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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CC-1987-02-0915'7 COMMON COUNCIL /CABLE COMMISSION PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Special Joint Meeting 7:30 P.M. February 9, 1987 PRESENT: Alderpersons (10) - Booth, Cummings, Dennis, Haine, Hoffman, Killeen, Peterson, Romanowski, Lytel, Schlather (arrived 8:30 p.m.) ABSENT: Mayor Gutenberger In the absence of the Mayor the meeting was chaired by Acting Mayor Sean Killeen. OTHERS PRESENT: TV—Cable Committee - Curt Dunnam, Robert Fletcher, Christopher Heegard City Clerk - Paolangeli BPW Commissioner - Nichols City Attorney - Nash (left meeting at 9:00 p.m.) N-i Dir., Planning Development - Van Cort d' Consultant - Jean Rice LO PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: m Acting Mayor Killeen led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Q ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA: Television Cable Alderperson Lytel requested addition of an item "Consideration of a Technical Analysis on the Question of Degree of Competitiveness of the City of Ithaca as a Cable Market." No Council member objected. Local Law re. Annexation Alderperson Dennis requested addition of a Local Law concerning Annexation of Land from the Town of Ithaca. No Council member objected. New Business Alderperson Dennis requested addition of an item under "New Business" near the end of the meeting. No Council member objected. City Attorney City Attorney Nash requested addition of an item concerning inclusion of annexation hearing of Town of Ithaca in conjunction with Common Council meeting of March 4, 1987. No Council member objected. PETITIONS AND HEARINGS _O_F_PERSONS BEFORE COUNCIL: Cable Refranchisng Georgia Griffith, General Manager of American Community Cable - vison, S19 West State Street, presented the following: (woo" "Won't talk about issues but am willing to answer questions at any time during the meeting or after. Notes for remarks before the City Cable Commission /Common Council joint meeting, February 9, 1987 All of you know we are in the midst of a franchise renewal process - what you may not know is - This process is defined by the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, commonly called the Cable Act (contained in the notebook I'll be handing out) 158 -2- February 9, 1987 - this notebook contains a compilation and summary of all the material we have presented to the Cable Commission and others during the last two years. - By resolution 2 years ago, the Common Council appointed the Cable Commission as your designee to determine what City residents wanted from a cable operation after the 1988 renewal date and to determine how ACC has performed under the current franchise. This process is called the Ascertainment Hearings by the Cable act. According to the resolution, the Commission was also to report back to the Council on its "Findings of Fact" and make a timely recommendation as to what formal action the Council should take. There has not been an ascertainment hearing since at least the end of November and the Cable Commission hasn't effectively received public comment since months before that. Because tonight you are deciding on some of the major issues of the RFP, the ascertainment hearings are clearly not continuing. Since the structure was defined, several things have changed. Some of our concerns are as follows: - The Commission has not reported its findings to the Council. The only summary of the two years of hearings was a confidential report prepared last fall that the Commission gave to Rice Associates - it has not been released to the public nor to ACC. - What role does the Commission have in this process now? We have asked the Mayor (this summer), Charter and Ordinance Committee (11/17/86) and the Cable Commission (numerous occasions) who we are to be dealing with in this process - Who is repre- senting the City? - and we were told that they would get back to us. No one has. Van Cort has told us that he is our contact, but the only official designation has been the cable commission. - Finally, the law requires the City to negotiate with ACC, the current franchise holder. In order for this to be effective negotiation, we need to know who we are dealing with. Who is gathering info and making recommendations and decisions. The resolution attached to tonight's agenda appoints the City Attorney and the Planning Department (two city employees who have not been involved -in the public information gathering) and Rice Associates, a consultant who has done its own information gathering and acsessment outside of the process defined by law with the responsibility for making final decisions on the RFP. At this point Rice Associates has been delinquent in releasing every report required under its contract and until tonight has only released publically one of the five reports expected between June 30 and September 30. These reports included community needs assessment. From our point of view, the process as defined by the Cable .Act and your resolution in early 1985 is not being followed. We are willing at any point to discuss any issue pertaining to the refranchising