Supervisors approve Cavalier cable agreement
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a franchise agreement with Cavalier Telephone and TV to provide 150 channels of digital programming to compete with Comcast.

While Comcast cable service is available in most locations within Chesterfield, Cavalier will be available in less than half the county, mostly near the county's border with the city of Richmond. Cavalier uses Verizon's existing telephone lines to relay service, and to maintain video quality, subscribers must live within 12,000 line feet of a Verizon office.

The agreement includes specific customer service standards. However, it does not set subscription rates or prohibit the kind of programming one supervisor suggested was pornographic. Critics have charged that the cable industry has made political contributions to state and national elected officials to avoid local control.

Cavalier must provide free service to all Chesterfield schools, libraries and government buildings. The county will receive 6.5 percent of Cavalier's gross revenues, compared to 5 percent for Comcast, as a franchise fee. According to County Attorney Steve Micas, the different rate is because Comcast provides more services, including recording supervisor,

planning commission and school board meetings.

Costco center is approved

The Chesterfield board also unanimously approved a 360,000-plus-square-foot shopping center just north of Chesterfield Towne Center, anchored by a 160,000-square-foot Costco. The 70-acre parcel also includes 453 apartments, and the developer will extend Mall Drive north to intersect with Robious Road. The four-lane, divided extension will include traffic lights at Robious and Koger Center Boulevard.

Continental Properties is paying a proffer of $6,750 for each of the first 370 apartments and $15,600 each for the remainder. County leaders are pleased with the road improvements, but the apartments will generate another 240 students to Chesterfield schools.