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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1369_001NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Mount Prospect will meet in the Trustees' Room of the Village Hall, 100 South Emersdn Street, Mount Prospect at 6:00 P.M. on Tuesday, February 8, 1994. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the Insituform: sewer lining proces4 Carol A. Fields Village Clerk Dated this 3rd day of February, 1994. 111RAYOR GERALD L FARLEY fill TRUSTEES GEORGE A. CLOWES TIMOTHY J. CORCORAN RICHARD N. HENDRICKS PAUL WM. HOEFERT MICHAELE W. SKOWRON V*11,age of Mount Prospect IRVANA K. WILKS VILLAGEMAKAGER MICHAEL E. JANONIS 100 South Emerson Street Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056 VILLAGE CLERK CAROL A. FIELDS Phone: 708 / 392-6000 Fax: 708 / 392-6022 TDD: 708 / 392-6064 NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Mount Prospect will meet in the Trustees' Room of the Village Hall, 100 South Emersdn Street, Mount Prospect at 6:00 P.M. on Tuesday, February 8, 1994. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the Insituform: sewer lining proces4 Carol A. Fields Village Clerk Dated this 3rd day of February, 1994. MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE DECEMBER 14, 1993 In CALL TO ORDER oft REVISED 1112194 1126194 The meeting was called to order by Mayor Gerald Farley at 7:34 p.m. Present at the meeting were:. Trustees George Clowee, Richard Hendricks, Paul Hoefert, Michaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks. Absent from the meeting was Trustee Timothy Corcoran. Also present at the meeting were: Village Manager Michael Janonis, Assistant to the Village Manager David Strahl, Public Works Director Herbert Weeks, Deputy Public Works Director Glen Andler, Forestry' i Superintendent Sandra Clark, Finance Director David Jepson, Inspection Services Director Chuck Bencic and Engineering Coordinator Jeff Wulbecker. lie MINUTES The Minutes were asked to be deferred by Trustee Hoefert due to his request for additional detail on pages 4 and 5 of the Minutes concerning additional Trustee comments. Trustee CIcwea also requested a review of page 3 to ensure that the comments were accurate. The Minutes were deferred until the next Committee of the Whole meeting. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Richard Dumbrowsid, of 914 Sumac Lane, stepped forward to speak about 4 property taxes, He asked why can't residents get more action concerning * minimizing property taxes. He stated that much of the discussion has focused on senior citizens. He is concerned that the younger citizens are not getting equal consideration of rising property taxes. Trustee Hoefert stated that as Trustees, we all want to keep taxes down and asked Mr. Dumbrowski if he has gone to the other taxing bodies with his concerns. Mr. Dumbrowski stated that he 'I's trying to get the other taxing bodies to discuss this concern, however, he feels there seems to be a great deal of apathy among the citizens. He is planning to go to District 21 4 meetings in the near future. Tt*�e Hendr$�� requested the Village Manager to review the Norwood price proposal for the downtown redevelopment project. He wanted staff to research the price in order to ensure the price submittedcomplete price including Site clearance and public improvements. He also requested at the next Village Board meeting of December 21 that the Trustees reconsider their preferred developer vote. V14age Manager Janonlw stated he would provide more information prior to the December 21 Board meeting. He also stated that the Norwood price proposal vi I stated that Norwood would undertake site clearance pro *d"ng they would be ^4 reimbursed the cost by the Village of Mount ProspecA. IV. URBAN FORESTRY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 6 Tn, sdee Hoefeft asked numerous questions including the effect of last year's drought on the tree population and if the Department has any recommendations to protect trees during construction. He also asked if the slower growing trees have a longer life. -span compared to the fast-growing shade trees. Tru 9 Cloves asked if the Forestry budget includes money for leaf pick-up. He also asked what the ratio of parkway trees is compared to trees on private property. He also stated the report states that most communities pay approximately $2.60 per capita for trees and he inquired whether this figure includes other governmental bodies' expenditures for trees; for example, the Forest Preserves, etc. He also stated that there had been more trees planted than removed based on the analysis of the report, however, he questioned the level of citizen participation in replacement trees and whether the Village was incurn*ng higher cost for replacement with minimal citizen participation. Tnistee Wilks stated that the report recommends on page 27 that the Village revise its Ordinance and prohibit