process. What we are asking you tonight is to appoint a contact person who will represent you in the remainder of the franchising process." Atty. Peter Costanza, Danby, N.Y., spoke to the Council urging that they include, in whatever specifications it places on the renewal process, a capability for two -way data transmission in the cable system which it does not now have. -3- February 9, 1987 Jane Hammond, 2010 Ellis Hollow Road, presented the following statement to the Council: "I want to speak in favor of building a two -way cable system for data transmission and to report a database will be accessible to anyone with the equipment to use the two -way cable. I am Jane Hammond, coordinator of the project to automate the Cornell University Libraries' procedures. This project is putting our card catalogs and circulation records into (600,� a Cornell computer. We estimate that the more than one million books and magazines included in the file represent at least one -third of the entire Cornell libraries collections - everything acquired since 1973 and many earlier acquisitions. These records will tell you not only if a given book or periodical is at Cornell, but also which library has it, so you will know which of the 16 libraries you want to go to to use the book. You can also find out what hours the library is open. �- The system will also tell you if someone has checked out LO the issue of the journal you want or the book, so you don't make a trip for something that is not available. You will also be able to create your own bibliography by moving the (Y] information from the screen into your own file or printer. Q Moving of this information into your home computer will be facilitated by having a high - quality two -way cable rather than the slower and more error -prone telephone lines. Having the author's name misspelled or a call number transposed by static on the telephone line is worse than no information when you are dealing with a file as big as the Cornell Libraries database. Access will not be limited to those with Cornell connections; anyone with adequate computer equipment will be able to find, sort and read these records. I'm not guaranteeing that this access will always be free or unlimited because the Cornell University Library's computer capacity is neither free nor unlimited. However, having a two -way cable access will enable more efficient and accurate use of whatever access we are able to provide to area residents. I urge you to extend the cable system to computer users for reasons you have heard before as well as to accommodate off - campus users of the Cornell online catalog. Thank you for your attention to this matter." Claude Colleyacme, 312 Esty Street, presented data to the Council from the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research with respect to senior citizens in the city. He also read the following communication: "Mayor John Gutenberger City of Ithaca City Hall Ithaca, New York Dear Mayor Gutenberger: When considering any rate increase request made by the American Cablevision Corporation we would urge Common Council to give special consideration to the senior citizens who live on fixed incomes. Many senior citizens are homebound and television is their main source of entertainment and in some instances contact with the outside world. It would be unfortunate if this segment of the population were prevented from obtaining their main source of enjoyment due to its high cost. 159 160 -4- We urge Common Council to ensure that American Cablevision heed the special needs of those on limited and low incomes. Sincerely, Marilyn Grey Executive Director The Tompkins County Council, Inc." Senior Citizens' Grady Wells, 110 Columbia Street, writer and editor, requested consideration of two -way data transmission in the cable system. Malinda Runyan, 420 N. Cayuga Street, requested consideration of restructured access management, improvement in equipment maintenance and one -half inch editing system. John Efroymson, 420 N. Cayuga Street, requested the Council to take a good look at the community access section of the contract which he feels should be improved upon. He supports the idea of an independent access board, and talked on specifics such as equipment, quality of audio, storage space, head phones, light bulbs, etc. Ben Nichols, 109 Ll.enroc Court, former member of the Ithaca Cable Committee who helped negotiate the current rate for television cable service, commented that the agreement clearly stated that there would be no additional rate until 1988. He feels there is a violation of "good faith" and wonders, therefore, what the evidence would be of any "good faith" in negotiations for the future. A.F. Marshall, 416 N. Geneva Street, recommended that the proposal refer to two -way capability; not two -way system because 91 percent of Tompkins County cable subscribers do not want two -way system. Only those who want it should be obliged to pay for two -way capability. