Cable Repairs/Analysis

[Zebra Top]

I am really trying to figure out the logic of the Finance Committee on this.

RMA cable opt-outs top 300 and have 'really slowed' | RanchoMurieta.com -- Rancho Murieta news, homes, golf, forums and people

Rod Hart has requested the Finance Committee reconsider its recommendation to waiting until the Perigine Analysis to approve funds to replace the copper cable buried in the ground with cable that's in conduit.

During the meeting, Hart asked the committee to reconsider waiting for a pending report on the cable system before recommending using cable reserves to replace old copper cable buried in the ground with cable that’s in conduit. “There are certainly people, particularly on Puerto … that don’t have great signal that are anticipating those replacements,” Hart said. He added that some problems have been fixed “at least temporarily.”

The response from the Finance Committee Chair is that we know it needs to be replaced, but we want to wait until Peregine confirms it before we fund the replacement.

“Well, that will be at the top of the list when those people come out,” said RMA Director Andy Keyes, the committee chair. “We’re going to say we already know these are problem areas and we want you to confirm that, and we can, I’d say, fast-track that. Because the last thing I would like to see us do is lose the entire Puerto area.”

Ok, we know, I would assume we have records, the repairs/replacements we have made to date since we received the prior Perigine Analysis. We know the work that still needs to be accomplished. Hence, the replacement of the copper cable with cable that is in conduit. What is the purpose of the new analysis? To tell us what we already know? Why are we waiting to be told what we already know before we continue replacing the copper cable?

The decisions being made by the BOD, Finance Committee, Communications Committee, and the ad Hoc Committee, on this issue, defy logic to me.

What are your thoughts?

[Matthew]

The fear of spending money on the cable system is one reason some areas are so bad in the first place. We should continue to spend money to maintain the system.

Simply letting the system deteriorate because we don't know the future of the cable system is not the answer. We know certain things must be done just to keep the system up an running. The money is already allocated and the guy you put in charge says he needs to spend some of it. Let Rod do his job.

[Zebra Top]

I agree Matthew. And I would actually agree with the committees, to a point, if we were unsure of the future of the cable system. However, they have come around 180 degrees, at least in what they proclaim, regarding the future of the system. That is what I don't get. I also don't understand the need for an analysis of a system when they know exactly where we are. That strikes me as odd.

[Wilbur]

I am not fully up to speed on this issue b/c it's in the other 2 committees' purview, but I understand one thing to be pursued with peregrine is what are the long term costs of chasing bad coax - a bottomless pit - and what are the alternatives to our transmission quality problems. One possibility which has been floated but not yet costed out is going wireless with the WIMAX technology which rides the 3G network which will acquire much of the bandwith freed up by the digital TV transition.

What is WiMax? — WIMAX

Copper coax is a dead end, we have miles of it still direct buried and rotting, and we have never really confronted the true cost of really fixing it, which may very well be well into seven figures. I think part of the reasoning is to hold off for the couple of months it will take to determine whether it is even feasible to jump to a new, lower maintenance technology at a capital cost comparable to or even less than the cost of chasing coax problems for the next decade or whatever, which is a huge component of what we spend aside from programming costs.

If we're sure we're going to stick with our copper coax addiction I'd say fix that bad Puerto stretch tomorrow. I don't understand why it wasn't done last year, in fact. But with new consultant guidance on system maintenance prioritization coming within a couple of months I can understand the choice to wait a couple of months longer rather than spend it now and learn in July that wasn't the best use of those dollars.

Edit: and Z, I'm not sure we know where we are. These are very fast-moving technologies. Peregrine knows things they didn't know 2-3 years ago. All we know is what they told us 2-3 years ago. The costs of things and industry best practices constantly evolve. What we've been doing in the past hasn't exactly been a roaring success. RMA's now in a different relationship with its customers. As many have said, Fon most sharply, we need a business plan, a clear forecast of costs, a sober evaluation of alternatives, rather than just merrily persisting in what hasn't been working very well. If there ever was a time to reconsider all assumptions, recheck all figures, etc., this is it.