topping of trees. She also stated that the report recommend removal of unwanted trees. She also asked if there could be anything done to prevent gypsy moss prior to them becoming active in the destruction of the trees. Sandy Clark and Chds Luley responded to the numerous comments from the Trustees. The drought may cause long-term root damage, however, regular I watering does help i I n minimizing the root damage. Also, there has been some rapport established with area contractors to minimize the 'impact and damage to trees due to construction projects. There really is no data on whether slow- growing trees have a longer life span as compared to faster growing trees, however, most homeowners want the fast growing trees to maximize shade availability as quickly as possible. Many more trees have been planted without citizen participation because there is minimal developer money available due to development being down within the Village so the Village will incur additional cost in the Village for maintenance and installing trees. The topping of trees takes away the crown and it disWpts the growth pattern of the various trees. The Village Forestry Department has a policy of not topping trees, however, various utilities continue this practice, The State is still studying the gypsy moth program in an effort to reduce its impact and study its life cycle. However, as of this date, there has been minimal progress', 1;1:10 Ci Lawhence Freedman, attomey for the Target Development Gmupspoke. He requested that the Board table the discussion on Economic Incentive Programs until all of the Board could be present to participate in the discussion. He also requested that the planned second reading of the Zoning for the Target property at the Village Board meeting of December 21, 1993 be delayed until this discussion has taken place. 3 U0 1 4* Hoefert stated that the Economic Incentive discussion should be broader than the single Target Development issue. Aftyorftrley stated that he would defer thit discussion until:another Committee of the Whole meeting when all members could be present. VI. STATUS REPORT FOR REGIONAL ROAD PROJECTS, 0 V11111age Manager Janon Is stated that staff has provided the Village Board with an 0 outline of! current construction projects Within the Village and cost 'information which related to Flood Control Projects linked to these road construction projects. He also st I ated that the numerous regional road projects are going to impact upon the Village due to addonal staff time and wanted 10 keep the Village Board roj their status. informed 'of these•p 'ects and i Chuck 13e I ncic provided an overview of the five major projects that are projected for the next couple of years within the Village of Mount Prospect. Project #1 is Seminole Lane Project #2 'I's Linneman Road I The Village is asking for Federal funding assistance for both of these projects. Projects #3 and 4 are SRA a Route 83 and SRA Route 12 OF, These two roads are expected to have minimal financial impact on the Village, however, there 'I's expected to be substantial impact on local traffic movements. 11 Project #4 is Kensington Road Improvement near Pmspect High School 0 nous •projects. He started Jeff Wulbecker, V11111age �Englneer, summarized the va with an overview of SRA Route 12 (Rand Road). SRAs are supplemental major arten*al roads designed to supplement highway traffic. A recent public hean'ng was held to present the final design report. The projected schedule to provide a final engineering reportis expected in February, of 1994. The only real financial 'impact to the Village will be the cost of upgrading trafficsignals with Opticon systems. The Village has gone on record with issues 'Including a barn'er median and the intersection of Rand/Kensington and Route 83. General discussion followed,in which numerous Trustees voiced concerns about displacement of homes and businesses and theimpact, of the bam*er median on local businesses along Rand Road. 4 Jeff Wulbecker further stated that IDOTis interested in designing Rand Road as a long.,distance travel road minimizing local traffic movement through the use of increased green time on the traffic lights in the Village. Jeff Wulbecker then summadzed the status of SRA Routs 83., No draft report "is expected until early 1994. IDOT has proposed a project from Interstate 90 to Northwest Highway. The cost impact to the' Village is limited to any infrastructure improvements that may be provided simultaneously with the road construction. Based on the preliminary plans that have been provided to the Village, a significant tree loss is expected. The widening of the road to five lanes will cause 75% of the trees to be removed between Golf and the s -curve. With only four eleven -foot lanes, there will be a 50% tree loss. Some of the problems that are expected to be encountered with this reconstruction are the closeness of the homes to the road at vadous