Reno City Council was faced Thursday with a slew of outraged public comments regarding Charter Communications’ announcement to move public, education and government (PEG) access channels in the community to a digital tier.

The Council decided that legal options would be pursued at its Aug. 20 meeting with the City Attorney John Kadlic, discussing the possibility of obtaining a temporary restraining order to postpone the switch.

The move, scheduled to go into effect Aug. 26, was announced earlier this month, almost six months before the federally imposed Feb. 17, 2009 deadline of requiring broadcasters to switch to digital signals. And, according to Nevada Revised Statute 711 passed at the 2007 Legislature, the control of franchise cable agreements and negotiations is no longer in the hands of city and counties.

Instead, the secretary of state is given sole authority.

Local PEG channels, which includes the Sparks Centennial channel 15, the city of Reno channel 13, Washoe County channel 17 and general public access on channel 16, are currently in the free basic cable tier. This move would require consumers to subscribe to the digital tier to view what was once public and free. A converter box, available for $5 a month, would be necessary to view the PEG channels.

“It’s not a matter of a black box or an increased bill,” said Peggy Bowen, a retired teacher. “To put a price tag on free public access information is incomprehensible.”

This “price tag” has especially angered elderly citizen and mentally handicapped supporters who said Thursday that the move would not be feasibly for such demographics who are living on fixed incomes.

A call to George Jostlin, the government liaison for Charter, was not returned Thursday to verify the reason for this move.

Andrew Barbano, a local activist and columnist for the Sparks Tribune, agreed with the Council’s sentiments to bring the issue to court to request a temporary restraining order, saying that it is “the only thing that can be done at this juncture.”

“(What Charter is doing) is a process to kill these channels,” Barbano said, adding that similar moves in other states have cause a significant decrease in public channel viewership.