[wyattg]

Since we are talking about repairs. Anyone know why on the corner of Guadalupe & Pera there is a coax cable running from a cable box along the Street Gutter to another cable box on Pera. Is this because no funds have been released? Either way, it needs to be fixed because it could cause a trip hazard and it can not be good for the longevity of the cable.

[feistylady]

In the other thread DB talks about previous Boards not funding the maintenance and repairs of the cable system for years which caused such bad reception and people being so disgruntled. Here we go again. I totally agree with Z and Matt about this. I'm glad to see that the gang have moved away from their rhetoric of wanting to kill the system, but holding off on repairing the Puerto area makes NO sense to me considering what has happened in the past. The people in this area deserve to have good reception like the rest of us do, don't they?

[Zebra Top]

Originally Posted by Wilbur

I am not fully up to speed on this issue b/c it's in the other 2 committees' purview, but I understand one thing to be pursued with peregrine is what are the long term costs of chasing bad coax - a bottomless pit - and what are the alternatives to our transmission quality problems. One possibility which has been floated but not yet costed out is going wireless with the WIMAX technology which rides the 3G network which will acquire much of the bandwith freed up by the digital TV transition.

What is WiMax? — WIMAX

Copper coax is a dead end, we have miles of it still direct buried and rotting, and we have never really confronted the true cost of really fixing it, which may very well be well into seven figures. I think part of the reasoning is to hold off for the couple of months it will take to determine whether it is even feasible to jump to a new, lower maintenance technology at a capital cost comparable to or even less than the cost of chasing coax problems for the next decade or whatever, which is a huge component of what we spend aside from programming costs.

If we're sure we're going to stick with our copper coax addiction I'd say fix that bad Puerto stretch tomorrow. I don't understand why it wasn't done last year, in fact. But with new consultant guidance on system maintenance prioritization coming within a couple of months I can understand the choice to wait a couple of months longer rather than spend it now and learn in July that wasn't the best use of those dollars.

Edit: and Z, I'm not sure we know where we are. These are very fast-moving technologies. Peregrine knows things they didn't know 2-3 years ago. All we know is what they told us 2-3 years ago. The costs of things and industry best practices constantly evolve. What we've been doing in the past hasn't exactly been a roaring success. RMA's now in a different relationship with its customers. As many have said, Fon most sharply, we need a business plan, a clear forecast of costs, a sober evaluation of alternatives, rather than just merrily persisting in what hasn't been working very well. If there ever was a time to reconsider all assumptions, recheck all figures, etc., this is it.

I believe we know exactly where we are. Does the community even desire the latest and the greatest or do they only desire a reliable system for a reasonable cost?

[Wilbur]

A little history, for perspective:


RMA says cable conversion is on target as it releases new station lineup

Published July 20, 2007

[Corrected July 22] The Rancho Murieta Association board of directors has extended the changeover of RMA cable TV premium channels like HBO and Showtime from analog to digital broadcast to July 31 because there is a backlog of subscribers waiting to be switched over to the new service.
On Wednesday, the RMA announced it will launch the new services in August (2007-ed.) after the premium channels are converted. The new services include a high-definition package with ESPN, Golf Channel, Discovery Channel, Food Network and HGTV and an expanded digital package with approximately 56 channels offering sports, family and music channels.

The board approved the expenditure of $200,000 from reserves last year to replace failing cable on the North and upgrade the system to accommodate digital programming, and a similar expenditure was budgeted for this year.
****************


RMA approves spending $95,000 for cable system

Published August 29, 2007

News from the August Rancho Murieta Association board meeting:

• The debate about improving the cable system continued, with the board spending almost $95,000.

