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. (4. LMCC UPDATE, Continued) For purposes of informal franchise renewal negotiations,the LMCC has identified certain past performance concerns, including several franchise violations and future community cable related needs and interests. These issues are addressed in a staff report entitled cable franchise enforcement history. The LMCC intends to negotiate for a franchise that adequately addresses all past performance concerns and future needs and interests. The following points highlight the LMCC's negotiation priorities. This information supplements but does not replace or limit the performance concerns and future needs identified in the LMCC report. All of the information in the reports stands to be used in the negotiations. The LMCC has attempted to prioritize the main points,and the first priority is to provide for full build-out of the LMCC franchise area, including all underserved member cities,within five or fewer years. Koenecke indicated she has requested Mediacom cover the first 350 feet of drop, coordination with other communities in these subdivisions, and the securing of an appropriate bond to secure completion. The reason the LMCC has elected to go with the 350 feet is that the majority of the complaints from Medina has to do with residents who cannot receive serve. The LMCC felt the issue has to do with the length of the driveway. Currently the LMCC requires the company to do a site survey,which measures the distance from the plant. They then give the resident a formula to figure out how much the residents have to pay. Due to the costs,the residents generally do not sign-up for the service. The figure of 350 feet was determined following some research conducted on the internet that show there are companies currently who are asking for 350 feet. Koenecke stated one of the reports talks about Mediacom being a good performing system and outpaces national trends in all areas except for digital and cable phone subscriptions,which means that their income is slightly above the national average. Currently five of the seven cities have build-out issues. Koenecke stated when companies have a long history of serving an area;you should be able to expect a build-out at their expense and not at the expense of the subscribers. A newer company has to build the entire infrastructure from scratch. In this particular case,the LMCC believes there should be full build- out within five years. The second priority identified is to require improvement in the reliability and technical quality of the system, improvement of telephone answering times and customer response time to exceed FCC standards, improvement of communications with customers about service changes, and require submission of specific customer complaint information on a monthly basis. Basically the LMCC is asking for more accountability and reporting. Some of the issues were identified in the technical report to ensure that these things are done. The LMCC has been informed by Mediacom that they have improved phone standards, and according to the survey, it appears the majority of the complaints have to do with major outages lasting more than 24 hours. In the case of an outage,Mediacom should be giving refunds to all subscribers, which is not currently being done, and that requirement will be put into the franchise agreement. Other priorities identified include providing support for Mediacom's continued migration from analog digital channels,obtain funding to replace PEG equipment with high-density digital equipment, establish an agreed upon position for existing LMCC channels,potentially increasing the number of LMCC channels to accommodate live video feeds,etc. Some of these items were brought up in the focus groups, which is why they were added. The focus group also discussed raising money through various fundraisers, policing live programming, updating funding, including upfront grants, and implement packages for member city sites. Page 3 of 27