As part of a citizens outreach program, El Paso County will soon have its own cable channel.The county is developing a plan with Falcon Broadband and Comcast (Adelphia) to create a cable TV channel so residents can view public meetings.”The commissioners want as many ways as possible to reach the public,” said county commissioner Sallie Clark.County and planning commission meetings are now broadcast on the Internet, but the audio and video quality is poor. Listeners miss parts of a sentence, and the video portion of the broadcast freezes unless the viewer has a high-speed modem. Clark said those problems will be eliminated under the new plan, and viewers “will get to see facial expressions, including every raised eyebrow, which can convey a lot of information about a commissioner’s feelings on an issue.”Clark said the channel will be used by all county departments. The health department will be able to update the public about the latest health concerns in the area. Commuters will be able to get information about road construction and alternative routes from the transportation department, and the sheriff’s office may decide to show photos of criminals or inform the public of recent scams.While Colorado Springs city government has been broadcasting their meetings on cable for some time, Clark said, “One good point about the county playing ‘catch up’ in this area is that we will be getting the latest equipment and technology.” She also said the county is hiring Ron Cole, who has an extensive background in broadcasting, to help with programming, but no other additional funds will be needed to purchase the cable channel.Both Falcon Broadband and Comcast buried their cables on county rights-of-way, but have not paid the county fees for that privilege. Clark said those fees may be waved in lieu of a deal to provide a cable channel to the county. Randy DeYoung, president of Falcon Broadband, said he has been working with the county on this issue for some time, and both he and Clark said they hope that contracts between the cable providers and the county will be approved by the beginning of April.