The board approved spending $61,350 from reserves for cable improvements as part of Phase 2 of a multi-year plan for the cable system. The plan was approved last year, ending years of board indecision about a course of action for the cable system. RMA officials say Phases 1 and 2 of the plan address deferred maintenance. ***********

RMA battles cable-broadband problem in Venado-Puerto area

Published August 30, 2007

The Rancho Murieta Association is searching for the cause of an intermittent cable problem that affects TV and broadband service in the northwest part of the community.
"We've got a major problem around the Venado-Puerto area. ... It may be a little bit more widespread than that. It's not all of the North," RMA General Manager David Stiffler said Thursday, and added, "We've been working on this thing for over a week" ***************

RMA says North cable problem is fixed

Published August 31, 2007

The intermittent cable problem affecting broadband and cable TV service in parts of Murieta North has been solved, Rancho Murieta Association General Manager David Stiffler said Friday.
He said the problem turned out to be a bad section of cable. The faulty cable was located on Venado Drive Friday morning and a new section was installed by 10 a.m.
RMA staff and cable consultants had been working on the problem for more than a week, according to Stiffler. It affected customers along Puerto and Venado drives, in the northwest part of the community.
******************

RMA confirms what many know -- cable problems are back

Published September 5, 2007

It's baaaack. The Rancho Murieta Association on Wednesday confirmed what many residents on the North already know -- the cable problem that was thought to be fixed last week is still with us.
Wednesday afternoon, RMA employees hand-delivered notices to residents in the area of Puerto and Venado drives saying the problem returned over the weekend and the association was continuing to work on it.
After RMA General Manager David Stiffler said Friday that a faulty piece of cable located on Venado Drive had been fixed to solve the problem, North residents responded with forum posts and story comments at RanchoMurieta.com saying they were still experiencing cable difficulties.
********************

As voting is closed, RMA completes cable improvements

Published February 7, 2008

Against a backdrop of controversy and criticism, efforts to improve the Rancho Murieta Association cable system have moved forward and are nearing completion.
"There has been a ton of work being done behind the scenes over the course of the last six months and, more importantly probably, over the course of the last two months in what I would term almost a total rebuild of the Rancho Murieta North cable infrastructure," RMA General Manager David Stiffler said Wednesday.
Stiffler told the RMA Communications Committee he wanted the community to know the cable department was just two to three days away from completing the last of eight projects the board approved to upgrade the system. With the improved system come the new cable services scheduled for launch last August.
"Whether we keep it, or whether we sell it, lease it, whatever it ends up being ... the work that has been done up to this point greatly enhances the value of this system," Stiffler said.

*************

Launch cable system March 17 with 60-day free trial, committee suggests

Published March 6, 2008 |
After numerous delays, the Rancho Murieta Association expects to launch new digital and high-definition TV programming over its revamped cable system March 17, the Communications Committee said Wednesday. At the same time, the committee will begin work on "Plan B" -- an alternative to the new system.
On Wednesday, the committee voted to offer residents a 60-day free trial for the services. A brochure with a program line-up will be mailed to residents in advance of the launch.
General Manager David Stiffler told the committee the eight projects that upgraded the system with fiber-optic cable have been completed.
The process of fine-tuning the system that's followed has turned up sections of bad cable and discrepancies between what's in the plans and what's been built, according to Maintenance Manager Rod Hart.

***************


Mood swing: Cable conversations go from improved service to shutdown

Published April 3, 2008

[Edited April 4] In less than a month, the Rancho Murieta Association Communications Committee has gone from anticipating the relaunch of an improved cable system to contemplating shutting the system down at year's end if a proposed bylaws amendment passes.
*****************
RMA committee takes steps to find alternatives to running cable system

Published April 22, 2008

A special meeting of the Rancho Murieta Association Communications Committee was held Tuesday to establish a committee to quickly study alternatives to having the RMA run the cable system. Meanwhile, plans to launch new programming on the upgraded cable system, completed recently at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, are still on hold.
"The infrastructure is, by and large, all done," General Manager David Stiffler reported to the group. "It's just the programming now." Negotiations for the new channel lineup are expected to be completed in early May.

