2003-05-05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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11 Ms. Richards, a member of the Committee, said that a consultant was hired to conduct an extensive review of the system and recommended upgrades. It is recommended that Adelphia interconnect City and school buildi ngs. A five - year franchise is recommended to be negotiated provided that upgrades are started in twelve months. If completed within the time limit, the franchise could be expanded to ten years. Based on the citizen survey, Adelphia is being asked to re move one shopping network and add one educational or foreign language channel. It is recommended that an ongoing advisory committee be established, that public access be expanded, and that the public access coordinator become a City employee. Ms. Richard s noted that the coordinator is now paid out of franchise fees paid to the City. Ms. Rene Knake, Assistant City Attorney, asked for Council's consent to provide the draft franchise ordinance and the needs assessment information to Adelphia. If Council agrees, Adelphia will be given a period of time to respond. The matter will then come back to Council and a public hearing will be held. The financial audit is one component of the negotiations, and Adelphia has responded and said it will provide additi onal information. Mr. Schilling asked if a fee increase will be necessary in order to implement high definition TV. Ms. Knake said there is space to offer HDTV, but she does not know if a fee increase will be necessary. Mr. Schilling said he wants to be on the leading edge, but not on the bleeding edge. He said very few people will own high definition TV, and he is concerned if others have to pay for it or if just those who get it will have to pay. Regarding removing one shopping channel and replaci ng it with an educational or foreign language channel, he said he is not sure why the foreign language channel was recommended based on the citizen survey. Ms. Knake said it was recommended based on information received from input other than the survey. Mr. Schilling said there is no amount specified as a fee for the public access channels, and asked if this will be attributed to all subscribers. Ms. Knake said the fee will be charged to all subscribers, but the amount will be negotiated. Mr. Schi lling said he has concerns about many paying for the few who want public access. He said that one of the top complaints about Adelphia is the cost of the service. He asked if the seven day notice to review books is typical and reasonable. Ms. Knake sai d this time period was recommended by the consultant. Mr. Schilling asked for clarification about whether basic service is broadcast service. Ms. Knake read the definition of basic service included in the draft franchise. She said it includes local c hannels and public access channels. Ms. Knake said the City cannot place a cap on rates and an only require justification for rate increases. Mr. Lynch noted that the Public, Educational and Governmental programming was in fact very popular, as demonstr ated by the Subscriber Survey. He further noted that Council meetings are shown on public access. He stated that the cost of providing PEG programming amounted to only one percent of Adelphia's total budget and noted that the revenues collected in the Ci ty by Adelphia are nearly three times the revenues collected by the City's water authority, despite the fact that Adelphia only provides service to two thirds of City residents and has much lower infrastructure costs. Therefore, he did not believe that the cost of PEG programming had any significant impact on Adelphia's rates.