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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979.09.25_City Council MinutesOn Tuesday, September 25, 1979, the Owasso Gity Council met ir. Special Session, in Council Chambers at City Hall, per Notice of Special Public 1~?eeting and Agenda, posted on City Hall Bulletin Board at 2:00 PM on September 21, 1979, and by reference made a part hereof. The purpose of the meeting is to individu- ally interview Cable Television Companies recommended by Ad Hoc Committee. Present: Doyd Spencer, Mayor Don Thompson, Councilman Robert Wrestler, CouncilrnarY Harold Charney, City Attorney Wauhilleau Webb, Acting City Manager Merrilyn Merchant, Deputy City Clerk Absent: Robbie Fickle, 'dice :~aycr AlLa.nbert, Councilman The meeting was called to order at 7:13 PM with Mayor Spencer presidir_g. ITEM 1 - INTERVILtti' CONf~:UNIT`Z DE`JELO~~3i%:dT CABLE TEL:,~JISION Mr. Tom Belcher, President and General Manager of Community Development Cable Television presented their letter o~ interest of Company to the Council ar..d introduced the organization personnel as outlined in the application. ~~o provide cable television services to Owasso, included in packets to Ccuacil members, and by reference made a part hereof. Mr. Jack iorris presented technical aspects of the company services, the channel line up services, and the financing by Community Development Cable Television, as outlined in the application to provide cable television services to Owasso, ircludad in packets to Ceurcil members, and l;y refer~e^.ce made a pari: :zereof. It was empl.asized by CDO thst they would waive the customary charge o~~ $10.00 installation for the initial start up period only. It *,aas also emp:~asized that there would be an office in Owasso and they could begin immediately to provide service. Mr. Drape stated that we ~~~ould be hearing :ruch she same offering from each company; however, they felt their company could provide services as *,~ell as anyone technically, and better in personalized service. Q'JESTIOPdS AND ANSWERS 1. Q. Is this CDC's first presentation? A. This is our second presentation. :de were not accepted on our first presentation. 2. Q. Are you interested in a permit or franchise? A. We will go either way, however a permit is faster. 3. Q. Is a permit as good as a franchise? A. We would prefer a contract to go with a permit, instead of a franchise, because if we are doing a good job, we will not worry about a permit being revoked. Owasso City Council September 25, 1979 Page Two 4. Q. Are you financially able and willing to put up a performance bond? A. Yes. 5. Q. If we go with contract, will you be willing to put a completion date in the contract and forfeit your bond if the date is not met? A. Yes. 6. Q. How would you obtain access across the underground easements? A. We would go to each home owner and work with them to solve any conflicts. We would work with any homeowners if fences had to be removed and would remove and replace fence as necessary. We would attempt to maintain good public relations at all times. 7. Q. Do you propose to serve all residents in the city limits? A. Yes. And, we are aware that the city limits goes to 116th Street North. 8. Q. Will you provide service to areas we might annex into the city at a future date? A. The additional service would be based on density at a rate of 35 homes per mile. 9. Q. Could you black out the Council Meetings from being on channel 24. A. Yes. 10. Q. Will there be technicians 24 hours per day manning the office here in Owasso? A. Yes, there will be a technician in Owasso at all times, on call if the system should go down. 11. Q. ~Whehiwill exact. completion date be from the date of starting the service? A. Much of the stuff needed for the job has been pre-ordered so we can complete 90 days from the starting date. Six months in all would probably be a good finish date. 12. Q. Who else do you have a proposal before, besides Owasso? A. Only Coweta. We are also negotiating with 'the owners of the Claremore Cable TV, but that would in no way affect this proposal. ..