*****************************
RMA upbeat about cable improvements and launch of new services
Published May 7, 2008

The Rancho Murieta Association Communications Committee received an upbeat report about recently completed cable system improvements and reviewed plans for a new channel line-up Wednesday.
"Projects 1 through 8 have been a very large success," General Manager David Stiffler told the committee. "We are well under budget for the project. ... We have found that our service calls have dwindled down to very, very few. ... We're very, very pleased with the outcome and we're ready to launch."

There was no acknowledgment of an announcement by organizers of the drive to make participation in the cable system voluntary that they have collected more than half the proxy votes needed to force the change. The proposed bylaws change would prohibit the use of dues for the system. RMA members currently pay about $30 for basic cable service as part of their monthly dues assessment.
There is a question whether the cable system can survive without dues support. The cable system provides TV programming and broadband Internet access.
The "soft launch" of the new digital programming is expected to begin early next week. The high-definition and digital program offerings will be added over a launch period of about two weeks.
The committee approved adding new high-definition channels to basic cable after Stiffler handed out a revised channel line-up he and cable consultant Justin Jordan, a former committee member, had prepared. Stiffler declined to provide a copy to RanchoMurieta.com.

********************
Change in RMA channel lineup

Published May 9, 2008

The Rancho Murieta Association announced a change in its cable TV lineup Friday with the Hallmark Channel moving from Channel 96 to Channel 17, according to General Manager David Stiffler. The change comes as the RMA prepares to launch new programming that will add a dozen high-definition channels to the basic TV service members receive as part of their dues and create a new tier of digital and high-definition programming for subscribers.
*********************
RMA continues push for stricter rules and cable improvements

Published July 16, 2008

The Rancho Murieta Association continued moving toward stricter enforcement of community rules, with fines for first-time offenders, and the launch of improved cable services at Tuesday night's monthly meeting.

Push to get cable improvements launched
Board President Dick Cox challenged contractor Justin Jordan about the failure to launch the RMA's new high-definition cable lineup. Cox said Jordan hadn't lived up to a private assurance that the service would be available in a matter of days.
Jordan, who lives in the community and started out as a volunteer on the Communications Committee, countered that not all the promised pieces of the service are in place yet.
"We have been promising this to our membership since November," Cox said, "and it hasn't happened."
He added, "Let's move on it and launch what we've got. ... If we can't market it, this system doesn't have a chance in hell of succeeding. We need to get on the air with what we've got so we can market what we've got."
The board postponed action on a cable survey for the membership, saying it needed additional work.

In brief

• The board approved $290,557 for this year's street paving work. The bid exceeded the reserve amount by $30,000 due to higher fuel and oil costs, Maintenance Manager Rod Hart told the RMA Finance Committee last week.
• The board approved spending $35,000 to replace 3,000 feet of aging, direct-buried cable that serves about 40 households in the area of Puerto Drive on the North. The cable will be replaced with cable that's in conduit. The funds come from 2007 reserves for the cable system because the Maintenance Department brought cable improvement projects the board approved last year in under budget.

******************
RMA launches first half of improved cable system

Published September 4, 2008

[Updated Sept. 5] The Rancho Murieta Association on Thursday announced the long-awaited launch of its new cable system, with the first 38 channels of enhanced digital, high-definition and music programming. When complete, the digital system will have up to 80 digital and high-def and 55 music channels, the RMA said.

[Matthew]

The board approved spending $35,000 to replace 3,000 feet of aging, direct-buried cable that serves about 40 households in the area of Puerto Drive on the North.

Is Rod asking for additional money for this? If not $35K was already approved? Correct?

[Zebra Top]

Originally Posted by Wilbur

A little history, for perspective:


RMA says cable conversion is on target as it releases new station lineup

Published July 20, 2007

[Corrected July 22] The Rancho Murieta Association board of directors has extended the changeover of RMA cable TV premium channels like HBO and Showtime from analog to digital broadcast to July 31 because there is a backlog of subscribers waiting to be switched over to the new service.
On Wednesday, the RMA announced it will launch the new services in August (2007-ed.) after the premium channels are converted. The new services include a high-definition package with ESPN, Golf Channel, Discovery Channel, Food Network and HGTV and an expanded digital package with approximately 56 channels offering sports, family and music channels.

