03-11-2013 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE • ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING , Monday,March 11,2013 7:00 o'clock p.m. (17. FRANCHISE RENEWAL, Continued) Huber indicated they are here to serve the cities and that there are different dynamics that are going on with different service levels. Huber stated as best as he understands it,Mediacom has met the letter of the original agreement but the LMCC is working on improving that level of service. Huber stated his personal concern associated with a tiered system is that they will end up with a race to the bottom in order to save money and that the LMCC will have to cut services significantly. Huber stated if that is what the cities want,that's fine, but that there will be people who will be upset if the LMCC has to cut programming. On the other hand,there may be some hard decisions the LMCC will have to make in the long run. Huber reiterated his concern is if they go to two tiers that the majority of the cities will evolve into the bottom tier,which will result in services being cut. Huber stated he is not saying the two-tier model is impossible and that the LMCC will follow the direction of the member cities. McMillan commented there are a number of good programs offered by the LMCC and that the people enjoy watching them. McMillan noted she receives approximately ten emails a year who say they do not have Internet connection and that they are looking for some way they can have service. Mediacom has come to the Council and said what they can do for the residents. The City Council has to also take into consideration what the residents want and Mediacom has said that they feel there is a way to work together. Huber indicated the LMCC understands that and that the value Orono's participation in the LMCC. Mayor McMillan opened the meeting up for public comment. Stacy Royal stated she has lived in Orono for six years without Internet service. Royal indicated she has attempted to work with Century Link but has been told that Internet will not happen in her neighborhood. Royal noted she has also submitted petitions for her neighborhood and Highway 6. Royal stated she would like to be directed to a place where she can get more information on the franchise fees. Currently there are high franchise fees and PEG fees paid to LMCC. If those fees were brought into a direct contract with Mediacom,those fees could then be brought into Orono. Right now the LMCC is receiving approximately$100,000 from the Orono residents that are currently Mediacom customers, and only about a third of the Orono customers have Internet service currently. If the City can expand that service and the franchise fee increases to be$200,000 a year,Royal stated she would like to see that money brought into the City of Orono. As a t�payer, she would like that money brought into Orono and not necessarily tied into programming that deals with 17 other cities. Royal stated she would like more information on how that could happen. Royal stated her other concern with the LMCC's priority list is that it is ideal to say we want a full build- out for the cities, but a full-build is not realistic given how the cities are broken down and the other priorities contained on the list. If Orono is involved in those negotiations,that would be a top priority since there are not a lot of other priorities the City would be requesting. In addition, if Mediacom has a reliable wireless system,they have not tested it yet and/or it is not something that has been tested reliably. Royal noted no company has been able to offer a wireless system that is reliable. Page 24 of 27