locations and the cul -de -.lacing of Pine and Wille streets on the s -curve. The public hearing 'is expected to be scheduled for sometime in early 1994 and to take place in the spring of 1994. General discussion followed in which numerous Trustees stated their concern about the tree removal and the impact on residents including the noise of enlarged lanes closer to residential units. It was also discussed among the Trustees that' the public notice and the public hearing is the responsibility of IDOT and recommended the Village staff also provide the notices to the area residences which will be affected. Jeff Wulbecker stated that the traffic lights which had originally been projected to be removed will now be staying on the road after reconstruction. Jeff Wulbecker then summarized the status of Seminole Lane reconstruction from Wolf to River Road. This is a joint project between Prospect Heights and the Village of Mount Prospect. They are projecting funding from the Northwest Municipal Conference for approximately 60% of the total puce. Prospect Heights is the lead agency and they are awaiting status of the funds in order to determine when construction might begin. General discussion followed in which Trustees were informed that the Northwest Municipal Conference is the agency that reviewed Federal Fund Applications for regional road projects. JeffWulbecker summarized the Linneman Road reconstruction. The project runs from Dempster to Golf Road. At this point, the Village is in the process of obtaining the right-of-way necessary for the reconstruction. A preliminary schedule has been determined with the recent approval of the engineering firm which is charged with performing the Phase I and Phase 11 engineering, 5 w& VWA Manager Janonis stated that one of the concerns the Village has inflormeG Arlington Heights of is the State requireroerit for jufiWl�cdonaltraritfti% Arlington i tested in taking Heights was informed that the Village of m0drit, Pro'spoct is, no, h% jurisdictional transfer over any part of "Osington Road at,,'thJs,,,,,point Tn.ft offered some final comments concerning SRA Route 83. She' reiterated her concern for taking of people's front yards in order to Widen the road. She is interested 'in determining if other options are available. VMage Manager Janonis stated that staff will work with IDOT to determine what options are available and communicate these options to the Board. Vill, MANAGERS REPORT Vill, "ANY OTHER BUSINESS No other business. A Motion was made by Trustee Wilks and Seconded by Trustee Skowron a 10:13 p.m. to go into Executive Session to discuss litigation. Village Boa returned from Executive Session at 10:27 and promptly adjourned for the evening I il Z I Ili The meeting was adjourned at 10:28 p.m. ed, DAVIAH' DS/rcc Assistant to the Village Manager 0 MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE JANUARY 25, 1994 Is CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Gerald Farley at 80.07 p.m. Present at the meeting were: Trustees George Clowes, Richard Hendricks, Paul Hoefert, Michaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks. Absent from the meeting was Trustee Timothy Corcoran. Also present at the meeting were: Village Manager Michael Janonis, Assistant to the Village Manager David StFahl, Finance Director David Jepson, Inspection Services Director Chuck BenC41c, Environmental Health Coordinator Bob Roels, Village Planner Mike Sims, Crime Prevention Officer Bill Roscop, Cn"me Prevention Officer John Wagner and Fire Inspector Skip Hart. 11, MINUTES Acceptance of the Minutes of December 14,1993. Motion made by Trustee Wilks and Seconded by Trustee Hoefert to accept the Minutes. Trustee Hoefert requested an item to ,be corrected in the Minutes which was a repeat of a sentence in the first paragraph. Minutes of January 11 9 1994; Motion made by Trustee Skowron and Seconded by Trustee Hoefert to accept_,, mutes. Trustee Clowes asked that the Minutes be revised as it relates to his abstention for approval of the Minutes of the last meeting. He was, in fact, not present at the time the Minutes were approved. He came late to the meeting. I Ills CITIZENS TO BE HEARD 'T Lee Learman, 318 North Eastwood, asked for a schedule of when the Budget meetings were going to take place. Manager Janonis related the dates as scheduled at this point. Larry Selbach, 213 Can-,Dota, said he was upset because the tax discussion was not postponed due to the weather of last Tuesday night. He asked the Village Board why the issue was not postponed so cftizens could comment on this very 0 important issue. Mayor Fariey responded to Mr. Selbac 's question by stating that he takes responsibility for a poor job of chairing the meeting and did not move things along. He did not expect the parkin„ issues to take as much time as they did. There I were a Wzens present at the meeting and felt that postponing the meeting would create additional