HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-12-17 Municipal Operations Committee MinutesMHNICIPAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
DECEMBER 19, 1996
Councilors in attendance: Don Soucy, Mike Aube, Charlie Sullivan,
Staff in attendance: Ed Barrett, Bob Farrar, Norm Heitman, Dan
Wellington, John Hammer, Rod McKay, Erik
stumpfel
Committee Chair opened the meeting at 5:00 P.M.
item al - Use of Sidewalk at 28 Harlow Street�
Medical Care nevelopment, a group home located at 28 Harlow
Street, requested permission to build a bench and planter 18 feet
long against the front of the building and 16" wide and 1611 high.
Approved.
Item 42 - Bus Procurement:
The State was unsuccessful in finding .alternate revenue sources
for bus replacement out of programa that are either currently i
place or that they might envision down the road. The good news
e that the City did find an older federal grant with monies
unexpended that were left over from the old Eastern
Transportation operation. Those monies have been made available
to municipalities for capital needs and we are in line aod. have
been successful in getting approval to use these funds. The
funding is a 75/25 formula, not the 80/20 that the Committee has
been more used to hearing about. In knowing that orreplacement
schedule is going to be difficult to fulfill because of limited
federal funding, staff suggested to the Committee to appropriate
money from two sources to make up the 25%. The City would take
$20,000 from the Bus Reserve Account Balance and another $22,500
from the Equipment Reserve Account which has a balance of around
$400,000 so that a commitment can be made to the State. The City
will encumber that money at this point even though it will not be
expended until the bus arrives. The appropriation would be made
and set aside. Recommended. for approval.
Item 43in 9oard of Aoveala:
Suggestion was made to combine the Building Board, Zoning Board
of Appeals, Assessment Board of Review. -.Recommended for approval
with the exception of the Welfare Appeals provision. The
Committee felt that subject differed significantly from the
remaining items proposed for the Committee.
Skip Chapelle from Bangor Daily News Enterprises asked that the
Council consider purchasing advertising in a guide that targets
the Mid -Coast area which would include Bangor. The Committee was
generally supportive of this effort as part of an overall
marketing program. The Committee asked Rod McKay to coordinate
this effort and to report back with further information.
The.current franchise agreement with Cablevision expired at the
end of June; the City Council extended it through December 31 to
allow for further negotiations. The major issue is Cablevision's
apparent unwillingness to commit to a major investment Of new
funds to upgrade their infrastructure in the Bangor market area.
Recently, Cablevisicn concluded negotiations with Lewiston and
Auburn which essentially deferred that decision on their part for
two years but obligated them to make that decision at some point.
If they do not commit to an upgrade to fiber optics, their
franchise agreement with those communities does not get extended
any further. Our outside negotiators in Washington think that
this agreement may provide a model for renewed discussions in the
Bangor franchise area, and they are recommending that we
extend
the current franchise agreement through June 30, 1997. Erik
Stump£el suggested that the franchise fee be increased, and
that public comments be solicited and public hearings be held
regarding cable needs in ourarea. Once this process is
concluded, proposals can be written based on the needs which are
identified. In general, we are one of the smaller market areas
for Cablevision. In addition, we are probably in the lower half
of their market areas in terms of market penetration as a
percentage of possible subscribers. We are somewhere around 50
market penetration. They are usually 60$ or above. We also have
a much lower number of subscribers per mile of cable than they do
in most other franchise areas. When you combine this with
national system's heavy debt load, it has made them reluctant to
invest any capital in this market area to do rebuilds and
upgrades to any new technology (including fiber optics). A
Council Resolve was recommended that the Franchise Agreement be
extended to June 30, 1997 with the two conditions suggested by
the City Solicitor.