HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/06/1988 lhar
CITY COUNCIL
TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS
26379 Fremont Road
Los Altos Hills , California
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
Wednesday, January 6 , 1988
cc: Reel 189 , Tr. I , Side I , 001-582
Mayor Tryon called the Special Meeting of the City Council to order at
4 :00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall .
A. ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
Present: Mayor Tryon and Councilmembers Dronker, Plummer, Siegel
and van Tamelen
Absent: None
Staff: City Manager George Scarborough, City Attorney Frank
Gillio and City Clerk Pat Dowd
B. CABLE TV STUDY SESSION:
The City Manager presented his report dated 1/6/88 (on file at Town
Hall ) which addressed, in part, the issues of underground
construction, access television and franchise fees. Council also had
before them a letter dated 12/ 3/ 87 from Sun Country Cable which noted
support of one of the following options if the Town approved the
franchise agreement that had been negotiated: 1) Cost Sharing Formula
or 2) Utility-Type Assessment.
Before Council addressed the reports before them, van Tamelen inquired
about the problem of pedestals as recently experienced in Palo Alto.
John Dolan, Sun Country Cable, stated it was their intent to put
concrete vaults underground, although about a half dozen pieces of
equipment would have to go above ground.
Plummer expressed serious concerns about the ' negotiations ' with Sun
Country Cable. The gap was growing in the increased costs of
undergrounding. He stated that he was inclined to go back to the
market and see what options were available. Plummer did not feel that
Sun was bargaining in bad faith but rather as a monopolist. He
suggested that the Council avail themselves of outside expertise and
present the original proposal made to other companies. Plummer stated
that he felt strongly enough about this that whatever the Council ' s
action he would present the proposal to other companies himself. He
`r'
B. CABLE TV STUDY SESSION: (continued) :
further stated that it was extremely naive of the Council to enter
into an agreement now and at a later time intend to reach an agreement
concerning undergrounding. Plummer noted that in his opinion it was
imprudent of Council to take action on this issue at this time .
Dronkert strongly supported access tv; she thought there should be
some community value to cable tv in the Town. She further stated that
she did not concur with subsidizing undergrounding from the franchise
fees .
Tryon stated that she thoght that it was important that 85% of the
Town could be cabled and/she did not think that Sun' s proposal should
be rejected because they were not willing to fund it. The Mayor
suggested a draft agreement and/or letter of intent be prepared with
Sun Country Cable. She noted that cable tv was not a major obligation
to of the Town. Rather it was between the residents and the cable company
with the Town as the facilitator. The actual use of franchise fees
could be worked out later. *to provide fore assistance for the unfergrourxl area.
(ANIISIDED BY ODUNCIL 1/20/88)
Siegel commented that he thought it was the Town ' s responsibility to
cable as much of the Town as possible. Then if the residents turned it
down, it was their decision. He also noted that he was not as
concerned about the issue of access tv now; that could be achieved at
` a later time.
ir van Tamelen stated her strong support of access tv, noting it was a
good way of drawing the community together. She also noted that she
was not willing to give up access tv for undergrounding.
Mr. David Kinley, President - Sun Country, commented that he was
surprised at the comments made on the figures presented in his
12/31/87 letter. He thought they were valid and consistent with the
original proposal they had made to the Town. In fact the figure
originally presented for undergrounding had decreased while the figure
for aerial cable had slightly increased due to additional information.
Lyn Simpson, Sun Country Cable, noted that they believed the figures
presented to Council were valid and while they were willing to bargain
in good faith, it was not good business to go beyond a certain point.
It was in their interest to serve as many residents as possible and
they intended to continue building underground cable even after the
project was started.
George Beers, Foothill College, noted that presently it was proposed
to put the head-end at Foothill College. However, if access tv were
not available, the College would not be interested in having this take
place. Therefore, the issue of access tv should be addressed. In
0
2- 1/6/88
B. CABLE TV STUDY SESSION:
Nkr
response to a question on the impact on access tv if it were not
funded, Mr. Beers noted that it would be difficult to continue to
p..,ytdd*access tv to Los Altos Hills residents with funding from the
college. He would like to see some kind of an agreement regarding
franchise fees which would detail when and how many funds would be
available. *allay participation in (AMENDED BY COUNCIL 1/20/88)
The City Manager noted that it was his understanding that there was
general Council consensus on the following: 1) importance of access
tv; 2) interest in funding undergrounding to the extent possible; and
3) a willingness to borrow funds from the General Fund regarding
future franchise fees .
PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To schedule a study session on the issue of cable
tv for 4 : 00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 20 , 1988 and to request that
both Sun Country Cable and the City Manager, after review of the
Council ' s comments, present at the study session further statements of
the positions and options available regarding cable tv in the Town.
C. ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City
Council adjourned at 5 : 55 p.m.
IOW
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia Dowd, City Clerk
3- 1/6/88