up our own tower, buy it, ship it, put up the foundation and install it for $9,000. Would you as a businessman pay $6,000 to rent it?” asked Striebert.
The $6,000 figure was put forth by the Hampshire County Commission’s executive committee two weeks ago. At that time, Striebert told the commissioners that her company would agree to a $1,200 annual rental. Striebert said yesterday that she received a letter from the county which appeared to be an attempt at bargaining, although no counter offer was made.
Hampshire County Planner Geoffrey Rogers said yesterday that he researched the cost of such a rental in the area to determine the fee that was offered to the cable company.
He said the state Department of Environmental Management has a tower on which space is rented at $2,500 a year per frequency. Amrac would use eight frequencies, Rogers said, indicating that the charge could be construed as a bargain under those circumstances.
The argument that the cable company rental should not be compared to a radio station’s since the cable company would make less money is not applicable, Rogers said.
Amrac has argued that it must keep costs down because the per-subsciber cost of delivering cable service to a residence in Goshen or Chesterfield is much greater because the area is rural and less dense.
“The space is worth an X amount of dollars. Just because you’re not making as much doesn’t mean it’s not worth the price,” Rogers said.
Having said that, Rogers agreed that there was room to bargain on the price and commissioners were open to proposals.
Selectman Harold Mollison said he doesn’t care where the tower goes and advised Striebert of a few places in town where she could construct a tower.
He said that there wasn’t enough room at the tower to also lease land for four satellite dishes and a building for the company’s dead-end site. The company receives the signal at that site.