MetRec board votes to decommission television

“There are some very real challenges that we have to confront now–not later–about the future of TV”

By Katherine Nettles

During an emotionally wrought meeting last week, the Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District (MetRec) made the unanimous decision to begin decommissioning over-the-air television for county residents. This will begin with the immediate step of decommissioning a failing remote chain, and end with decommissioning the main over-the-air broadcast chain between Gunnison and Crested Butte in June 2026. MetRec board members had a hard time making the decision but appeared to be resigned after mulling over the situation for almost three hours on April 30. 

The meeting was held in Mt. Crested Butte just six days before the MetRec election in which two board seats were open (see story on page 9). This and other issues were brought forward by a small but vocal crowd at the public hearing as reasons for the board to delay any major decisions about TV. But ultimately, board members determined it was appropriate for the sitting board to finish what they had started sorting out more than seven months ago.

Board members repeatedly expressed interest in the possibility that a nonprofit, fundraiser or upcycling of viable technology and equipment could be pursued by some of television’s proponents. 

MetRec’s history

To start things off, MetRec executive director Derrick Nehrenberg gave a brief overview of the past several months of discussion among the board, and the issues that persisted with budgeting for TV.

The district formed in 1978 to support television infrastructure, and in 2001 the district amended its service plan to add recreation. Leading up to 2016, MetRec was not funding recreation and there was not enough revenue to maintain and update TV either. This led to a ballot issue in 2018 to repeal the state’s TABOR bill restrictions for the district that limited tax collections and get back to one mill. That issue passed by 73% in the north subdistrict, said Nehrenberg, which carried it to victory despite not gaining a majority in the south district. 

In 2022 voters in the north subdistrict passed a second initiative to support capital, nonprofit organization operational support and community grants for recreation.

That ballot issue passed by 63%, and MetRec‘s recreation budget increased, however TV operations can only be funded from the general fund from the one mill tax it imposes on all Gunnison Valley residents. 

“Budgeting headwinds”

This year, that general fund is about $1.2 million which breaks down into three categories: TV translator operations ($387,000); MetRec administration costs ($401,000) and recreation costs ($440,000). “If we want to spend money on TV, we can spend about $400,000 before we have to make cuts to the other pieces of the pie,” said Nehrenberg.

He reviewed other TV related issues that have come up, including damage to the Monarch Pass translator building and Comcast likely changing from satellite to terrestrial broadcasting. “So, these issues are piling up. We have serious budgeting headwinds for the TV translator system.”

Nehrenberg said a fiscally responsible plan for the system should last for 10 years.  “If we fix this one thing for several hundred thousand dollars, is the rest of the system going to make it? Even with all the work that we’ve done there are still a lot of unknowns and TV is changing under our feet.” 

He summarized that maintaining the full TV system alone exceeds the entire MetRec general budget.

Board member Earl Marshall then explained the resolution he had prepared for the meeting. He said he had been recruited to help shore up TV almost a decade ago. “So this [decision to decommission TV] has been really hard. This isn’t why I got on this board,” he said. He likened it to a house of cards that has been handed down from one tech person to another. “And now it’s falling down on my watch.”

The first half of the resolution would decommission the remote chain, which has seen no meaningful investment in over a decade due to expense, a relatively small population and low usership. “We have worked on those sites with public utility companies, private broadband providers, private cell phone companies and Region 10 just trying to find ways to make it viable. All of those have failed.” Marshall said his extensive outreach has repeatedly brought up dead ends. “It becomes apparent that the remote chain is beyond its lifecycle, and it cannot be resuscitated at a reasonable cost to the user,” he said.

Next, Marshall explained the difficulties with the main chain, including extensive issues with the tower at a delicate historic archeological site on W Mountain, the need to replace translators and the lack of land to lease in the North Valley. 

Marshall said Crested Butte users will probably lose service in the next few months regardless of any decisions of the board, because the CB South site lease expires in July and the private partners have walked away. He said a potential 3G site with an antenna would cost at least $500,000. 

“The only way I see TV surviving is that we ask for a tax initiative at about one mill district-wide dedicated to TV. He said that could be explored by future boards. He said a great system on Highway 135 could be built, but it would require leases and a bigger budget.

