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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/28/1998 � � � Telecommunications Advisory Committee City of Apple Valley January 28, 1998 4:00 P.M. City Hall Nfinutes 1. Ca11 to Order The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m. by Chairperson Bible. Members Present: Dale Rodell, Rollin Bible, Jerry Brown, Scott Hugstad-Vaa., David Westbrook, John Magnusson (amve� at 4:25) Members Absent: Others Present: Gary Humphrey, Tom Creighton, John Erar, Roselyn Pautzke, Charles Grawe, Darin Helgesoq Karen Sanderson, Jane Bremer (arrived at 4:30), Todd Kruse 2. Introductions Those present introduced themselves. Mr. Kruse said he represented Fro�tier Communications and is interested in issues of telecommunications and right of way. Nis. Pautzke said she represented ISD 192 and is worldng with Marcus on connecting their buildings. 3. Franchise Renewal Undate Mr. Creighton began with a brief history of the renewal to date. He said that much of the delay has been due to coordination of the Apple Valley/Rosemount/Farmington franchise with that of Lakeville. He said that the subscriber network is aiready under construction. His main concern is that the network be capable of providing data connections to the municipalities and interconnectivity with other systems. He said the franchise renewal can be broken into four azeas. The first azea is the subscriber network, already under construction. It is designed to the state of the art with 750 MHz capacity, 550 for company use and 200 for future considerations. The new system can theoretically hold 91 channels and will be e�ual to that installed in Lakeville. The second azea is documentation. He said that the original dra.ft fianchise was designed to fit into an established Right of Way Ordinance. However, since the cities do not have this in place, the franchise has since been redrafted into a more traditional format that will be compatible with Lakeville and will fit into the Right of Way Ordinance when adopted. � � , t � Much of the documentation will be taken from the Lake Minnetonka franchise, thus saving the cities money. The third area is the fiber network which is outside of the cable franchise. Mr. Creighton said that Ms. Bremer has been fr�strated by Marcus' inability to provide her with necessary information on the fiber network. However, Mr. Creighton noted tha,t all public institutions can be connected to the network and he is pleased with the network progress. The fourth azea is community progranuning. Mr. Creighton said that Marcus wants to tum public access to the cities and tha,t Lakeville has concerns over the existing studio. He said that Lakeville has proposed that a11 the cities pool public access money and run a joint studio. Mr. Creighton said he has concerns over raising money for public access through a PEG pass-through fee, wluch range in the Metro between $.87 and $2.25 on the customer's bill. He noted that this has the potential to raise millions of dollars but also can affect the competitiveness of the cable company. He said that Lakeville is looking at $1 per month, which would net Apple Valley roughly $130,000 annually. Mr. Creighton said the believes the City should consider using the PEG fee for government interests. He noted that the City of Apple Va11ey purchased equipment for the current studio use� by Marcus and the equipment should be returned to the City. He said there is also concem over a capital commitment from the company to help provide equipment for government progrannning. Ms. Bremer arrived and gave her summary of the process. She said that she and Mr. Creighton have been exchanging documents but have bcen delayed by the Lakeville franchise. She said they met with Lakeville to develop a model agreement with Fiberlink. She said while the franchise is separate it is also concurrent with the fiber model because the current Marcus cable system is the vehicle for Fiberlink's services. Yet, legally, these issues must remain separate. She said thax the rebuild continues and that the remaining franchise issues concern public ac.cess. Mr. Bible asked if the Lake Minnetonka franchise is the new boilerplate. Mr. Creighton responded thai the Madison, WI, model is the original boiler plate, with subsequent revisions from Roseville and Lake Minnetonka to reflect the latest court decisions. Ms. Bremer added that Marcus is the first company in Minnesota to be certified to also provide voice and data. services. She said it is difficult to mesh cable with voice and data. Mr. Creighton added that it is difficult because cable is a user of the right of way and should be regulated, but it is difficult to impose regulations that do not put the cable company at a competitive disa.dvantage with other telecomm, providers. Mr. Bible asked if Lake Minnetonka has similaz issues. Mr. Creighton said they did not. Mr. Bible asked what aze the remaining francluse issues. Ms. Bremer said that Lakeville is endorsing a transition plan to convert public access management in an orderly fashion. The plan calls for $.25 per month to cover the company's current costs. She said the Lakeville City Council does not want a PEG fee greater than $1.00 per month and aze requesting