NATCHEZ — Some of the problems residents voiced Thursday at a public hearing regarding Cable ONE’s service are simply not problems the company can fix, local General Manager John Hilbert said.

The hearing, County Administrator Joe Murray said, was required by law because both the city and county are preparing to renew their cable franchise agreements.

Ward 3 Alderwoman Sarah Smith represented the city at the hearing, and supervisors’ attorney Scott Slover, supervisors Mike Lazarus and Darryl Grennell, Murray and Chancery Clerk Tommy O’Beirne represented the county.

Hilbert heard questions and comments from a few residents, who were concerned about channel availability, pricing and telephone and Internet service.

Former Sen. Bob Dearing spoke on behalf of his six-person coffee club. Dearing was complimentary of Cable ONE’s customer service, but he said his group was concerned that they no longer get news stations out of Louisiana.

Dearing also said weather reports from Channel 5 in Alexandria would be beneficial to the area.

“That’s Natchez weather, and we could get really good advances on weather conditions a lot better than the radar with the Jackson stations,” he said.

A couple of other residents were also upset they could not get the Louisiana stations, particularly because they are missing coverage of LSU football.

Hilbert explained to the residents that the Federal Communications Commission mandates “must-carry” stations for cable operators. Jackson stations, he said, are the must-carry stations for this area.

In order for Cable ONE to provide a competing news station out of Alexandria, Baton Rouge or another area, Hilbert said, the Jackson stations would have to sign a waiver.

Cable ONE has approached the Jackson stations about a waiver, but they have refused, Hilbert said.

Cable ONE previously provided the Louisiana stations to customers for free because they were provided to the company for free, Hilbert said.

An Alexandria station was willing to waive the cost to Cable ONE to provide the station, if the Jackson stations would sign the waiver, but that did not happen.

Slover asked Hilbert if Cable ONE offered to pay the Jackson stations for the waiver.

“I seriously doubt we did because we’re already paying them for something that was free before,” Hilbert said. “If we have to pay additional (fees), that’s a possibility of a pass-along fee (to customers).”

Hilbert said he realizes the ties Natchez and Adams County have with Louisiana, and he said Cable ONE is currently working on consolidating its local lines with McComb. McComb has different must-carry stations, one of which is a Baton Rouge station, Hilbert said. If the lines are consolidated, Natchez and Adams County residents could get that channel at no extra cost.

Former Judge Mary Toles told Hilbert that she was dissatisfied with her telephone service, which has routinely gone out in the past, sometimes for two or three days. Toles also said she had to previously file a complaint with the FCC in order for Cable ONE and AT&T to work it out so she could keep the same phone number when switching companies.

Natchez Electric Manager Ricky Long said his company has been losing thousands of dollars over the last couple of weeks because its Internet service has been going out.

“When I’m sitting here losing money when I know I shouldn’t be, I have a serious problem with that,” Long said.

Since taking over the Natchez office a couple of years ago, Hilbert said he and his staff have discovered that a lot of the problems with telephone and Internet service stem from old and outdated infrastructure.

Cable ONE, Hilbert said, is starting a $500,000 “reinforcement project” in a couple of weeks that will replace and update wires and other equipment. That should, he said, improve the customers’ quality of service.

Resident Shirley Bell asked Hilbert why Fox 48 went out frequently even when the weather was not that bad.

Hilbert said Cable ONE has been dealing with Fox 48 reliability for some time. He said he talked to the station manager in Frogmore, from where the station is transmitted.

The problem, he said, is that the station does not have any backup power, so whenever the power goes out, the station goes out.

Cable ONE, Hilbert said, has offered to purchase an $18,000 backup generator, but that has been put on hold while the station figures out how it wants to deal with the problem.

Hilbert also told those in attendance in the meeting that Cable ONE would launch its all-digital platform in 2014, which will improve channel availability and picture quality.