problems for the aftizens who were in attendance at the meeting. There is still time for citizen input at the time of the scheduled Budget Hearings. Joanne Falco, 625 Lois out, spoke. She asked whether the tax issue could be reconsidered and was concerned about the 2% Utility Tax. She stated she surveyed 12 other communities in the area and only one has some type of Utility Tax. She also asked for reconsideration of the Sales Tax in addition to the Utility Tax. Citizens have not communicated any desire to receive reduced services. Mayor Fat*y stated that citizens should bring forward options they may have for balancing the budget because there is no good tax and no one wants to raise taxes. Tru e Hendricim stated that he commends the residents for bringing up the issue of we-atherand how itmay have affected citizen parti4ation. He felt the weather did, in fact, affect ciftizen participation last week. Tmotee Ckmes stated that the most recent vote putin place how revenues were going to be generated based on the change in the taxes. Unless there is a reconsideration of the prevailing side, the vote can technically not be reconsidered. There was previous publicity put out on this issue beginning on November 30. He wanted to correct the question,of whether the issue could be reconsidered during the budget process. 41e felt that the budget process is not reflective of the previous vote concerning these increases in taxes. Mayor Fadey stated that he felt aftizens ' should be made aware that Trustee Clow es' proposal had provns for increased taxes also. The significant difference between his proposal and the proposal the Board approved 'I's that citizens would be taxed through a different spread, of taxes including user fees compared to the proposal which was approved. Wo GAMBUNG RESOLUTION Mayor Fade y stated that citizens had suggested the Village Board adopt a Resolution on Gambling or propose a Referendum and also get the Village Board opinion on the record. I John Metze 91 18 Birch Drive, spoke. He stated his proposal is only focused on additional legalized gambling not the gambling that is currently approved by the State. Specifically, he is concerned about video poker and gambling parlors. His concern relates to ensuring that the citizens have an opportunity to address the gambling issue at the ballot box. Other communities have attempted to address this issue and he felt that Mount Prospect should also consider addressing this issue in a similar fashion. Reverend RoWrt Tuzk Pa r of St Emlys Church, He is here to present a recommendation from the Church Council concerning gambling. The Council questions whether itis, proper for the Village to use gambling as a means to raise funds because of the social costs related to gambling. They generally feel that the additional social services related to gambling far outweigh the revenue that may be generated from gambling and he asked for a Binding Referendum instead of an Advisory Referendum, Mayor Farley stated that he is unaware that there is any casino under consideration by the Village Board at this time. Reverend Tuzlk stated he had been informed by Trustee Hendricks that a wealthy developer may want to bring a casino in to town and was 'informed of this possibility at a recent church service. Mayor Farley stated he was unaware of any proposal and Trustee Hendricks has not shared this information with the rest of the Board. He also stated he felt a Referendum would not be binding on any future Boards. He feels that if the Village Board wants to take a position through a Resolution then the proposal should go forward in order for it to be on record concerning this issue. BUI Ire, 119 Nodh Emerson Street, spoke. He feels that elected officials are elected to make decisions, however, the decision concerning gambling should also include public input. He feels the public should be offered an opportunity for input because of the effect on Mount Prospect morals, community and lifestyle. Joanne BJorI „ 516 Carol Lane, spoke. She questions whether the community and/or the Board would welcome gambling at any location as other communities have. When welcoming gambling, you welcome more crime and the fact that Is 10 citizens are using money for gambling instead of other things which are important. Omar Logan, 223 North Emerson, spoke. He is opposed to increasing in. gambling beyond what the current types of gambling are and thanks the Village Board for considering such an important issue as this. Mayor Farley read the proposed Resolution concerning the gambling position of the Village of Mount Prospect Village Board. The Resolution also included a requirement to establish an Advisory Referendum prior to the 'introduction of permanent casino establishment with Mount Prospect voters. Mayor barley also asked Trustee Hendricks if he 'is aware of any pending casino. 