LAKEPORT >> An ordinance establishing a fee for Mediacom customers to help fund the Lake County Public, Education and Government, or PEG, channel was approved by the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
The station broadcasts on Channel 8 for Mediacom customers.
The first reading of the ordinance was originally heard during the board’s Dec. 16 meeting, and garnered a 3-2 vote. District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock and District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown dissented, citing that Mediacom customers had no choice.
During the Jan. 6 meeting of the board, a second reading was postponed in order to allow newly elected District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele to familiarize himself with the issue.
The fee, which amounts to 1 percent of gross revenues from franchise holders, will be used for capital costs of the PEG station only, as it cannot be used for operation costs by law.
An estimated $70,000 will be generated by the fee. Total projected revenues for the PEG station is estimated at $88,500, with expenses estimated at $88,850, according to the PEG budget, which was unanimously approved on Dec. 16.
According to PEG Board of Directors Chair Ed Robey, the first purchases made with the money will be camera systems for the Lakeport and Clearlake city council chambers.
However, Robey said the station isn’t expecting to see any of the money generated by the fee until August.
During previous discussions, concerns regarding broadcast policies had been expressed by the board.
According to County Counsel Anita Grant, policies of other PEG stations have been too restrictive, but never resulted in the station losing their PEG status.
“A PEG station should avoid anything that is content based in terms of access requirements,” Grant said.
Although broadcast regulations under the FCC are not applicable to PEG stations, generally they follow the same protocol, Grant said.
“The station should be sure that they are ‘content neutral,’” Grant continued. If the station is not content neutral, it’s policies should be amended to become so.
And example Grant offered involved airtime for political candidates, citing each candidate should be given equal time when running for office. However, a PEG station should not allow any endorsement, or broadcasts that can be construed in such a way.
Contact J. W. Burch, IV at 900-2022.