a capital grant to fund equipment purchases with pay. back over time. She sa.id she understands the $1 fee to cover public access and not likely to be increased due to political pressures. Mr. Bible asked for a definition of the capital grant. Ms. Bremer said that Lakeville has not reached a dollar figure but will likely factor in the costs of providing public access on their own. Marcus will be paid back through a portion of the PEG fee . � � � over time. Mr. Erar said that if the fee is repaid then it is not a grant. Ms. Bremer said that past money paid to the cities was essentially recovered through the cable rates. Mr. Erar asked why this can not still be the case. Mr. Creighton responded that changes in federal law a11ow the company to line itemize the PEG fee. Mr. Erar asked why cities thai haven't received past capital grants should not receive them at the company's expense in the renewal. Ms. Bremer responded that none of the four cities received past capital grants. Mr. Creighton said that each city nceds to decide what capital its nceds and how it wants to use the PEG pass through fee. He said that he and Ms. Bremer discussed the interim fee and understands the nced for one in Lakeville, but not in the other three cities since their franchise agreements have not expired. Mr. Bible summarized that currently the City only funds governmeirt access. He asked if Marcus has identified its cost to provide public access. Ms. Bremer responded that the current operating costs have been divided among the cities. Mr. Bible noted that Apple Va11ey has dona.ted equipment to the studio. Ms. Bremer responded that only Apple Valley has donated equipment. Mr. Bible asked if Marcus would provide a capital grant to ISD 196 if ihey so requested. Ms. Bremer responded that Marcus would not provide the schools with a capital grant but will make 3 educational channels available. Mr. Bible asked why the company would prefer to have the cities provide public a.ccess, thus increasing the complexity of the billing and signal distribution. Mr. Creighton responded that the question is what will subscribers be willing to subsidize. He said that since schools have taxing authority, there is belief that the schools should pay for their cable use. He said that grants may be made to schools to help aclueve certain programming. He said that most governments now spend their money on government programming, not traditional public access, which is viewed by many to be a high priced subsidy of individual's hobbies. He said that government and educational programming is much more populaz than public access programrning. He said that the cable company isn't interested in these azeas because they are not revenue generating. He said federal law allows them to use the pass tluough fee. Ironically, tlus is the same programrniug that cable can promote that DBS can't offer. He said given the large investment necessary to run a studio, it makes sense to have people who really care about the programming run the studio. Historically, city run studios have been successful. However, he expressed concern that Lakeville does not share the same concems as the other three cities. Ms. Bremer noted that the system is designed to accommodate individual studios in each city. Mr. Erar asked if the current studio is funded through the rates and is transferred to a PEG fee, will the rates go down proportionately. Ms. Bremer said they would. Mr. Humphrey said he dcesn't think that the capital grant should be paid back through the PEG fee, but rather through the company's general rate, even if it meant reducing the PEG fee. He said that using the PEG fee for pay back is not acceptable. Mr. Creighton said he will try, but is constrained by federal law. Mr. Humphrey responded that it would make more sense for the cities to issue their own bonds. Mr. Bible said that he understands the attorneys will retuin with a dra.ft franchise with blanks for the specifics yet to be negotiated. He said the next meeting will be to discuss the provision of public access. Mr. Creighton responded that now that the Lakeville franchise is virtually complete, the process will move much faster. Mr. Bible requested that the school districts, the Mayor, Apple Valley Council members, and the Farmington and Rosemount City Administrators be invited to the ne�rt meeting. Ms. Pautzke asked if ! � � ,.. there are any restrictions on the location of the studio. Ms. Bremer said there are no restrictions. Mr. Creighton noted that some public access studios are run by schools. Mr. Creighton said he is collecting the information on equipment leased to the company by the City for public access. 4. Svstem Upgrade Update Mr. Helgeson said that the OTN site in Apple Valley is complete and the first node activated on January 27th. He said all the Sber is in place to the Farmington OTN. H said the system will have SS nodes. All six nodes in Rosemount, the nodes in downtown Farmingtoq and 4 Apple Valley nodes will be activated in the first quarter of 1998. He said the system is designed with 1,000 homes per node with 6 fibers going to each node. 5. Adjoum Mr. Brown moved, seconded by Mr. Rodell to adjourn the mceting. Motion carried unanimous. The meeting was adjourned at 530 P.M..