The board approved the expenditure of $200,000 from reserves last year to replace failing cable on the North and upgrade the system to accommodate digital programming, and a similar expenditure was budgeted for this year.
****************


RMA approves spending $95,000 for cable system

Published August 29, 2007

News from the August Rancho Murieta Association board meeting:

• The debate about improving the cable system continued, with the board spending almost $95,000.

The board approved spending $61,350 from reserves for cable improvements as part of Phase 2 of a multi-year plan for the cable system. The plan was approved last year, ending years of board indecision about a course of action for the cable system. RMA officials say Phases 1 and 2 of the plan address deferred maintenance. ***********

RMA battles cable-broadband problem in Venado-Puerto area

Published August 30, 2007

The Rancho Murieta Association is searching for the cause of an intermittent cable problem that affects TV and broadband service in the northwest part of the community.
"We've got a major problem around the Venado-Puerto area. ... It may be a little bit more widespread than that. It's not all of the North," RMA General Manager David Stiffler said Thursday, and added, "We've been working on this thing for over a week" ***************

RMA says North cable problem is fixed

Published August 31, 2007

The intermittent cable problem affecting broadband and cable TV service in parts of Murieta North has been solved, Rancho Murieta Association General Manager David Stiffler said Friday.
He said the problem turned out to be a bad section of cable. The faulty cable was located on Venado Drive Friday morning and a new section was installed by 10 a.m.
RMA staff and cable consultants had been working on the problem for more than a week, according to Stiffler. It affected customers along Puerto and Venado drives, in the northwest part of the community.
******************

RMA confirms what many know -- cable problems are back

Published September 5, 2007

It's baaaack. The Rancho Murieta Association on Wednesday confirmed what many residents on the North already know -- the cable problem that was thought to be fixed last week is still with us.
Wednesday afternoon, RMA employees hand-delivered notices to residents in the area of Puerto and Venado drives saying the problem returned over the weekend and the association was continuing to work on it.
After RMA General Manager David Stiffler said Friday that a faulty piece of cable located on Venado Drive had been fixed to solve the problem, North residents responded with forum posts and story comments at RanchoMurieta.com saying they were still experiencing cable difficulties.
********************

As voting is closed, RMA completes cable improvements

Published February 7, 2008

Against a backdrop of controversy and criticism, efforts to improve the Rancho Murieta Association cable system have moved forward and are nearing completion.
"There has been a ton of work being done behind the scenes over the course of the last six months and, more importantly probably, over the course of the last two months in what I would term almost a total rebuild of the Rancho Murieta North cable infrastructure," RMA General Manager David Stiffler said Wednesday.
Stiffler told the RMA Communications Committee he wanted the community to know the cable department was just two to three days away from completing the last of eight projects the board approved to upgrade the system. With the improved system come the new cable services scheduled for launch last August.
"Whether we keep it, or whether we sell it, lease it, whatever it ends up being ... the work that has been done up to this point greatly enhances the value of this system," Stiffler said.

*************

Launch cable system March 17 with 60-day free trial, committee suggests

Published March 6, 2008 |
After numerous delays, the Rancho Murieta Association expects to launch new digital and high-definition TV programming over its revamped cable system March 17, the Communications Committee said Wednesday. At the same time, the committee will begin work on "Plan B" -- an alternative to the new system.
On Wednesday, the committee voted to offer residents a 60-day free trial for the services. A brochure with a program line-up will be mailed to residents in advance of the launch.
General Manager David Stiffler told the committee the eight projects that upgraded the system with fiber-optic cable have been completed.
The process of fine-tuning the system that's followed has turned up sections of bad cable and discrepancies between what's in the plans and what's been built, according to Maintenance Manager Rod Hart.

