With a minor glitch in start-up Saturday, the city's new governmental and educational channel made its April 1 debut.
Three years in the making, Channel 8 is being touted by West Valley officials as another link in the chain between government action and citizen awareness.The channel is on daily from 3 to 7 p.m. Broadcast information includes public meeting agendas, public hearings, economic development issues, planning and zoning information, city employment opportunities, polls, surveys and public safety announcements. Community projects and a calendar of public schools' events are also in the lineup.
Karen Leftwich, assistant city manager who spearheaded the chan-nel acquisition, said Monday that although there had been minor problems, the first two days of service had been good.
Kent Pearce, TCI general manager, attributed the first day's problem to the initial use of the timing device that generates the station's video signal. Programming did start 40 minutes after schedule, though. Pearce said a late start-up on Sunday also had to do with the timing device, but those problems resulted from Saturday's time change. The channel, which shares scheduling with a religious program, was working fine on Monday.
"Our hope is that the channel fosters better communication with the citizens," Leftwich said. "We list the activities and events going on so residents can become more knowledgeable and involved in city government."
Channel 8 began as a new provision in West Valley's franchise agreement with TCI Cablevision, the city's sole cable provider. When the city agreed to renew TCI's franchise, it did so with the understanding that the cable giant would grant it a community access station.
Sandy secured its public access channel in January. In West Jordan, Insight has provided Channel 3 for nearly four years.
West Valley's governmental and educational channel cost $10,000 for initial start-up and implementation. Leftwich said any other cost would come in the distant future, perhaps with video capability, estimated to cost $2,000. In the next 30 days, the city plans to install video monitors in City Hall. The monitors will advertise any activities in the City Center that day, as well as the programming viewers are watching at home. Leftwich is negotiating with Valley Fair Mall, which is across the street from City Center, to install a monitor at its information desk.
An estimated 26,000 homes subscribe to cable in West Valley. Leftwich said the city targets non-cable subscribers with its quarterly newsletters.