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(/ OO <br /> \ <br /> pr: \ <br /> Street AddressCITY OF ORONO <br /> : Mailing AddressTelephone(952)249-4600 <br /> : <br /> 2750 Kelley Parkway P.U. Box 66 Fax (952)249-4616 <br /> -FS1-1O0 '/ <br /> Orono, MN 55356 Crystal Bay, MN 55323 www.ci.orono.mn.us <br /> TO: Roger Hackbarth, LMCC Chair <br /> Sally Koenecke, LMCC Executive Director <br /> DATE: July 9, 2013 <br /> RE: Orono City Council Action <br /> On July 8th,the Orono City Council voted unanimously to approve a direct cable franchise with <br /> Mediacom starting January 1, 2014. <br /> There are three main reasons Orono decided to secure its own franchise agreement. <br /> First,Mediacom has agreed to a complete build-out of our remaining cable plant to reach areas that have <br /> never had access to cable. This also serves a secondary purpose in providing these areas access to internet <br /> broadband and telephone services that are part of the bundling package of Mediacom. <br /> Secondly, Orono will have full control of the income received from the franchise and PEG fees. These <br /> fees will be better used in the best interest of the city, its residents and providing cost effective <br /> government programming. <br /> Lastly the City Council believes the LMCC business model is outdated, expensive and very bureaucratic. <br /> The LMCC has not made the necessary changes to make it operate more efficiently with less expense, <br /> especially in light of the changes in technology in recent years. Instead of streamlining their business <br /> model to focus on quality government access programming(taping of council meetings, programming <br /> relevant to city events),the LMCC has hung on to the high cost of studio programming and <br /> administrative overhead. <br /> Orono has been a significant contributor to the LMCC and our decision was not taken lightly due to its <br /> impact to the organization. Orono would be interested in supporting a reorganization of the LMCC if the <br /> member cities agree to explore changes to the LMCC's business model. There are examples of various <br /> JPA models created by other cable commissions as well as the agreement Mound has with the LMCC that <br /> Orono would be interested in exploring with the member cities. Orono sees itself as an important member <br /> of the LMCC and is committed to providing input and support towards a more progressive model of the <br /> LMCC if the member cities agree to discussing changes to the organization. <br /> Lili McMillan, Mayor <br /> cc LMCC Mayors <br /> I <br />