By Town Crier Staff

Los Altos city officials are scheduled to talk with cable provider Comcast this week to set up a process to get contract negotiations moving, City Manager Phil Rose said Friday. This is the first time city officials will meet with Comcast since the company took over the city’s former cable provider AT&T last December.

The city has been negotiating since December 1999 to bring sleeker cable connections to Los Altos. Both parties are in extended, closed-door negotiations.

Without Comcast approval, community programming will not continue to air since the provider funds the money needed to operate the city’s cable programming, Rose said. The contract will determine services as well as city revenues generated from right-of-way fees. The city has been fronting the money to operate the cable program during negotiations with the anticipation of being reimbursed.

Rose said the city doesn’t expect to strike a deal at the meeting but anticipates establishing a process for both sides to follow in order to develop a contract.

The city had negotiated a contract with AT&T but cable officials failed to sign it before Comcast purchased the company, he added.

The city’s contract with KMVT could be affected by what type of contract, including revenue returns, the city negotiates with Comcast.

The city spends about $95,000 annually for studio time and operations to air seven programs on KMVT Channel 15 in Mountain View.

Some worry that the city’s lean budget and prolonged negotiations have made Los Altos cable television susceptible to the chopping block.

“It will come down to how much our city values public access for the community,” said Jeannie Conner, who has worked with Los Altos cable access for more than 10 years.