Residents of North Meck and South Iredell filled the Davidson IB Middle School auditorium Thursday night for a public forum on a proposal by Mecklenburg County and five area towns to buy the former Adelphia cable system.
The towns (Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Mooresville and Troutman) have the right of first refusal to buy the television and internet access system, which is up for grabs because of the bankruptcy of Pennsylvania-based Adelphia. Time Warner Cable is currently managing the system and would own it if the towns decide against the purchase.
Speakers Thursday generally fell into one of two camps: those philosphically opposed to government ownership of the system and those (including local officials) who see the purchase as a way to improve service, control rates and expand the network’s offerings.
(Note: since the hearing, Davidson officials have posted on the town Website a collection of documents related to the proposed deal, including a fact sheet, information about BVU, the third-party company chosen to run the system if the purchase goes through, and studies by consultants about the economics of buying and running the system. Click here for the documents.) Read the rest of this entry »
