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January 2, 2004
Eagle West bankrupt
By MARK WAITE Commissioners sympathized with Eagle West Manager James F. "Pete" Collins, who told commissioners the company was in bankruptcy and in the process of being sold. Eagle West acquired the cable franchise originally granted to Black Rock Cable to provide cable television service on a countywide basis in 1999. That franchise expired Nov. 8. In addition, Eagle West holds a franchise agreement originally granted to Tonopah TV Incorporated, for service within Tonopah, and which doesn't expire until March 2006. The company requested, and was granted, an extension to the countywide franchise agreement to expire at the same time as the Tonopah agreement in three years. "All of the Eagle West LLC cable systems are currently being sold and another request to transfer these franchises to the new owners will be forthcoming during the next few months," Collins wrote to the county commission in asking for the extension. Collins said Eagle West has had a Chapter 11 reorganization plan in place since February. "We now have an offer on the table for a company that wants to come in and buy this system from us as an individual system," Collins said. He mentioned the new owners run the cable television system in Laughlin, Clark County Cablevision. A representative of Clark County Cablevision said their parent company was based in Dallas, Texas and he didn't know anything about the plans. Collins said he had talks with the Pahrump and Tonopah town boards and didn't have a response from either before the Nov. 8 expiration date. Commissioners from northern Nye County indicated they heard frequent complaints about cable service, but elected to grant Eagle West the extension to aid in the company's sale. "I get nothing but calls of complaints from residents of Tonopah regarding the service provided by your company," Commissioner Joni Eastley said. However, Eastley added, "If we don't approve this request and the sale doesn't go through, there will no longer be cable television in Tonopah and as poor as it is, and as poor as the service delivery is, we will be denying that entertainment to the elderly in the town I live in." Collins said, "We get a lot of complaints from Tonopah, Pahrump and other systems we own. Because of our financial constraints we can't do anything other than just maintain the status quo under the bankruptcy laws. We have no capital dollars to spend, so what we're doing is maintaining as best we can the systems' performance based on the people and money we have." Commissioner Roberta "Midge" Carver complained Eagle West decided to cut service to Smoky Valley two years ago, giving three months notice to local residents. Carver said many local residents there don't have the money to buy satellite systems. "I understand we've created some hardship on some people and we don't like to do that," Collins said. Commissioner Patricia Cox questioned why the board was approving a two-year extension if residents were getting inadequate service. "Why not get someone to come in and give you adequate services?" she asked. But Commission Chairman Henry Neth seemed to agree with Eastley. "It's obvious to me the extension of the franchise makes the cable television company more attractive to a prospective buyer," Neth replied. Collins noted the franchise agreements are 20 years old and should be updated with the new cable television providers. Collins said Eagle West, based in Mesa, Ariz., operates cable systems in 29 communities in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. |