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS: Cable Refranchising - Major Issues Jean Rice stated that the city is following the refranchising process as proscribed in the Cable act of 1984. She informed Council that it is typical for cities to have a commission, a consultant, and the city council involved in the process. The next step in the process was for a hearing to be held on community needs and for the issuance of the RFP. The company would then respond with a proposal and negotiations would not take place until after the proposal had been received. At the request of Acting Mayor Killeen, Jean Rice provided a brief recap of the ten points talked about at considerable length previously: Franchise fee, consumer protection, penalties and liquidated damages, performance bond and letter of credit, access channels, access equipment and ongoing operational support, access management, system channel capacity, two -way capacity, interconnection of other communities and term of franchise. Thys Van Cort commented that direction should be given to the Mayor in issuing an RFP based on the issues to be discussed. Also, he asked for discussion on competitiveness and on the possibility of Cornell University participating in a two -way system. He said that he had met with Cornell and that they have a real interest. Bob Fletcher, Chair, Ithaca Cable Commission, read from a letter from the Vice President and Regional Manager of ACC to the Commission which he passed on to City Atty. Nash, as follows: "It is our understanding that the basic rate 6W.-I -5- February 9, 1987 161 for 12- channel service will increase to $7.00 per month on July 1, 1984 and to $8.00 per month as 'of January 1986. In addition ACC agrees to freeze the basic rates until January 20, 1988." Mr. Fletcher said there are several major questions yet to be answered with regard to a two -way data communication system: regarding cost Alderperson Lytel had suggested 25 -400 above conventional cable with operating cost 1.5 -2 times that of conventional systems. Mr. Fletcher stated that this will cause basic subscriber rates to increase dramatically. He said 90 of the subscribers will use two -way if it costs between $10 and $15; however, he added that ACC will spread the rate increase over all subscribers. If the City expects Cornell University to share the cost, and if they decide not to the problem is that the RFP will already have been submitted. Chair Killeen commented that they would be trying to produce the elements for a request for proposal. Atty. Nash commented i_j that what they were looking for was some general direction d. from Council that Rice Associates will then use to make a In draft of proposed RFP. Alderperson Booth asked City Atty. Nash where he contemplates Co the draft RFP to go, if it comes back to Council. Q Thys VanCort responded that it is entirely up to the Council. He said there is some concern that we are getting too far along in the process without going to the RFP because of time constraints set by the federal legislation. If the Council feels more comfortable having the RFP come back to them, this can be done. Alderperson Cummings commented that another Council meeting is scheduled for February 24th and it could be brought back at that time. Jean Rice said it would take about two weeks to take policy recommendations and put them into the final document for the Council to look at. Thys Van Cort suggested that after Council had gone through all ten of the issues they could direct Rice to go ahead and prepare the RFP and authorize the Mayor to issue it. if not you can request that it come back to Council and you can vote on it at your next meeting. Alderperson Schlather arrived at the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Franchise Fee Jean Rice answered questions of the council members concerning the issue of franchise fee, its allocation, possible effects. Discussion followed on the floor. Resolution By Alderperson Schlather: Seconded by Alderperson Cummings RESOLVED, That the franchise fee be 50. Further discussion followed on the floor. Alderperson Schlather stated that he recognized full well that the franchise fee could in the final analysis be considered a tax. We have always worked to spread some of the costs of operating the city government to various users and to the extent that it is a tax it will relieve the other tax burden at least in some small way, which is spread across an even larger base of city taxpayers. This basically says "yes, you are going to pay a So tax to get cable service." "There are some people in the city, believe it or not, who don't get cable service and therefore will not have to pay for that. 162 _6- February 9, 1987 A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes (9) - Booth, Cummings, Dennis, Haine, Hoffman, Killeen, Peterson, Schlather, Lytel *Abstention (1) - Romanowski Carried *Alderperson Romanowski explained that as a phone company employee he felt a conflict of interest and would not vote on many of the evening's resolutions but he would participate in the discussion. Consumer Protection By Alderperson Cummings: Seconded by Alderperson Booth RESOLVED, That strong consumer protection provisions be included in the RFP. Discussion followed on the floor. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes (9) - Booth, Cummings, Dennis, Haine, Hoffman, Killeen, Peterson, Schlather, Lytel Abstention (1) - Romanowski Carried Penalties /Liquidated Damages By Ald erper-gon Dennis: Seconded by Alderperson Cummings RESOLVED, That the City include penalties /liquidated damages in the RFP. Discussion followed on the floor. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes (9) Booth, Cummings, Dennis, Haine, Hoffman, Killeen Peterson, Schlather, Lytel Abstention (1) - Romanowski Carried Performance Bond and Letter of Credit By Alderperson Dennis: Seconded by Alderperson Cummings RESOLVED, That the City require a performance bond to cover periods of construction and or ongoing operation and a letter of credit to cover penalties /liquidated damages arising from ongoing operations. Discussion followed on the floor. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes (9) - Booth, Cummings, Dennis, Haine, Hoffman, Killeen, Peterson, Schlather, Lytel Abstention (1) - Romanowski Carried Access Channels By Al erperson Lytel: Seconded by Alderperson Cummings RESOLVED, That the City require 150 of the channel capacity of the system be access channels; given that there is no converter on the basic tier, one channel shall be provided on the bottom 12; that all the access channels be unscrambled; and that 3 access channels be activated at the time the system is turned on and the others activated by demand; and be it further RESOLVED, That if a converter is provided in every home or if there is a similar type of technical change, all access channels shall be provided on basic. It -7- February 9, 1987 Discussion followed on the floor. Amending Resolution By Alderperson Schlather: Seconded by Alderperson Booth RESOLVED, That the requirement be amended to read 100 of the channel capacity of the system, 1 being on the bottom 1.2, that all of these channels be unscrambled and that 3 access channels be activated at the time the system is turned on and the others activated by demand. Ayes (2) - Schlather, Booth (4wv Nays (7) - Cummings, Dennis, Haine, Hoffman, Killeen, Peterson, Lytel Abstention (1) - Romanowski Motion Defeated A vote on the main motion resulted as follows: Ayes (8) - Schlather, Booth, Cummings, Dennis, Haine, Hoffman, Killeen, Lytel Nay (1) - Peterson T-� Abstention (1) - Romanowski ej- Carried LO Access Equipment and Ongoing Operational Support = By Alderperson Cummings: Seconded by Alderperson Haine m RESOLVED, That the City require a proposal for certain equip - ment, additional training, staff, publicity, insurance for access users, operating funds, remote access facilities and interconnection of public facilities. Discussion followed on the floor. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes (9) - Cummings, Dennis, Haine, Hoffman, Killeen, Lytel Peterson, Schlather, Booth Abstention (1) - Romanowski Carried Access Management By Alderperson Cummings: Seconded by Alderperson Hoffman RESOLVED, That the City adopt a non - profit operated access management organization, with a specific definable allotment from the franchise fee. Discussion followed on the floor. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes - (5) - Lytel, Cummings, Haine, Hoffman, Peterson Nays - (4) - Dennis, Booth, Killeen, Schlather Abstention (1) - Romanowski Motion Defeated Resolution By Alderperson Booth: Seconded by Alderperson Lytel RESOLVED, That Council direct ACC to offer a proposal for the services they will provide; the City will have an indepen- dent oversight board and they will keep their option open for a non- profit organization at a later date. Ayes (6) - Cummings, Haine, Dennis, Booth, Killeen, Schlather Nays (3) - L,ytel, Roffman, Peterson Abstention (1) - Romanowski Carried System Channel Capacity By Alderperson Cummings: Seconded by Alderperson Haine RESOLVED, That the City require a 60- channel capacity. Discussion followed on the floor. 163 164 A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes (9) - Cummings, Haine, Dennis, Booth, Killeen, Schlather Lytel, Hoffman, Peterson Abstention (1) - Romanowski Carried w -WaAlderperson llennis: Seconded by Alderperson Lytel RESOLVED, That the City's goal be a two -way activated system at no cost to the non -using subscribers, in either capital or operating costs, and be it further RESOLVED, That a two -way system is required to be activated unless a binding agreement cannot be carried out between the cable operator, the city and one or more third parties that meets the above goals, and be it further RESOLVED, That some capacity be available at no charge to the City and the public sector organizations that were identified in the Institutional Assessment done by Rice Associates. Discussion followed on the floor. