March 24, 1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Session 1241, Minutes. Page 4 March 24,; 19a0 negotiated by the city attorney and himself. He said all four remaining companies (Telcom, American, Continental and Gateway) have the capability of providing qual- ity service. He thought the proposals provided the Council with an objective look at what the companies have already done,.and_a subjective look -as to .what their future. capabilities seem to be. Mayor Mooney said he also felt it was time for a decision, as the Council has been going to many meetings and studying this matter over a period of about eight months. Councilman Glickert had some additional questions, which had to do with location of major and access studios, what was.the shortest term of a franchise held by any of the companies, and exactly what is covered in the home security package. All pro- posals included home security except Continental, which said it would offer a sys- tem if Council wants it, or lease channel space to existing security systems here. Councilman Kelley asked Continental if they are planning to give 5% of their total gross revenue to University City, instead of 5% of the basic monthly service fee (if approved by'FCC), and their representative, Mr. Wand, said that was correct. Councilman Kelley questioned the representatives about channel capacity of the var- ious systems. At present all have 35 channels. Continental said their capacity would be 60 channels, Telcom 52 (which their representative, Mr. Brooks, said was the optimum), American 40, expandable to 52, and Mr. Warner of Gateway said all companies have the same capability for expansion. Councilman Kelley asked what the average use of the public access service is in the franchises that each currently has, and what is the maximum hourly use per week of the public access service.. Varying answers were given, and each repre- sentative indicated that much depends on the community and how involved the people wish to become. All said they promote use of the public access channel vigorously. Gateway said they'had already hired someone for local program assistance, as has Telcom, and the others said people would be hired immediately after granting of the franchise. In answer to questions from Councilman Glickert, all indicated that the installa- tion charge would be waived for at least 30 days, and all said there is no charge for installation of extra services, if they are included at the time of original installation. If the company must return, there are additional charges, ranging from $10 for Gateway and Telcom-to $14.95 for American and Continental. Councilman Adams asked several questions about convertors. Mr—Adams said he felt that none of the companies had enough equipment for local origination programs. All representatives said there would be additional expenditures in this area as the usage increases, but it. is usually low in the.beginning.. Councilman Kelley questioned the representatives about financing costs for con- struction of the system, and what percentage of funds will be from debt and what percentage will be from equity. Telcom and American said theirs would be a 60-40 ratio, Continental was not sure, and Gateway said their funds would be from in- ternally generated cash flow, no debt. All said their rates were fixed for at least two years; Gateway guaranteed theirs for three years. Councilman Glickert asked if they would consent to a periodic review clause, and all said they would. They also answered questions she had about what their