Aug. 21--Blairsville Borough council often hears complaints from dissatisfied residents. Now it's lodging a complaint of its own -- with Comcast, provider of cable television service in the borough and in much of the surrounding area.

Council members agreed Tuesday to draft a letter to Comcast officials to protest recent changes in the local channel lineup that have moved some channels to a digital format or to a richer service package. The changes require Comcast viewers with less elaborate packages to obtain a converter box from the company to continue watching the realigned channels.

Councilman Joe Caugherty said he is among Blairsville viewers who are upset by the channel changes.

"I myself am very dissatisfied," he said. "We've lost a lot of channels, without a matching reduction in the monthly service fee."

Officials in nearby Burrell and White townships and Indiana Borough also have discussed sending letters to Comcast after receiving similar complaints from their residents.

Bob Grove, a regional spokesman for Comcast, said Wednesday that four broadcast channels were affected for Blairsville viewers with basic cable TV service. He explained Johnstown's WJAC and WWCP, Altoona's WTAJ and WPSU -- the PBS station in State College -- are now being delivered to customers digitally. To continue watching those channels, he said, customers can request converter boxes for up to three television sets at no cost for one year. Afterward, he said, the customers would pay a rental fee, currently $1.10 per month for the first box.

According to Grove, local viewers with the next higher level of service -- standard -- have seen six channels disappear from their dials, including Animal Planet, the History Channel, CMT and Style. Those channels have been moved to Comcast's digital starter package, which requires a different type of converter box.

Likewise, Grove said customers with standard service can obtain three digital starter boxes free for one year. Then, they'll pay the going rental fee -- now at $2.99 per month for the first box.

Grove said the channel changes were part of Comcast's effort to deliver more channels in the more efficient digital format, allowing it to introduce additional channels in high definition -- a service that requires yet another type of box.

"We're launching a lot of new HD channels in the Blairsville area," he said, including the Biography Channel, Lifetime Movie Network, the Hallmark Movie Channel and Spike.

Grove pointed out that viewers who take advantage of the free box rental will be able to watch extra new channels in addition to those that are being moved.

He said Comcast sent notices alerting affected viewers to the changes and was "already reaching out to the people on Blairsville Council."

At Tuesday's meeting, council member Mary Ugoletti expressed concern that the channel changes may prompt Blairsville residents to abandon Comcast service for other TV viewing options, adversely impacting the borough's bottom line.

"As people drop their cable, it's going to affect us with the franchise tax," she said, indicating council should consider that possibility as it begins planning for the borough's 2010 budget.

On Aug.