3 Tru -'A-9 CWTATAIWas stated that gambling has evolved into an unhealthy industry and the State has taken over the gambling industry which seems ironic because they also legislate gambling. He feels that gambling should not be run by the State government. He feels it should go to the Citizens to get an Advisory Referendum and would support the Resolution in its current form. He would also recommend that a Resolution be drafted concerning home rule power preemption of the General Assembly in order to protect the powers which Mount Prospect needs to operate. The expansion of gambling in Mount Prospect would further preempt home rule powers. Mayor Farley stated there appears to be general support of the Village Board. Tnmstee Slkowron' suggested a change in the wording to state the current Village Board would be bound and the language of using gambling for revenue sources to balance the budget would be prohibited, Mayor Farley stated that he would ask that this issue be brought forward for the February 1 Village Board meeting and would concur with Trustee Clower" Resolution concerning home rule powers for consideration at that time also, V. BOCA PROPERTY MAINTENANCE REVISIONS 1* Mr. Janonis stated that there had been discussions over the last year to identify the problems of apartment complexes and causes of such concerns within the multi -family units throughout the Village. One of the subcommittees that was formed was the Housing Committee. `his Committee recommended the issue for consideration and suggested revisions to the current BOCA Code. As part of this review, the 'issue of occupancy limits was raised as part of the current Code issues. In order to begin the process of addressing this issue, we need to get 4 citizens involved in providing input as to how the Property Maintenance Code should be structured. Chuck Bencic stated that he is recommending approval of the BOCA Code as to conform to other BOCA Codes which the Village has previously approved. The BOCA Code is also more comprehensive in its current form and there will be few local amendments necessary in order to put the Code in place. Bob Roels spoke. He stated that the Code has been upheld by Courts where it addresses property maintenance issues. The only need to revise the Code would be based on the desire to comply with more stringent Village Codes which may be currently in place. He also stated that we could require all outstanding violations to be resolved prior to sale of property and could control that through the Real Estate Transfer process. Mayor Farley stated that staff wants to discuss the Code revisions with the Visions Subcommittee and schedule various citizen input in order to get group consensus and input prior to the Code being approved by the Village Board. M 0 Tru e C10*s stated. he supports the involvement of the Visions group. He felt important for the Village to, provide 1he means to help property owners resolve tenant problems relating and creating property maintenance issues. Mr. Janonis stated that this is one part' of the larger I issues which need to b ad dressed with the assistance of various landlords through the citizen input whi we are requesting at thi's time. The.first'step o establish occupancy limits whi will help toward the overall goal of property maintenance. Lillian Perham, 601 West Dempster, spoke. She stated that many committees are currently being formed to address the problems with the, owners and the need for occupancy limits is very prevalent in all discussions. She would like to move forward and participate i in this 'issue as quickly as possible. She also stated that she feels some businesses, should also address the shopping cartissue and their abandonment on multi -family properties. Chloe Herman, President of the Northwest, Subuttan Association of Realtom spoke. Her group wants to congratulate, the Village Board on moving forward on this issue and also would like to participate and be 'informed on what is occurring. She also requested a copy of the BOCA Code that 'is currently being proposed and c.i�tsidered. W "buted with Village comments to MY. Janonis stated the BOCA Code would be distn all pa rtl"r,,A* pants of the van*ous committees that are currently being formed and to individuals who would like to parti4ate in providing 'input ,'into this issue. He would also recommend that meetings be set up to specifically address vanlous areas within the Code 'itself gin, order to expedite thi's process. It would be more efficient to break the Code into van'ous components for discussion than to review the entire Code all at once. VI. MANAGERS REPORT 336= VII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Hendricks stated he would like to bdng back a couple of issues relating to SWANCC at the next Board meeting and feels that all members of the Village Board should be included in the Executive Board of SWANCC. Mayor Farley asked if thisicoull be held until Trustee Corcoran retums since he is the Board's representative on the SWANCC