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NORWAY -- The Norway City Council opted Monday not to sign a five-year agreement with Viacom Inc. and the National Cable Television Cooperative that would have raised prices.
The city was notified in August the two companies had set higher membership prices for popular channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount. The new agreement would have cost Norway residents 8 to 12% more for cable rates in the future.
Instead, the city hopes to provide low-cost alternatives with similar content to replace a number of channels.
"We have to hold our costs," council member Lee Meneghini said. "If we can't give our customers a good value and service, we shouldn't be in the business."
In other business, the council:
-- Contributed $4,500 toward electrical upgrades to the Norway band shell. The Norway Downtown Development Authority contracted G. Brooks Electric of Kingsford to provide the upgrades for $9,000. The project is expected to be finished by Oct. 11.
-- Approved a second addendum to a contract with Astrea, which recently changed its name from Packerland Broadband. The addendum covers the cost for Astrea to host and transport various channels for the Norway cable system. The monthly service charge will cost the city $600 as well as $5.25 per digital channel transmission.
During mayor and council comments, Mayor Candy Brew reiterated a statement made by City Manager Ray Anderson at the Sept. 9 council meeting on $38,000 of electrical work done at the Dickinson County Fairgrounds just outside Norway city limits.
"It was an upgrade to our system," Brew said, adding, "The fairgrounds are our lines and our responsibilities."
Brew also commented on the city's $34.6 million debt, $12.3 million of which is underfunded pensions.
"This debt didn't happen overnight," Brew said. "As the council sits here today -- we've been down here for almost two years, in November -- I'm very proud to say we did not add anything to the city's debt."
Almost 60 percent of the city's debt is utility-related, Anderson said. He likened the debt to home mortgage loans. The city finances infrastructure upgrade projects through rural development bonds at low interest rates rather than put money aside to pay in full, Anderson said.
"I want people to know our bond rating in our electric, in our general fund, is an A-plus," Brew said. "A-plus is the best you can get."