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes (8) - Cummings, Haine, Dennis, Killeen, Schlather, Lytel, Hoffman, Peterson Nay (1) - Booth Abstention (1) - Romanowski Carried Bob Fletcher asked that the views of Ithaca Cable Commission be noted in the record: Opposed - Fletcher In favor with /reservations - Heegard, Dunnam Interconnection Jean Rice and the Council discussed the draft findings of the Institutional Ascertainment and Ms. Rice explained how interconnection works. Resolution By Al erperson Schlather: Seconded by Alderperson Cummings RESOLVED, That interconnection be an encouraged offering in the Request for Proposal. Ayes (8) - Cummings, Haine, Dennis, Killeen, Schlather, Lytel, Hoffman, Peterson Nay (1) - Booth Abstention (1) - Romanowski Carried Term of Franchise By Al erperson Booth: Seconded by Alderperson Cummings RESOLVED, That the term of the franchise shall be negotiated after the company's proposal has been received. Ayes (9) - Cummings, Haine, Dennis, Killeen, Schlather, Lytel, Hoffman, Peterson, Booth Abstention (1) - Romanowski. Carried Consumer Compatability By Alderperson Cummings: Seconded by Alderperson Haine RESOLVED, That the RFP require that subscribers can purchase converters from other sources and have internal wiring installed and maintained by other parties and that the cable operator 165 February 9, 1987 cannot charge for these subscriber installed improvements, and be it further RESOLVED, That the company must supply a consumer compatability plan. Ayes (9) - Cummings, Haine, Dennis, Killeen, Schlather, Lytel, Hoffman, Peterson, Booth Abstention (1) - Romanowski Carried (600e, Cable Refranchising - Schedule By Alderperson Cummings: Seconded by Alderperson Haine RESOLVED, That the RFP be prepared and returned to the Council for its March 4, 1987 meeting. Thys Van Cort will forward to the Clerk's Office to be_placed on the Agenda under "Old Business ". Ayes (9) - Cummings, Haine, Dennis, Killeen, Schlather, Lytel, Hoffman, Peterson, Booth rl Abstention (1) - Romanowski Iq Carried Ln Alderperson Hoffman asked when the Public Opinion Surveys will be available. Jean Rice responded that the Public Opinion m Survey information will go out with the RFP and the Consumer Q Market Analysis. Competitiveness Study Proposal By Alderperson Lytel: Seconded by Alderperson Cummings RESOLVED, That Rice Associates be authorized to do a General Consultation Computerized Technical Assessment, On -Site Technical Testing and Petition to the Federal Communications Commission which, including Travel and Expenses, would be an expense of $31,000, with the understanding that if we can get any part of that done by the New York State Cable Commission, it can be taken out of Rice Associate's services. Discussion followed on the floor. Alderperson Schlather asked Jean Rice to address the allegations made by ACC that they have made a determination that the City of Ithaca is in a competitive market place and in support of that, relate that they conducted tests using equipment purchased at Radio Shack for $113.20. Chair Killeen pointed out that Curt Dunnam had responded to ACC by letter. Mr. Dunnam responded to questions from Council. Further discussion followed. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes (6) - Lytel, Cummings, Haine, Dennis, Hoffman, Killeen Nays (3) - Booth, Schlather, Romanowski Abstention (1) - Peterson Carried LOCAL LAW - ANNEXATION - LAID ON TABLE By Alderperson Dennis: Seconded by Alderperson Booth RESOLVED, That a LOCAL LAW ANNEXING TO THE CITY OF ITHACA A PORTION OF LAND OF THE TOWN OF ITHACA AND AMENDING SECTION 1.2 OF THE CITY CHARTER OF THE CITY OF ITHACA ENTITLED "BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY" AND AMENDING SECTION 1.3 OF THE CITY CHARTER OF THE CITY OF ITHACA ENTITLED "WARD BOUNDARIES ", SUBDIVISION B., WARD V, THEREOF be laid on the table. Carried Unanimously 1 sE► -10- February 9, 1987 NEW BUSINESS: East Hill Zoning By Al erperson Dennis: Seconded by Alderperson Booth RESOLVED, That the recently passed East Hill Zoning Amendments be referred to the Planning and Development Committee for review of one section: Change in B -2b Maximum Building Height Requirements, and bring back recommendation to the Council at its March 4, 1987 meeting. Carried Unanimously Cable 'Franchise Negotiating Committee By Alderperson Dennis: Seconded by Alderperson Booth RESOLVED, That a Cable Franchise Negotiating Committee -be created to be composed of the following: 2 members of Common Council and 2 members of the Ithaca Cable Commission to be selected by the Budget and Administration Committee of Council; the City Attorney, Mayor and a representative of the Planning and Development Department, as well as Rice Associates in a consultant capacity, and that the Mayor be empowered to appoint the committee on recommendaiton of the Council. Carried Unanimously EXECUTIVE SESSION: By Alderperson Lytel: Seconded by Alderperson Cummings RESOLVED, That the Council adjourn into Executive Session to discuss possible litigation. Carried Unanimously Common Council adjourned into Executive Session at 11:35 p.m. Common Council reconvened in Regular Session at 12:00 midnight. Resolution By Alderperson Dennis: Seconded by Alderperson Lytel RESOLVED, That the Common Council directs the City Attorney to pursue legal action against American Community Cablevision in order to prevent implementation of their proposed S0� rate increase due to take effect March 1, 1987. Ayes (7) - Schlather, Cummings, Lytel, Dennis, Killeen, Peterson, Hoffman Nay (1) - Booth Absent (2) - Romanowski, Haine Carried ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 12:30 a.m. Carried Unanimously Callista Paolangeli City Clerk 1 ' Sean Killeen Acting Mayor