Executive Board. Ville ADJOURNI4IENT 11 The meeting was adjourned at 9:57 p.m. DS/rcc �espeONIIy s bmitted VID S K, Assistant to the Wage Manager fi MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE JANUARY 11, 1994 I. CALL TO ORDER REVISED 1/26194 The meeting was called to order by Mayor Gerald Farley at 7:33 p.m. Present at the meeting were: Trustees Timothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert, Michaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks. Trustee Richard Hendn"cks arrived at 7:37 p.m. Trustee Clowes arrived at 8,-33 p.m. Also present at the meeting were: Village Manager Michael Janonis, Assistant to the Village Manager David Strahl, Finance Director David Jepson, Planning Director William Cooney and Economic Developm'ent Coordinator Kenneth Fritz. II. MINUTES The Minutes of November 23, 1993 were approved. Trustee Wilks, made a Motion to approve the Minutes and Seconded by Trustee Skowron. The Minutes were unanimously approved. Minutes from December 14, 1993 were approved on a Motion by Trustee Wilks and Seconded by Trustee Hoefert. Trustee Hoefert requested the Minutes be modified to incAude his name under Trustees present for that meeting. Mayor Fade y spoke providing an update on the Celestial Celebration scheduled for January 29, 1994. He stated that over 500 tickets had been sold, however, there is still room available if citizens are interested in getting tickets. Resident Emle Losse, 806 South Elm, spoke. He questioned the Village Board's inability to reduce expenses to address the budget problems for this coming fiscal year. He stated that he was challenged the last meeting by the Mayor and Trustees to come up with service reductions. However, he has no authority to come up with such service reductions. Therefore, he asked for the authority from the Board to go into each Department to review their operation and budget to determine where cuts can be made. If savings are realized, he would accept 50% of the savings of each Department as compensation. Trusfte Wilks asked if first-time homebuyers were the only ones that would benefit from such a program and also asked what the estimate of what the number of families benefited would be. Mrr. BaNefine stated that he assumed approximately 30 families would be able to take advantage of the Program. The Program would be limited to Village residents and citizens interested in buying in Mount Prospect for the first time. Any remaining money would go into the overall pool for all other communities that participate in the Program. Communication of the Program would be provided through Newsletters, the banks that are participating and the local newspapers. The implementation would be an Intergovernmental Agreement between the Village and the Illinois Housing Development Authority allowing them to administer the program. The Authority would also make the Agreement directly with the lenders that are participating in the program. Mayor Farley stated that there appears to be Village Board consensus and instructed the Village Manager to proceed with implementing the necessary paperwork to get the Program on line. Mr. Janonis stated he would bring this back for final Board approval on January. 18 in order to get the program 'in place by February 1. Some meetings with area banks have taken place and they have expressed 'interest. We will also take care of getting the necessary word out to ensure there 'is adequate particVation in the program. Vo BUSINESS ASSISTANCE/INCENTIVE PROGRAM Mayor Farley introduced the topic by stating that this item is related to the development of the Target More as a specific example and an overall program for business development throughout the Village. He had also asked for some input from the Economic Development Commission as part of this discussion. I Manager Janonis provided additional information concerning this topic. He stated this is a long-range issue for the Village Board which includes a determination of the type of goal they are interested "in relating to business attraction and retention. Other cities have taken a different approach to the situation depending on what their focus is. Some communities have entertained some property tax reclassification and other programs. He feels this is a policy decision for the Village Board and is a question 'of equity. There has not been much 'Internal debate on any specific recommendation to provide information to the Village Board primarily because there has been no policy decision as yet. Don Kane, of Kane McKenna, is present representing the proposed Target store. He is available for a general presentation to the Village Board if they are interested. The idea of his presentation will focus on raising the level of comfort to review the decision completely by providing all the necessary information that Trustees might want to consider in formulating a policy. It is up to the Village Board to proceed with