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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, July 8, 2013 <br />7:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />    Page 9 of 13   <br />(9. CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE ORDINANCE NO. 110, Continued) <br /> <br />McMillan noted Mediacom is going to be providing the City with three channels that can have local <br />broadcasting and that the City Council meetings will be broadcast on one of those channels. <br />Programming from other cities can also be broadcast over those channels. McMillan indicated a lot of <br />those decisions are yet to be determined. <br /> <br />Scott stated the Mayor makes it sound so easy but that television programming requires a lot of work, <br />equipment and editing. Scott questioned whether the City would be able to put together a staff to do that. <br /> <br />McMillan noted a lot of the LMCC programming is available on the Internet and a number of people <br />prefer to watch it on their laptops. McMillan stated the unanswered question at this point is whether the <br />LMCC would be willing to share some of their programs on the City’s channels. McMillan indicated the <br />City will be talking to the LMCC to see whether they would be willing to share some of that <br />programming. <br /> <br />Scott asked what would happen if the LMCC goes away because of decisions like this. <br /> <br />McMillan indicated she is not able to speak for the LMCC. McMillan stated as it relates to the customer <br />service aspect, if a citizen is having difficulty with Mediacom, they would be able to call the City of <br />Orono. <br /> <br />Scott asked whether additional staff would be hired to deal with customer complaints. <br />McMillan noted the LMCC has received eight complaints so far this year and three of them were <br />regarding obtaining service out of the 17 member cities. <br /> <br />Scott noted Southwest Cable went away under similar circumstances and now those cities are looking at <br />bringing it back. <br /> <br />McMillan stated she understands those cities redid their JPA but that she is not sure what is prompting <br />that. They currently rent out some space in Bloomington and pay $15,000 a year for use of that studio. <br /> <br />Scott stated she would reiterate that as far as the schools are concerned, the school board meetings and <br />other events that the LMCC provides for the residents, she finds it a total shame that those events will not <br />be aired. Scott noted it takes people who are trained to cover those events and to produce the <br />programming. Scott stated she would plead with the Council to reconsider what they are doing and to <br />look at trying to work with the LMCC as they have in the past in order to offer all the things that are <br />currently being offered. <br /> <br />Henry Braningham, County Road 6, stated he currently has no public access and that he is surprised at <br />how big the areas are that are not currently receiving service. Braningham indicated he has very limited <br />options and that he currently gets his Internet through his cell phone service, which is very expensive and <br />slow. Braningham stated he has called the LMCC a number of times over the years to inquire about <br />service and basically has received nothing. <br /> <br />Braningham stated he does not know about all the money issues and that he is currently not able to watch <br />any of those special events referred to earlier. Braningham stated in his view this is a good thing for the <br />people who do not currently receive service. <br />Item #03 - CC Agenda - 07/22/2013 <br />Approval of Council Minutes 07/08/2013 <br />[Page 9 of 13]