HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-07-98 WS• MEETING MINUTES
LAKEVILLE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1998
ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE ROOM
CITY HALL
The meeting was called to order at 5:08 p.m. City Council Members present: Mayor Duane Zaun,
Lynette Mulvihill, Betty Sindt, Tom Ryan. Absent: Mary Liz Holberg Also in attendance: Cable TV
Board Franchise Subcommitte members: Greg Maliszewski, Robin Selvig, Greg Stattman.
Attorneys': Brian Grogan (City of Lakeville), Moss & Barnett, Jane Bremer (Marcus), Larkin, Hoffman,
Daly & Lindgren. Marcus Employee: Karen Sanderson, General Manager. City Employees: Bob
Erickson, City Administrator, JeffLueders, Cable Coordinator. Press: Joni Hubred, Life & Times
Call to order
Lakeville Mayor Duane Zaun called the meeting to order at 5:08 p.m.
Franchise Negotiations Update
2a. Brain Grogan presented the Regulatory Ordinance Document and went through each
section. Councilmember Sindt questioned the language in the regulatory ordinance section
1.18 on Service Outages and Response time. Jane Bremer responded that Federal standards
are the minimum but Marcus has clearly exceeded those standards and will continue to do
so. Karen Sanderson stated that Marcus would not survive as a business if they just
provided the Federal minimum level of service response. Marcus clearly exceeds those
standards and is always improving. Brian Grogan continued his presentation on the
regulatory ordinance document. Councilmember Sindt questioned the recently adopted
Right of Way legislation and how this franchise agreement is aligned with the legislation.
Brian Grogan stated that this agreement meets the intent of the law as we interpret it.
Bob Erickson questioned if Marcus agrees? Jane Bremer stated that Conceptually they
agree, but there are a few minor issues that need to finalized. Brian Grogan continued with
his presentation on the regulatory ordinance document. Bob Erickson recognized the
Franchise Subcommittee and their efforts and especially Greg Maliszewski in his diligent
work to accomplish the goal of easy to read and accurate financial statements that would be
provided to the City by Marcus. Brian Grogan continued his presentation on the regulatory
ordinance document. Councilmember Sindt pointed out a necessary Correction on page 20,
Section 1.33 should read "Upon termination or forfeiture of the Franchise, the Grantee will
remove..." Brian Grogan made note of the necessary correction and continued. Bob
Erickson stated that the signature page of the Regulatory Ordinance Document should be
changed to include the signatures of the Mayor, City Clerk, and City Attorney. Brian
Grogan made note of the necessary correction and continued. Mayor Zaun pointed out a
necessary Correction on Page 23, Section 1.36 f. 3. Should read "For purposes of this
Section 1.36,..." then asked for additional comments. Brian Grogan made note of the
necessary correction and continued. Jane Bremer stated that this document establishes a
foundation of rules for us and any future competition. Karen Sanderson stated that the
franchise negotiations have been a real learning process.
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• 2b. Greg Stattman stated that if he could provide a historical perspective for just a moment,
Betty's (Sindt) husband did a great job at this in the past. He was able to take a look at a
document to make sure it was written to adequately cover and include new developments in
technology for the next decade and a half. Robin Selvig stated that the franchise
subcommittee has worked hard, through many meetings to bring you these documents.
Councilmember Sindt stated that the current document was broad enough to enable new
technology to be added as time went on.
2c. Jane Bremer stated that this system that Marcus is building is a platform for the future.
The platform is being built to address the needs of growing in-home businesses and tele-
commuters which Lakeville has and the number continues to grow each day. Mayor Zaun
requested that if there are any other questions on this issue please submit them to the
Mayor who will clarify them with the City Administrator and/or the Cable Coordinator.
Brian Grogan presented the Franchise Agreement Document. Mayor Zaun asked for any
additional comments from the City Administrator and Cable Coordinator on today's
meeting about the ATM network with Marcus Fiberlink? Bob Erickson stated that the City
staff in attendance were very impressed with the ATM presentation by Marcus Fiberlink
and the potential that it holds for our community. Stated that we have included for you a
hand out entitled "Asynchronous Transfer Mode Switching" to help you better understand
this technology. JeffLueders stated that he echoed Mr. Erickson's thoughts and he was
very impressed with the presentation by Marcus Fiberlink on the ATM Network and its'
potential in our community. Stated that he believes the proof will be in the price tag.