~,..h. 13. Q. Will you be .presenting any proposals to anyone in the next 30 days? A. We have not decided yet, but we are considering Cleveland and Pawnee. However, if Owasso accepts our proposal, we will not proceed with the other two because we do not want to be overburdened with systems at the same time. It would be to our benefit to get this system going so we will have revenue coming off it, instead of only money going out in putting systems in. Our only delay in putting your system in would come if there is a delay in getting the equipment, and we do not antici- pate any problems there. ,,,,~, Owasso City Ccuncil September 25, 1979 Page Three 14. Q. Why is CDC looking only to the suburban areas of Tu]_sa to put cabJ_e TV in? A. We are al.l 1_ocal people and G*e 1_ove Tulsa and the surrounding area. The more remote areas have had cable TV but the fringe areas have been left out. This is also a good growth area. 15. Q. There are areas between our remote city limits and tt'i~', city limits proper which may want cable TV. Would you furnish them u=ith service? A. It is our desire to furnish those areas with cable TV; however, our first concern would be to get service *.within the city limits and then consider outside the city limits. 16. Q. How far outside city limits can you go to be profitab.e to you? A. There must be 32 homes per lineal mile. 17. Q. What would be the schedule for reaching these people after finishing city limits? A. We would have to have actual fi.~;urea before making an estimate. 18. C. If the area_ was within four miles and met prior conditions, could you furnis:~ them with service within a year? A. It would probably take longer than a year. 19. Q. Who would give you a permit to go out of the city limits? A. We would have to *_alk. to the county commissioners to let us use the County right-of-ways and roads. We can use the public service poles and pay rent on them. 2C. Q. How many are on your board Of directors? A. Six, includ.in; tl~.egives of two of the men. 21. Q. ~~.at would be the cost of puttin; cable TV in Owasso? A. $189,000. for ewipmen.t ~+*hich wo~ild all be new equipment. 22. Q. How soon could financing be arranged? A. Would get financing within 30 days or contract would be void. 23. Q. If we are in the middle of a movie, ~aou_ld we be cut of.f to switch to another station? A. No., this chanbe of r_hannels is done only a_`ter the `i"st channel has gone out of transmission. We could only carry two ether stations, besides religious stations. There is also talk that Cable TV will be completely deregulated soon. 24. Q. What makes up the $36,000 capital stock. A. We have $33,000 cash and $3,000 promised. Another $65,000 cash could be come up with. The balance Of the $189,000 investn~nt wou1C. be financed. Our bank account here is $10,000 presently and we haves several. area investors. 25. Q. What will determine when you will increase monthly fees? A. We have not thought about this, but we ~aot~ld come tO City Council when we feel it is necessary tO raise the rates, and would be willing to put this into contract. We feel it should be at lease a minimum of two years before it would be necessary to raise the rates. Owasso City Council September 25, 1979 Page Four 26. Q. Do you have a site for the tower and building? A. We have a site picked and can negotiate at the time we get the results of these meetings. We have looked at three different sites. 27. Q. When do you feel there will be deregulation of independent stations? A. By the end of the year there is a good possibility that deregulation will come about. 28. Q. How will deregulation affect prices? A. The satellite stations are charged in to the subscrib;,rs. If deregulation occurs, it will cost CDC lOG per subscriber. Meeting ~~as adjourned at 8:13 PM for a break and reconvened at 8:30 PM. ITEM 2 - INTERVIEW TULSA CABLE TELEVISION Mr. Mark Savage, President of Tulsa Cable Television indicated that United Cable owns most of Tulsa Cable TV. He feels there is not one cable TV service that car. offer more than Tulsa Cable TV can. He indicated that any other company could not bring in as many stations as they could. He made a presentation of their services as covered in the application to provide cable television services to the City of Owasso, included in packets '.o Council, and by reference made a part hereof. He indicated R rated movies could be turned off with a key. He also indicated that Owasso residents would have to have a converter which would cost $50.00 for TCT, but they would furnish to customers for a $20.00 deposit. They had a new converter coming out December 1 which they felt would be bettEr, or the customer could purchase a $135.00 unit which included remote control, but did riot have the key for blocking out R rated movies. QUESTIOD~S AND ANSWERS 1. Q. What would be the cost of the service? A. $10.00 installation, plus $7.50 for any additional outlets. Most custo- mers would have one hook up and Maxi Home Box Office, which would run $17.40 per month. 