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. MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> Monday,September 9,2013 <br /> 7:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> (I2. ENGAGEMENT AGREEMENT, Continued) <br /> McMillan reported there have been two subcommittee meetings consisting of seven members and that <br /> there have been some pretty good discussions regarding franchising. McMillan stated Orono is further <br /> down the road with direct franchising than some of the other member cities and that in her view going <br /> forward the subcommittee will help everyone understand the situation. McMillan noted the cities of <br /> Minnetrista and Victoria will likely be leaving the LMCC and direct franchising with Mediacom. <br /> McMillan indicated Orono has received a nuxnber of compliments about working with the other cities to <br /> explore options to see if the member cities can stay together. <br /> Levang commented there is a fair amount of energy for the 17 member cities to stay together but how that <br /> will actually work is unclear at this time. Two of the cities currently have direct franchise agreements <br /> signed and others are seriously looking at going that route. Orono is providing another opportunity for <br /> the cities to discuss ways in which they can continue to work together and whether that is still possible. <br /> Levang noted the subcommittee had a good meeting last week with Brian Grogan and that his expertise in <br /> franchising was very helpful. The subcommittee at this point is looking at the Southwest model,which is <br /> a very good model, and the subcommittee will see what happens in the next week as the withdrawal <br /> process is looked at and what that will a11 entail. Levang indicated the subcommittee at this point is not <br /> receiving a whole lot of information about how the process is going with the LMCC. <br /> Levang stated some of the tasks recommended by Mr.Grogan to examine are what the objectives are, <br /> what everyone would like out of a franchise, and what Orono would like out of a franchise going forward. <br /> Some of the questions that need to be answered are whether the City Council would like to have mini <br /> cameras in the chambers and what types of programming should be offered, such as school or church <br /> programming. Levang indicated the Council has not had that discussion yet,which needs to be had,and <br /> that the subcommittee will be discussing that topic this week at its upcoming meeting. <br /> McMillan commented the LMCC has done some good things with taping the city council meetings and <br /> the agenda parsing and providing that to the cities. T'he question is whether or not that is an important <br /> thing for the cities that stay with LMCC to have or whether they want to try to outsource that work. <br /> McMillan stated she would have preferred to have had this discussion a year ago to allow the cities to <br /> have more time to think about the issues. McMillan noted unfortunately the member cities only have six <br /> weeks to make a decision. <br /> Printup asked when the six weeks is up. <br /> McMillan stated the LMCC is talking about having a franchise renewal agreement ready by the end of <br /> October or the first part of November. McMillan stated the cities need to make a decision by October 15 <br /> if they want to withdraw,which does not allow a lot of options for those cities that are not able to decide <br /> right now. <br /> McMillan noted currently the fees are going straight to the LMCC rather than the general fund of the <br /> cities and that the cities need to decide what to do with the PEG fees. McMillan stated one of the issues <br /> with paying all of the PEG fees is that Orono does not own one camera in the council chambers or any <br /> other equipment. <br /> Page 9 of 11 <br />