***************


Mood swing: Cable conversations go from improved service to shutdown

Published April 3, 2008

[Edited April 4] In less than a month, the Rancho Murieta Association Communications Committee has gone from anticipating the relaunch of an improved cable system to contemplating shutting the system down at year's end if a proposed bylaws amendment passes.
*****************
RMA committee takes steps to find alternatives to running cable system

Published April 22, 2008

A special meeting of the Rancho Murieta Association Communications Committee was held Tuesday to establish a committee to quickly study alternatives to having the RMA run the cable system. Meanwhile, plans to launch new programming on the upgraded cable system, completed recently at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, are still on hold.
"The infrastructure is, by and large, all done," General Manager David Stiffler reported to the group. "It's just the programming now." Negotiations for the new channel lineup are expected to be completed in early May.

*****************************
RMA upbeat about cable improvements and launch of new services
Published May 7, 2008

The Rancho Murieta Association Communications Committee received an upbeat report about recently completed cable system improvements and reviewed plans for a new channel line-up Wednesday.
"Projects 1 through 8 have been a very large success," General Manager David Stiffler told the committee. "We are well under budget for the project. ... We have found that our service calls have dwindled down to very, very few. ... We're very, very pleased with the outcome and we're ready to launch."

There was no acknowledgment of an announcement by organizers of the drive to make participation in the cable system voluntary that they have collected more than half the proxy votes needed to force the change. The proposed bylaws change would prohibit the use of dues for the system. RMA members currently pay about $30 for basic cable service as part of their monthly dues assessment.
There is a question whether the cable system can survive without dues support. The cable system provides TV programming and broadband Internet access.
The "soft launch" of the new digital programming is expected to begin early next week. The high-definition and digital program offerings will be added over a launch period of about two weeks.
The committee approved adding new high-definition channels to basic cable after Stiffler handed out a revised channel line-up he and cable consultant Justin Jordan, a former committee member, had prepared. Stiffler declined to provide a copy to RanchoMurieta.com.

********************
Change in RMA channel lineup

Published May 9, 2008

The Rancho Murieta Association announced a change in its cable TV lineup Friday with the Hallmark Channel moving from Channel 96 to Channel 17, according to General Manager David Stiffler. The change comes as the RMA prepares to launch new programming that will add a dozen high-definition channels to the basic TV service members receive as part of their dues and create a new tier of digital and high-definition programming for subscribers.
*********************
RMA continues push for stricter rules and cable improvements

Published July 16, 2008

The Rancho Murieta Association continued moving toward stricter enforcement of community rules, with fines for first-time offenders, and the launch of improved cable services at Tuesday night's monthly meeting.

Push to get cable improvements launched
Board President Dick Cox challenged contractor Justin Jordan about the failure to launch the RMA's new high-definition cable lineup. Cox said Jordan hadn't lived up to a private assurance that the service would be available in a matter of days.
Jordan, who lives in the community and started out as a volunteer on the Communications Committee, countered that not all the promised pieces of the service are in place yet.
"We have been promising this to our membership since November," Cox said, "and it hasn't happened."
He added, "Let's move on it and launch what we've got. ... If we can't market it, this system doesn't have a chance in hell of succeeding. We need to get on the air with what we've got so we can market what we've got."
The board postponed action on a cable survey for the membership, saying it needed additional work.

In brief

• The board approved $290,557 for this year's street paving work. The bid exceeded the reserve amount by $30,000 due to higher fuel and oil costs, Maintenance Manager Rod Hart told the RMA Finance Committee last week.
• The board approved spending $35,000 to replace 3,000 feet of aging, direct-buried cable that serves about 40 households in the area of Puerto Drive on the North. The cable will be replaced with cable that's in conduit. The funds come from 2007 reserves for the cable system because the Maintenance Department brought cable improvement projects the board approved last year in under budget.

******************
RMA launches first half of improved cable system

Published September 4, 2008

[Updated Sept. 5] The Rancho Murieta Association on Thursday announced the long-awaited launch of its new cable system, with the first 38 channels of enhanced digital, high-definition and music programming. When complete, the digital system will have up to 80 digital and high-def and 55 music channels, the RMA said.

OK, you have a point. What I was referring to was the baseline Perigine left us with and what we have done thus far toward completing the necessary improvements to the infrastructure.