this item if they are interested. .1 3 Manager Janonis asked what determines a trade area of various retail developments. For example, Home Depot trade area is much larger than the Target trade area. The trade area actually extends up toward the Wisconsin border. Don Kane responded by stating that many new businesses in the Chicago area look at what real estate agents look at also within an area based on locations of other competitors and studies of population and traffic patterns. Trustee Hoefert asked some general questions concerning the presentation. What is the relationship of the cost of the site and its development in relation to the 'Items sold in the store. Also, it appears as if the land cost increases over time as the amount of available land decreases, therefore, each site eligible for development becomes more economically feasible. Such a store can only go in so many sites. If the site is valuable, then someone will buy the land. If the land is defective, then the value of the land must be affected based on the market forces related to land 'in this condition. Tru e Wilks stated that she generally felt government should not give incentive$, because itis not the government's mission to pay for such things which business is responsible for. The only incentive she can see would be incentives which would apply to everyone equally. For example, if incentives were provided to Target that would affect Venture and Walmart even though they did not request incentives when they located here. Don Kane responded to Trustee Hoefert and Trustee Wilks' comments. He stated that projected sales may allow paying additional cost for the land and recover some excessive costs of the land, however, there is a breakpoint for such property. The value of property is based on the given use of the property and the zoning that may be attached to that property. Some Villages have responded to the problems of defective property by assisting in public improvements which not only benefit the property but also surrounding properties. He also stated that other Villages have looked at all details of incentives and have determined that it is not an exact science. Much of their review has included the "but foe' argument and their need to be a clearly defined benefit to the Village in order to provide such benefits and incentives. He also suggested that any rules relating to incentives for existing businesses be based on incremental benefits to the Village itself. Mayor Farley asked for input from other resources including the audience and staff. Dave Jepson spoke. He provided an overview of incentives which the Village had provided in the past. These seven types of incentives 'include 6b Class Exemptions for Property Taxes, Site Improvements, Industrial Revenue Bonds, Establishment of TIF Areas, Public Improvemetits and Joint Funding Assistance for a Study at Mt. Prospect Plaza along with Parking Availability for the Downtown. M MA 4A, I MW tk7-111 V1 I FT T*Tfi Extraordinary land cost Shared renovation cost for structure improvements Accelerated permit processing Infrastructure improvements .Fee deferral such as Development Fees and Permit Fees 0 0 However, it was shown that the effect was much less than expected but showed additional spin-off dollars which are generated through retail. The conclusion was that the effect would be on businesses anyway regardless of the trade area involved or the overlap, therefore, the store might as well be located within the town so the town could benefit from the store's location and tap any revenue which it might generate, Property Taxes do affect the operating costs of a retail establishment which is reflected in sales and the threshold of profit of those sales., He stated that it is a question of philosophy for the Village Board to determine the level of assistance, however, they can verify all excessive operating costs through review of records and information submitted by the business which is requesting the assistance. He further stated that the Village could require businesses to put up all front -up costs and minimize the risk of any 'Incentives provided to the business. The length of time for minimizing risk is dependent upon the return the business provides through additional revenues and incremental increases in revenues to the Village. Mayor Farley stated the question before the Village Board is whether to continue to develop an Incentive Program and requested staff come up Frith some options for the Village Board to consider. Tnudee Corcoran stated that his opinion is as follows concerning incentives. He believes that an incentive package can be developed based on standards which can be defined in order to minimize all risk to the Village. Such a program could also include a component for public improvements. Any such program would have to be based on incremental increases in revenue. He feels itis, necessary to keep the marketplace viable in