09-24-2012 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 10, 2012 7:00 o'clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 2 of 26 (4. LAKE MINNETONKA COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (LMCC) 2013 BUDGET, Continued) budget this year includes the purchase of some new cameras to record city council meetings as well as an ENG kit. The ENG kit will be used to tape the Orono candidates' forum on October 9th and other government taping. Approximately 80 percent of the capital budget is used for taping city council meetings and taping of other government type events. Printup asked if there is a way that the LMCC can send out notification of an outage via a listserv. Printup noted that currently complaints go to the LMCC and that it would be nice if the LMCC could send out an en masse e-mail notifying customers of the anticipated resolution of the outage. Koenecke stated they have done that on occasion in the past when it is a major outage but that normally they do not send a message when the outage is limited to a small specific area. Franchot noted it took a great deal of effort over the years to get Mediacom to notify the LMCC of the problems associated with outages but that the situation has now been improved. McMillan stated she has received a number of positive comments regarding the taping of the city council meetings since the taping started two years ago. McMillan indicated she has also received some negative complaints from the people in the northwest corner of the city requesting that they be provided with cable. McMillan stated expanding the service is something she would like to explore but that she does not know how much Orono’s build-out would be compared to some of the other cities and that she does not expect the other cities to help pay for Orono's build-out. McMillan stated she would like to find some way that more citizens can have access to cable and that this is something she would like to look at in the coming months. Koenecke indicated the LMCC is currently engaged in the process of franchise renegotiation, and part of that process is looking at the density requirement for a build-out. Orono's City Administrator, Jessica Loftus, has received an invitation to a stakeholders meeting taking place on September 21st. Koenecke stated she would like to have a representative from Orono there because the meeting will be very informative on how the process works and the services provided. The meeting is being headed by some consultants to the LMCC who will compile the information into a report that can then be used during franchise negotiations. The information will allow the LMCC to better impress upon Mediacom that they need to expand their service area. Koenecke stated the LMCC has been recently speaking with Mediacom about doing some wireless testing. The LMCC has also started web streaming so some users can get service that way. The Commission will be discussing the density issue with Mediacom and they welcome Orono’s assistance in that process. Koenecke stated the LMCC provides the programming through the funding by the cities and that the issues are how to get the best possible franchise for the cities in terms of equipment, facilities, service to the residents, build-out, and better density. Franchot stated higher density and added coverage is the top priority of the LMCC. The current contract requires Mediacom to provide service if there are more than 30 residents per mile. Industry trends currently are to go with less density and the LMCC is working to gather information and input from the residents so the LMCC can present that data to Mediacom. The LMCC has also discussed a possible Item #02 - CC Agenda - 09/24/2012 Approval of Council Minutes 09/10/2012 [Page 2 of 26]