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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005/03/14 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session afCTY OFFICIAL MINUTES RK CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION March 14, 2005 The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: Phil Finkelstein, Paul Omodt, Susan Sanger, Sue Santa, Sally Velick and Mayor Jeff Jacobs. Councilmember Basill amved at 7:35 Staff present: City Manager(Mr. Harmening); Director of Technology and Support Services (Mr. Pires); Community TV Coord (Mr. McHugh); Civic TV Coord (Reg Dunlap); Community Development Director(Mr. Locke), Housing Supervisor(Ms. Schnitker); City Clerk (Ms. Reichert). 1. Telecommunications Commission 2004 Annual Report Ken Huiras, Chair of the Telecommunications Commission presented a summary of the commission's activities and accomplishments during the past year. The commission had worked on the renewal of the Time Warner Cable Franchise, School District cable TV funding, the Victory Sports Channel, and legislative issues. 2. Time Warner Cable TV Franchise Renewal Discussion of Business Points Councilmember Sanger asked about a provision being negotiated where Time Warner has proposed cutbacks in local origination (LO) programming. Joel Jamnik, Campbell-Knutson, explained what LO programming is and how it works. Lance Leopold, Time Warner, stated Time Warner's (TW) position. TW would like to do away with twenty hours of local origination programming. They would still provide local programming, however, the content of that programming would be their choice rather than the city's. Mr. Harmening indicated that the City and Time Warner were considering a range of options for ensuring that LO programming would continue. The question was more a matter of who would provide that programming—Time Warner or the City Councilmember Finkelstein asked it was common for local onginatlon to be provided by the cable company in other cities Mr. Leopold replied no,dust one other city provided it. Councilmember Finkelstein asked how much Time Warner spent on local origination. Mr. Dunlap responded that the cost was approximately $180,000/year. Councilmember Finkelstein asked if the city would be receiving more franchise fees as Time Warner added new kinds of services. Mr. Leopold responded that the franchise fee applied only to cable television service. Other services provided by TW were not subject to the franchise fee requirements. Councilmember Omodt did not believe that Time Warner, which is essentially granted a monopoly to operate in the city, should be relieved of it's responsibility for providing LO unless the city got something in return during the negotiations. Mr Leopold stated that times had changed and the City would benefit in the long run. Study Session Minutes -2- March 14, 2005 Mayor Jacobs indicated that cable without local origination was worthless. He asked what would happen if the city chose to change cable television providers. Mr. Jamnik explained that changing providers would require a different company laying cable throughout the city. Councilmember Santa questioned whether staff was technically qualified to provide the local ongination programming. John McHugh believed they could do a quality job Mayor Jacobs stated that if local origination goes away, he will cancel cable. This was a service provided for 20+ years and expected by our public. Time Warner had been granted a monopoly and now they were trying to change the original agreement. He did not believe that was fair Councilmember Sanger also believed customers were asking for local ongination and that without that programming cable would be useless to many in the city. Councilmember Velick asked what services the city would have to cut in order to accommodate providing LO in-house Mr. Pires replied that funds to provide the LO would be transferred from the general fund. The money they would transfer is earmarked for technology. Sacrifices would be in technology support and other general services. Councilmember Santa asked if the proposal for city provided local origination included equipment and operations or only personnel Mr. McHugh responded only personnel. Councilmember Santa stated that service from Time Warner was worse than before, so bad that she had dropped cable. Councilmember Omodt believed that if the city were to agree to relieve Time Warner of its responsibility that the city should receive something back in the negotiations. Councilmember Sanger thought it sounded as though staff were negotiating "as if' local origination was going away. She wanted to make it known that LO was important, and she was not willing to give in on this point. Mr. Harmening stated that staff believed local origination is critical, whether provided by the City or Time Warner. Negotiations were continuing and many options were being explored. Councilmember Santa didn't care who provided the LO,just so no taxpayer money was going to local origination. She was concerned about staff time. Councilmember Velick agreed. Councilmember Sanger asked if there were entities that could provide the service and if the city could contract for LO. Mr. Pires stated that was an option. Councilmember Finkelstein also believed LO programming was critical. He didn't care how it was provided, as long as the city and its residents benefited in the end. He also made the point that he believed there should be a studio located somewhere in the City. Mr. McHugh went through other points of agreement and disagreement in the negotiations. Study Session Minutes -3- March 14, 2005 Councilmember Sanger asked if performance standards were a part of the contract. Mr. Pires responded that they were. However, it was the understanding of staff and the Telecommunications Advisory Commission that Time Warner's customer service was good. It seemed from this discussion that it was not. Councilmember Velick did not agree that the service was good. She had heard multiple complaints about service from her constituents. Mr Huiras stated that service reports are given to the Commission every meeting and there were not many complaints, about a half dozen each meeting. Mr. Harmening summarized the discussion stating that negotiations would continue and that staff would apprise council of their progress at a future date 3. Move Up in the Park Program—Small Home Acquisition Pilot with Expansion (SHAPE) Mayor Jacobs and Councilmember Finkelstein expressed enthusiasm for the program Councilmember Finkelstein asked if the program could encourage "green" development ideals Mr. Locke stated that there could be design standards including landscaping, insulation and windows. Councilmember Sanger asked what happened if a home didn't sell for the expected price. Was the city exposed in any way? Mr. Locke responded that the developer would incur the expense if a home did not sell for the expected price, not the city. Councilmember Sanger asked if the TIF formula would change if the end buyer had a high income. Mr. Locke stated that in the event TIF needed to be used, adjustments could be made to the formula. Councilmember Sanger asked if design standards could be put in place to ensure the homes would be compatible with the neighborhood. Mr. Locked replied that they would be using the same guidelines used in the Home Renewal program. Councilmember Velick asked if homes would be located across the city, or if they would be grouped in one area. Mr Locke said it was the intent to place the homes at different locations as they became available, but he could not guarantee where Mr. Harmening indicated that the next step would be to authonze the Housing Authority to administer funding for the program. 4. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m. /'n: /• - Ci y Clerk ayor I