Stated also that the ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) switching network has proven
• itself in the business world to be one of the best high-speed data transfer systems of its'
kind. Stated also that the presentation gave us insights into the potential uses of the
network, its' speed, and a general overview of how it all would work. Stated that if the
price is affordable or there is some kind of partnership this could be a win-win the City of
Lakeville and Marcus were hoping for during this franchise negotiations process. Mayor
Zaun asked if there were any other comments? Greg Stattman stated that this technology
will lead us into the future. Bob Erickson asked if Brian could explain the difference
between Marcus and Marcus Fiberlink? Brian Grogan stated that Marcus is a Cable TV
provider and Marcus Fiberlink is a separate company that designs, builds, maintains, and
administers Fiber Optic networks for high-speed data transfer, videoconferencing, two-way
video, etc.. Bob Erickson stated that the ATM network should bring about a degree of
competition with current telephone providers. Councilmember Sindt stated that she wanted
to make everyone aware that because her daughter-in-law works with Jane Bremer, she will
be abstaining from the vote on this issue. She stated that she does not have anything to
gain monetarily but because of the perceived conflict ofinterest she will be abstaining from
the vote on this issue.
Public Access Update
4a. Brian Grogan provided an overview on the Public Access issue and where we are at with it.
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• 4b. Jane Bremer presented a tentative agreement which would have Marcus continue to
provide Public Access through the calendar year of 1998 before the City would have to
have a plan in place to take it over as specified in the Franchise Agreement.
4c. Greg Stattman stated that the internet is the way people are expressing themselves now but
he feels that in the near future they will begin migrating toward using public access to
express themselves. He feels we need to keep this option open for those in our community
who want to utilize it to express themselves plus those out their that would enjoy watching
..community produced programming. Robin Selvig shared that the franchise subcommittee
-has already agreed with Marcus on the PEG Access Channels we will keep. We needed to
reduce the access channels by two as part of the give and take of franchise negotiation and
we determined that we will give up the Apple Valley government channel and an open
access channel that had not been used yet. We then will keep the Lakeville Government
channel 16, Lakeville Public Access channel 12, Regional Access Channel 6, Lakeville
Educational Access channe122, and Apple Valley Education Access channel 10. Bob
Erickson stated that he again wanted to compliment the franchise subcommittee for their
efforts in this area and for hosting Apple Valley's Cable Commission here to have an
informational meeting on the potential of a PEG Access partnership.. Stated that our city
has one of the very best government access channels and he is concerned that taking on the
added responsibility of Public Access would reduce the quality of programming on channel
16. Shared that the Apple Valley partnership would allow us to move forward wit adequate
staff and resources in place to accomplish a common: goal. Jane Bremer stated that her
only comment is that the cost of PEG Access is a value/benefit concern for Marcus when
• they are trying to keep costs down to compete with Direct Broadcast Satellite service.
Greg Stattman stated that the franchise subcommittee has documents to bring forward and
the PEG pass-through-fee comfort level for our. community is between 0-$ 1.00, knowing
that $ 1.00 is as high as we want to go. Robin Selvig stated that if we don't do this now it
will be a lost opportunity. Councilmember Ryan asked if society is moving away from
cables to more of a wireless community? Karen Sanderson stated that Marcus will not be
abandoning cable in the next five years, but that ultimately everything in the cable TV
business will be running on Fiber Optics. Councilmember Mulvihill stated that her concern
was over subscriber loss in the face of increased. competition. Greg Stattman stated that
Lakeville has one of the highest capture rates in Minnesota at about 70%. Even though
competition has increased and some subscribers have been lost the growth factor the City
has experienced has kept the capture rate the same. Councilmember Ryan asked if
Midwest Sports Channel is local and if they would be interested in airing our public access
programming. Jeff Lueders stated that Midwest Sports Channel is a regional channel. and
would not be interested in airing our public access programming unless it was of interest to
their entire viewing area and was produced with very high quality equipment and then it
would be for a large programming fee. that would have to be generated from advertising.
Greg Maliszewski stated that Council members should not be afraid if in the franchise
document they see $ 1.25 as the PEG Access fee per month per subscriber. This is only a
ceiling figure and we can implement any figure lower than that (for example .30 cents per
subscriber per month). But if we do not sign the franchise agreement with a PEG Access
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pass-through-fee ceiling amount at between $ 1.00 to $ 2.00 then in the future we can not
raise it because it is a 15 year agreement. At that point the City would be forced to provide
or contract for public access services with an inadequate amount of resources which will
greatly inhibit the quality and the number of public access productions. Mayor Zaun asked
for any final comments and stated that if anyone had any additional questions they should
submit them to the Mayor for clarification from the City Administrator and/or Cable
Coordinator.
The work session was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
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