Laserfiche WebLink
Mounds View City Council June 9, 2014 <br />Regular Meeting Page 5 <br /> <br />current PEG fees were at $4.15 per month. She reported that under federal law Comcast cannot <br />be required to pay operating expenses. However, capital expenses can be required to be covered <br />by Comcast at CTV and at the member cities. She indicated Comcast came in at a significantly <br />lower amount for equipment replacement than was estimated by NSCC. <br /> <br />Mayor Flaherty inquired what Comcast had proposed for PEG fees in the new contract. Ms. <br />Wilson stated Comcast was proposing to have the monthly PEG fees be 44 cents. <br /> <br />Mayor Flaherty asked what the 5% franchise fee covered. Ms. Wilson explained that this fee was <br />passed along to member cities and a small portion was contributed to the NSCC budget. These <br />funds could be used by member cities for cable equipment, cable staff and the production of City <br />meetings. <br /> <br />Council Member Hull questioned if any other member cities had not renewed the proposed cable <br />franchise. Ms. Wilson reported Lauderdale and St. Anthony have already preliminarily denied <br />the cable franchise. <br /> <br />Council Member Meehlhause requested further information on the non-data network fees. Ms. <br />Wilson stated public institutions (schools, libraries and City Halls) were currently allowed free <br />access to the Comcast network and could transmit local data back and forth. She indicated the <br />proposed Comcast cable franchise would eliminate this free access to the local institutional <br />network and each public institution would be charged $1,675.80 per month. <br /> <br />Council Member Meehlhause questioned who owned the local institutional network. Ms. Wilson <br />reported that Comcast technically owns the network and NSCC has access to the six fibers. She <br />stated a managed services proposal has been discussed with Comcast, but has yet to be <br />developed. <br /> <br />Mayor Flaherty reviewed the three sticking points at this time as being the reduced number of <br />local channels, the proposed monthly connection fees for institutional uses and the PEG fees. <br /> <br />Mike Logan, Comcast, thanked the Council for their time and expressed his interest in finding a <br />resolution to this matter. He commented the Council was voting to not renew the formal cable <br />franchise this evening, which was a legal course of action. He stated Comcast was prepared to <br />continue down this course and believed it had enough facts to take this matter to Federal Court. <br /> <br />Mr. Logan encouraged the Council to further review the NSCC’s transparency and inter- <br />workings. He commented all local funding would end in November, if the contract was not <br />renewed. He reported the I-NET connectivity issue and number of cable channels should be able <br />to be resolved informally, but stated the PEG fees were extremely misaligned. He discussed how <br />operating fees should be covered outside of PEG fees. <br /> <br />Mayor Flaherty questioned how the cable franchise would proceed if Mounds View voted to not <br />renew. Ms. Logan discussed the formal process if all other member cities were to not renew. He <br />indicated that informal discussions would continue between NSCC and Comcast.