2. Q. How many homes would have to be in an area before you would go into it to service it? A. Thirty (30) homes. 3. Q. What about the homes which were separated from the main city limits, but were in our city limits? A. ae would service those customers also. 4. Q. Would you use underground or aerial cables? A. We would use both, underground in those areas which di3 not have poles, and aerial where there were poles. Owasso City Council September 25, 1979 Page Five 5. Q. Please explain the difference in microwave service. A. All cable service is satellite, direct, or microwave. Microwave is n.ot quite as good a picture as satellite, but is not noticable to the naked eye. Microwave is not as reliable during storms. 6. Q. Wi1.1 another dish be put here? A. No, we will pull off same one in Tulsa. 7. Q. Do you ever have ghosts, fading of one picture onto another? .~,. No., Our competitors wi]_1 say we do, but cre do not have any ghost problems. 8. Q. What other cit:~es ~_n Oklahoma do you service? A. Only Tulsa, since 1972. 9. Q. What was the problem with Broken Arrow? A. We were given franchise by Broken Arrow and after two years we were still trying to get Tulsa's system in. Broken Arrow decided they better go back on bids. We again won the bid:; however, Green Country Cable TV protested that O'rc]_ahoma law would not recognize permits, so we did not have a contract again. Meanwhile Green Country went to Jenks and is going to do their work on permit. So, that's where we stand now. 10. Q. Do you prefer franchise or permit? A. Prefer franchise but will go either way. 11. Q. If construction is begun on 3;1/80, ;ohen will every available home be hooked up, ready to go? A. 22 to 3 months from date construction is begun. 12. Q. Will you construct within city limits, even if do not have 30 people in each area? No, :got until 30 homes i_n that ,area. No cable TV company will service until you have a guaranteed number of homes. 13. Q. How will you get the cable TV fro^i __,~.].s~.. *o O~rac? A. ~y microwave. 14. Q. Does there have to be 30 homes per mile or 30 subscribers per rii]_e? A. Thirty (30) homes. If there are 30 homes in an area, but only one remote one wants service, that one will have service. 15. Q. How effective is the school station? A. The school systems do rot use video system as much as they should. It is important to have teachers and instructors to utilize the system. 16. Q. Will you have an office here or will it be in Tulsa? A. We have ten technicians who deal with those problems. A service technician will be in your house within one hour. We will have an office in Owasso to service Owasso. Our service representatives are radio dis- patched. 17. Q. Isn't there duplication of stations by the religious programs? A. There is some duplication. Owasso City Council September 25, 1979 Page Six 18. Q. What would it cost your company to install an earth station? A. $80,000 to $loo,ooo. 19. Q. Are you financially stable and able to put up a performance bond? A. Yes. 20. Q. What is estimated completion in the limits of the city if the starting date is 3/1/80? A. Forty-Five days from stranding to installation. 21. Q. Regarding the underground easements, how much public relations would be used and how would the customers be approached? A. Our public relations people would go down the street and let people know that they will be working on the easement in their yard on a cer- tain date. We have never had any people that refused to let us go across their yard. 22. Q. On microwave receiving site, will you man 24 hours per day? A. No, this will be manned by an alarm system. The system will go on backup power until it is fixed, if we have problems. The backup power is operated by battery. 23. Q. Can we as a Council request that a certain channel be blocked out? A. Yes. 24. Q. What is your franchise fee to pay cities? A. We pay same as any other franchise. 25. Q. What is the estimated cost of the system? A. $350,000.00 26. Q. Would you start installing by March 1, 1980? A. Yes. 27. Q. Will the key work on all converters? A. The key is available on all but the $135.00 remote control unit. Being no further discussion before the Council, chair adjourned at 9;55 PM. ~/ Mayor ~~, Deputy City erk