04-28-2014 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 14, 2014 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 2 of 30 (4. MEDIACOM BUILD OUT UPDATE – BILL JENSEN, Continued) Jensen indicated the construction manager will be visiting City Hall in the near future to work with Staff on obtaining the appropriate permits. Jensen noted the bulk of the construction will be underground but there will be some aerial attachments and that they do not anticipate any major issues during the construction. Jensen stated the major issue is to make sure the soil is not saturated, which would cause additional damage to the yards of residents. McMillan stated a number of citizens have inquired about when the build-out will occur in front of their properties. McMillan asked what the City should tell them about Mediacom’s schedule. Jensen stated generally speaking it takes approximately a week to build a mile of cable. The planned 9 plus miles will take between two to three months depending on the weather. Jensen stated what has worked out in the past year or so is when the City Administrator gets a request from a customer who is not sure if they will be covered by the 2014 build-out, the City Administrator will send an e-mail to Mediacom and an answer will be provided within 24 hours. Jensen stated Mediacom can also provide the City with a list of addresses to the City Administrator that will be included in the build-out. McMillan stated she would like to see an update from Mediacom twice a month. Jensen indicated that would be fine. Jensen stated if there is underground work involved, restoration will also need to occur. A few days prior to activation, Mediacom will notify the City Administrator and the resident that the cable is ready to be activated. Jensen noted the resident does not need to buy cable or bundle their services if they do not want to. Levang stated in her view it would be helpful for the City to know where Mediacom is in the construction process so they can alert any interested residents when construction will be occurring on their street. Jensen stated Mediacom will provide the address list, including the house number, that will be covered in the first 9.17 miles, and then provide an update on what has been activated in that area. Jensen stated it is Mediacom’s goal that every customer is satisfied with the restoration; and if not, Mediacom will come back out and fix it to the customer’s satisfaction. Jensen stated the construction crew will also speak with the residents prior to commencing construction and that they will inform any resident if there will be an extra charge due to the length of their driveway. Jensen stated Mediacom also has 105 megabit per second high-speed Internet service and that just today down in Iowa they activated that 305 megabit Internet service. That high-speed service is expected to be in the Twin Cities area sometime this summer. Jensen noted Mediacom also provides home security. Jensen suggested the City Council begin to think about where they would like the additional two miles built out. Jensen noted the first combined franchise fee payment and PEG fee payment to the City of Orono will be cut next week and will be delivered to City Hall within the next week or two. McMillan commented the residents are happy to receive the service and that so far the City’s partnership with Mediacom has been a win/win situation. McMillan noted the City Council meetings are now being live streamed and that they hope the partnership continues to be a success. The City Council took no formal action on this item. Item #02 - CC Agenda - 04/28/2014 Approval of Council Minutes 04/14/2014 [Page 2 of 30]