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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/09/2000 . � � Telecommunications Advisory Committee City of Apple Valley February 9, 2000 7:00 P.M. City Hall l�nutes l. Ca11 to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by Chairperson Bible. Members Present: Rollin Bible, Jerry Brown, John Magnusson, Dale Rodell, David Westbrook Members Absent: Scott Hugsta.d-Vaa Others Preserrt: Charles Grawe, Mark Moore, Dennis LaComb, Ellen Martin, Max Thompson 2. Approval of A�da. Mr. Bible asked for changes to the agenda. No changes were requested. The agenda was approved as presented. 3. Introduce Cable Coordina.tor Mazk Moore Mr. Mark Moore introduced himself and provided a brief history of his experience in cable television. 4. Metricom Wireless Proposal Mr. Thompson gave a brief history of Metricom. He said the first version of the Ricochet service is in place in Washington D.C., Seattle, and San Francisco. He showed the curre�t transmitter/receiver the company is proposing to mount at a frequency of seven receivers per square mile. He said the company prefers light poles with the "cobra hood" style fixtures with photo sensors. The company is able to atta.ch the receiver onto the photo sensor electrical input, thereby eliminating the need for a separate power source. Mr. Thompson noted the receiver must be mounted in the horizontal position to function properly. He explained that the wireless modems transmit their signa.ls to the transmitter/ receiver boxes that then relay the signal to larger receiving sites where it can be passed through a wired neiwork. He said the drawback to the service is that it will not function in zones with poor transmitter/receiver coverage. � � Mr. Thompson said Metricom is talking with 75 cities in seven counties at this time. His initial recommendation to the company was to locate on a pernut basis, but Metricom rejected the pernut process in favor of agreements with each community. He said he negotiated the model agreements with both the I,eague of Minnesota Cities and the Suburban Rate Authority attomeys. He said the cities that have passed the agreement to date include Chaska, Maple Plain, Mounds View, Bayport, Birchwood, and Medicine Lake. Mr. Thompson said the company is not working with the Cities of Rosemount, Lakeville, or Farmington as part of the initial penetration. He said Metricom is working with the local power companies to establish a set fee for each site location. Mr. Thompson explained the agreement with the City is granting the right to work in the right of way. Metricom would have separate leases of $60 per pole for locating on the poles. Metricom will continue to pay any other standard permit fees. In addition, Metricom will pay a Right of Way Reimbursement Fee equal to 1% of gross revenues for users in the City. Mr. Thompson noted that Metricom has not erected any poles to date. He said there may be azeas in the City in which there are not adequate poles and thus no Metricom service. He noted, however, that there aze often more existing poles than cities realize. He presented a draft location map for the City of Brooklyn Center. He said he dces not expect to need to trench power to pole locations. He noted thax the typical pole height nceded for the service is 20 to 40 feet. Metricom will reimburse $1,000 for staff and legal fees associated with the approval and will provide 10 free wireless Intemet subscriptions to the Ciiy for its use. Mr. Bible asked about the Metricom saturation plan. Mr. Thompson said the plan is for full saturation of all communities in the Metro azea. Mr. Bible asked about the target market. Mr. Thompson said it is lazgely residential users, but also business users. Mr. Bible said the transmitter/ receiver boxes would be prohibited on the decorative light poles in the downtown azea. Mr. Bible also expressed his concem that the number of existing adequa.te poles may be very limited. He asked wha.t Metricom would do if the existing poles did not provide adequate coverage. Mr. Thompson said Metricom typically uses about three percent of all the poles in a community. He said in general, the company would rather provide limited service than no service to a community. Mr. Thompson said the goal is to have the system in place by the end of the year. Mr. Bible said it could take some time to review the issues and make a recommendation to the City Council. He said staffwill meet with the City Attomey to review the proposed agreement. 5. Audio/ Video Capital Expenditures for New Citv Hall Mr. Grawe briefly explained the City is in the process of constructing a new City Hall building. He explained the construction budget includes $150,000 for audio/video equipment in the new building. He said the City has an additional $90,000 capital grant from the Cable Company. Mr. Grawe said it ma.y be desirable to upgrade equipment with funds from the capital grant at the same time new equipment is purchased for the new building. Mr. Grawe passed out a draft sheet of estimated equipment costs. ` � � Mr. Moore briefly explained the proposed audio and video systems. Mr. Bible said he was comfortable using the capital grant funds in this manner as the grants were intended for such expenses. The Committee's consensus was that such expenditures in conjunction with the City Hall project were acceptable. 6. Governmerrt Pro�rainmin� Mr. LaComb presented four possible government programming series. There was a brief description distributed about each of the programs. The Public Works and City Government programs are projected at $800 per episode at four episodes. The Art Series and Historical Series aze projected at $1,250 per episode at four episodes per year. Mr. Bible asked about the current programming budget. Mr. Grawe said the curreirt programming budget includes $17,100 for Apple Valley Today, $4,800 for Polic� Beat, $4,800 for Hook & La.dder, and $3,600 for additional new programming. 'I1�is is a total of $30,300 for annual programming expenses. Mr. Bible said he wanted to recommend three additional programs for 2001. Mr. Westbrook moved, second by Mr. Brown, to recommend the City Council approve two additional programs for 2000, one on City Government and one on Public Works, as proposed by Mr. LaComb. Motion passed unanimous. Mr. Westbrook moved, second by Mr. Magnusson, to recommend the City Council increase the total govermneut programming budget to $45,000 and provide for three additional programs. Motion passed unanimous. 7. Other a. Mr. Grawe said Charter is raising its raxes for the premium channels. b. Mr. Bible requested the topic of the Metricom proposal be discussed. Mr. Brown said the timetable seems unrealistic to him. Mr. Bible said he would like the poles to be categorized by height or diameter. He requested the proposal with modifications be on the neart meeting agenda. c. Mr. Moore noted Farmington will switch to the Apple Va11ey government channel on March 1. The City will the name of the government access channel to reflect the three community effort at that time. d. Ms. Martin distributed copies of the Charter response to forced access. 8. Adioum Mr. Rodell moved, second by Mr. Brown, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimous: The meeting was adjoumed at 8:45 p.m.