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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, November 25, 2013 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 26 of 29 (CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT, Continued) Loftus stated the Council should also be aware that Fire Chief Van Eyll and Mound Fire Chief Greg Peterson have been hosting meetings with other local fire chiefs to discuss shared services. Loftus indicated they are looking at perhaps creating a larger district to avoid the need for each fire department to purchase some of the larger equipment. Loftus indicated there are still six or seven years left on the contract and that the talks are still in the exploratory phase. McMillan indicated the committee is also looking at duty or daytime crews that can respond to smaller incidents quicker. McMillan noted the St. Bonifacius Fire Department and Maple Plain Fire Department has had some issues with getting the volunteer firefighters to respond. McMillan stated that is not currently a problem with the Long Lake Fire Department and that they are very well staffed. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Levang indicated Tuesday, November 19, Mayor McMillan and herself attended their final LMCC meeting. That meeting marked the end of Orono’s long and distinguished relationship with the cable commission. Levang indicated she would like to take a few moments to provide a summary of the events of the past year. Levang stated Orono has been with the LMCC since the beginning. Thankfully, for the City of Orono, Mayor McMillan began to attend LMCC meetings in 2012 as a way to begin to better understand the work of the cable commission and, more specifically, to learn about the three-year cable franchise renewal process. Levang indicated when she came on board in January, the LMCC was two years into the renewal process but had made little to no forward progress in detailing a new franchise. The issues that were of greatest significance to Orono were, one, total build out in Orono; and two, an equitable business model for the seventeen member cities. Levang stated when she and Mayor McMillan realized that the LMCC would not guarantee Orono even partial build-out and were stonewalling changes to the business model; the City Council decided to negotiate directly with Mediacom and successfully signed a new contract with them. This new contract provides for a complete build out of Orono by 2015 and gives Orono complete control of franchise and PEG fees. The hope is to reduce these fees in the near future. Over the last ten months, Levang stated she and Mayor McMillan have worked tirelessly to represent Orono subscribers and citizens on the LMCC. In addition to attending the regular meetings, a special subcommittee was convened to look at alternate business models and, more recently, a resolution was put forth by Orono to return excess fees to member cities. Unfortunately, none of those efforts to engage the cities in change and good government practices met with success. During the process, however, Orono was able to form supportive relationships with Medina, who also left the LMCC, and with other cities who have given notice of withdrawal. Item #03 - CC Agenda - 12/09/2013 Approval of Council Minutes 11/25/2013 [Page 26 of 29]