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TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1998 <br /> <br />Mr. Doug Johnston, a Henry County Resident, stated his confidence in the Henry County Board of ,, <br /> <br />Supervisors and the County Administrator. He went on to state that he estimated annual revenues to: <br />Adelphia from the Martinsville-Henry County community at $6,103,270 per year, and that this estimate did <br />not include revenue from other sources such as pager services, advertising, etc. Mr. Johnston went on to <br />state his frustration that in spite of these revenues from local customers Adelphia had no local telephone <br />number for customer service and that only one local bank accepted cable service payments. Mr. Johnston also <br />noted that Adelphia itself is "franchise free", in that they actually pass on the cost of the franchise fee to their <br />customers, and have had a free ride with no incentive to improve their system or service to the customers. He <br />suggested that the City and County were acting as if their hands were tied on the renewal, but they could <br />exercise their power by granting only a one-year renewal. Mr. Johnston then observed that Adelphia :had lied <br />to the local public before, about the removal of the High Point, North Carolina, station that had beenon <br />channel 8, by 'stating that the F. C. C. had forced them to remove it. He stated that he had contacted the F. C. <br />C., and they had told him this action was taken strictly at the discretion of Adelphia. Mr. Johnston stated that <br />a legal penalty could be applied if the franchise were not renewed and Adelphia chose to continue to operate, <br />and closed by saying that the site selection of the new Henry County Courthouse by the former Board of <br />Supervisors had been that group' s downfall, and that the current Board should be careful not to let this issue <br />be theirs. <br /> <br />lli <br /> <br />Mr. Robert F. Bell, of Ridgeway, Virginia, stated that everyone should be aware that the U. S. Congress had <br /> <br />taken away the local government' s rights to regulate cable companies, and that the local governments should <br />not be blamed for the limitations on their authority in this area. He stated that cable customers still needed to <br /> <br />protest the outrageous increases in cable rates during the last few years, and noted that rates had ingreased <br /> <br />more than 20% in the last eighteen months. Mr. Bell reiterated that his complaints were not directed at the <br />local Adelphia office, but instead at the corporate office, where rate decisions are made. He went ion to state <br /> <br /> <br />