Marshall emphasized that a sunset date on the main chain would give people time to adjust and to potentially form a 501 (c) (3). “It gives time for a more grassroots effort on the ground.”

Public comment

Half a dozen attendees spoke up, all in favor of television and many skeptical of the board’s approach. Colleen Hannon said that she wanted the resolution delayed and that they could find the money in the valley to fund TV repairs. “You’ve quit on us,” she said to the board.

Sharon Mills said she did not think the tax-paying seniors of the district were being heard and that the board was choosing recreation over TV. Lisa Lenander echoed those concerns.

Barbara Klingman said that the district has been hijacked by recreation. She recommended that the southern district focus only on TV and perhaps split off from the north district.

Alex Mattes-Ritz suggested a modest tax increase to support the needed infrastructure repairs and called the board’s process undemocratic with political gamesmanship right before an election. He also said board president Cassia Cadenhead’s conduct had been “reprehensible” over the past few months with her putting a gentrification agenda ahead of the will of taxpayers.

Scott Fulkerson also said he felt betrayed by a bait and switch with MetRec’s surveys and previous statements about their commitment to TV.  

Sue Navy said she loves to watch TV news and other programs in the evenings, and recalled a time when MetRec’s purpose was more supportive of TV. She disagreed with Marshall’s conclusions and resolution.

Board perspective

The board then closed the public hearing and discussed their concerns. 

Marshall said he agreed with comments that the maintenance should have been done over the past 20 years. “It’s pretty clear that that the 2001 revision of the service plan…was intended to kill TV.” He said it was likely based on the assumption that over the air TV was becoming obsolete.

He clarified that the resolution would only sunset the main chain in one year. “And it will have to be reviewed and revisited by the next board. I’m not DOGE here,” he said. “I want to do my best to leave it open without making promises I can’t keep.” 

Marshall suggested that by decommissioning the remote chain and relocating all the FCC licenses and bandwidth to the main chain MetRec could possibly double the number of channels and improve definition. He said if they can get the right answer to all the problems in the next few years, the next board would be in position to increase TV usership across younger demographics and a wider audience. But, he said, “If we can’t secure those leases it doesn’t matter what this board decides tonight. It becomes a Gunnison-based system.” 

Since the next board could undo any decision with a new vote, Marshall encouraged the non-departing board majority to do what they wanted, and asked if they were comfortable with a non-binding decision.

Board member Dave Wiens suggested the focus might need to be on Gunnison where there are more users. He agreed that in putting off main chain decommission for a year, “there is wiggle room to see what could possibly happen. But it’s funding, and having certainty that funding is going to exist for a long time. And that’s just for Gunnison. These tower sites, I don’t know how we’re going to handle that.”

Cadenhead estimated that TV would need at least $1 million by next year, and even if it only operated W Mountain it would need $4 million over 10 years. 

“I think the mission is difficult,” said Marshall. “The tower on W might come down any day or year. And it can’t be fixed easily because it would trigger an archeological dig.” 

Cadenhead reiterated Nehrenberg’s review that when the district “Debruced,” the south subdistrict did not vote for it. “The reality is,” she said, “without Debrucing and overriding TABOR, TV would have stopped in 2018.”  

“There are some very real challenges that we have to confront now—not later—about the future of TV. It’s unfortunate, and I think the staff and the tech committee has put in a tremendous amount of good faith work to try to figure out what the cost of TV will look like, and it boils down to what you feel comfortable with fiscally,” said Nehrenberg.

Board member Mary Haskell took issue with being called nontransparent. “I’ve been on this board for two years and I’m still trying to understand TV,” she said. 

Cadenhead encouraged the board to vote, having dedicated the past seven months to the issue. “To your point,” she told Haskell, “I believe it would take a new board member years to get up to speed.”

“Nobody up here has any ill will toward the television-watching community. For the most part we heard respectful comments, and some others were certainly less so. That hurts us. We are volunteers,” said Wiens. “I think the motion is solid; I think it’s going to provide a sense of urgency to this board.”

With that, the board passed the resolution unanimously. The new composition of MetRec board members will now take on the first step of decommissioning the remote chain, and taking the year, if they choose, to see if they can salvage the main chain’s longevity.