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1VIINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, August 8, 2011 <br />7:00 o'clock p.m. <br />• <br />(3. LMCCPRESENTATION, Continued) <br />Jabbour noted the City has worked hard to get their AAA rating by Moody's and that the City should not <br />be in partnership with cities that have junk bond ratings. <br />Jabbour encouraged the City Council to vote down the fiber optic project and to have the City's <br />representative to the LMCC.follow the City's direction. <br />Franchot noted he is the City's representative to the LMCC and is currently serving as the vice chair. <br />Franchot indicated he has spoken with Mr. Jabbour in the past about his opposition to the fiber optic <br />project and has asked him for supporting documentation on some of his assertions. Franchot commented <br />there is almost a total lack of accuracy on Mr. Jabbour's facts. If the Council were to take his. <br />recommendation to heart, the'Council would be taking a recommendation that is littered with <br />misinformation. Franchot pointed out it is not taxpayers' money that would go into this project but that it <br />is fees for a service, which is what people are paying now. There is nothing about the current LMCC that <br />was ever envisioned to run any effort that might come from the fiber optic plan. . <br />Franchot stated as to the question of why the City would sign up with a group to provide this service, one <br />should go back to the history of how cable was originally provided to this area. In the past the City could <br />not get a cable company to talk to any of the communities around Lake Minnetonka to put in a cable <br />system because of the small size of the area and the costs associated with providing that service. The <br />LMCC came about because it was the only way that our communities could get any cable. That system <br />has worked very well for the 20 -plus years that it has been in existence. <br />Franchot pointed out the effort around the fiber optic project has been one of exploration and is an effort <br />to find solutions to the problems with the current system. Franchot commented he has to point out that <br />Mr. Jabbour is stating a lot of things that simply are not true. Franchot indicated that Mr. Jabbour has <br />previously stated that fiber optic technology is obsolete technology and that he has asked for information <br />to support that claim, which has not been forthcoming. <br />Jabbour noted he has only spoken with Council Member Franchot one time at a luncheon meeting and <br />that he was informed Mr. Franchot had just left a cable commission meeting. Jabbour stated he informed <br />Mr. Franchot at that time that he could get the chief engineer of Cisco Systems to come and address the <br />City Council. Jabbour indicated he did not discuss this project any further with Council Member <br />Franchot after that. <br />Franchot stated his recollection of the meeting is different and that he remembers Mr. Jabbour speaking <br />about a WiFi system that would make fiber optic obsolete. Franchot indicated he requested information <br />about the system, which has never been provided. <br />Jabbour indicated that would be the Cicso system he was speaking of and that he offered to have the chief <br />engineer come speak to the City at his expense. <br />Franchot stated that has never been offered to him. <br />Jabbour commented it is possible he could make errors out of stupidity but not out of malice. Jabbour <br />commented that Council Member Franchot is stating that he is misrepresenting the facts but that to the • <br />best of his knowledge he is not misrepresenting the facts. Jabbour stated Council Member Franchot is <br />Page 4 of 21 <br />