order for Mount Prospect to Compete. There must be a focus to relieve Property Tax reliance and diversify the Tax Base of a community. Businesses are going to locate in the general vicinity in order to take advantage of the possible dollars which Mount Prospect residents may spend at such locations. These businesses might as well locate within Mount Prospect in order for the Village to at least receive some benefit. Mayor Farley stated that he supports the continued exploration of this issue. He feels that the need to explore this 'Issue is related to the fact that the community is a mature community and must compete with communities which may have not matured to Mount Prospect's level, Tru e Wilks stated most businesses that came to us in the past requesting some type of 'Incentives were not on the same scale as Target. She does not want to close the door but would like to focus on public improvements which would benefit the business and the community at large. She feels the current request is too much for the Village at this point. Trustee Hoefert stated he supports further discussion, however, does not support the current payment request to Target. He feels the value of the property should be less because the property is defective which would impact the amount of the purchase price of the property. 7 I Phase 1(1991-92) Pearwater Flooding Area IDes Plaines River Backwater Valves Phase I Totals Phase 11 (1992-93) Central/Wapella - SeeGwun/Millburn Flood Phase 111 (1993-94) Prospert Manor/North Main Flooding Area Fairview Gardens Sanitary Area Haden Heights Sanitary Area Phase /it Totals Phase IV (1994-95) Stevensonf1rhayer Flooding Area SeeGwun/Miliburn Sanitary Area Phase IV Totals Phase V (1996-96) Kaden Heights Flooding Area SeeGwun/Golf Flooding Area Phase V Totals Dhaso V11 (1996-97) Village of Mount I Proposed Implementation Schedi Feburary Projected Capital Cost Eligible For Not Eligible Phase TEPA Loan Fof TEPA Won Totals $714.902 310,000 $1,024,902 i $2,995,683 $2,995,683 $4,110.0 $621.7001 $1,787,400 $1,300,000 380,000 $1,305,516 690,000 $69519,100 1 $1,f 80,000 1 $1,996,516 I 2rospect, Illinois ile, for Stormwater Manage 4v 1994 Submittal of Plans And Specifications TO & Agency* DAN= Agenck Pem 10-92 10-92 Yes 2-92 2-92 Yes 10-92 10-92 Yes 10-92 10-92 Yes 10-92 10-92 Yes 2-94 2-94 4-94 Pending Pending No 10-92 8-94 10-94 2-92 8-94 10-94 Mment Bidding Process Advertise Profi3ded For Bids &U Date 3-92 3-92 3-92 5-92 11-92 12-92 11-92 12-92 11-92 12-92 4-94 5-94 Pending 1-95 2-95 1-95 2-95 1 Construction Period Contract Start Substantial Awa constr- Coiwlemm 8-91 9-91 Completed 4-92 6-92 Completed 5-92 7-92 Completed 2-93 3-93 4-94 2-93 3-93 Completed 2-93 3-93 5-94 6-94 6-94 11-94 W�Pending 3-95 4-95 10.95 3-95 4-95 8-95 Catalpa/Birch Flooding Area $220,000 10-92 4-95 6-95 2-96 3-96 4-96 5-96 8-96 Weller Creek Erosion Control 150,000 1-95 4-95 6-95 2-96 3-96 4-96 5-96 6-96 Melas Park/Crurnley Erosion Control 50,000 1-95 4-95 6-95 2-96 3-96 4-96 5-96 7-96 Wedgewood Flooding Area 100,000 1-95 4-95 6-95 2-96 3-96 4-96 5-96 8-96 Phase W Totals $520,00 �9100 $714,101 * Projects completed under original bid amount appoved� Totals I GRAND TOTAL $14,735,20-1-] VJL [C:\FILES\EXCELIGLEN\STORMG.XLSI Feb 4 1994 4,w, AAWNISMTOR ClOY1 L PASNIC FROD. COORDIAW TOR ROXI T A RM fl/ PWV. ASSISTAK M1 NEW SURETARY DEAV9 WYLE COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION 0 VERNMEW ACCESS CHANNU 6 VIlLA6,E OF MOUNT PROSPECT 50 S. EMMO# SMEU, MI/K M"MCTo li 60056 MICHAEL E. JANONIS, VILLAGE MANAGER MW 70818-5685 Alk 70814-8502 MO., 7081392-f3n CHERYL L. PASALIC, COMMUNICATIONS ADMINISTRATOR \Zfm 0 'JIM'OM 10 _ IMA J@ LJ!Zd CABLE TELEVISION UPDATE NNW On August 17,1993, the Village Board approved a modification of the franchise agreement with our cable television provider, Telenois. Many months have passed since the modification and it is time to update you and the Village Board on the status of the cable system and the world of telecommunications today. 1994 will be a year in which the telecommunications field will change rapidly. Telephone companies are buying cable companies and creating huge corporations. While this may be good for the merging of technologies,, it spells potential danger to municipalities and possibly consumers. The telephone companies were supposed to be the competition that would challenge the cable monopolies. Now that they are merging into one giant monopoly, there appears to be no head-to-head competition in sight. The biggest threat of all is that under the recent FCC video dialtone decision.. if these large monopoly -merged companies decide to abandon traditional cable television delivery and reconfigure themselves as multichannel distributors (video diaftone providers), then local franchising will not be required nor will permits for construction. The major city,, county., and consumer organizations are fighting hard to protect our rights to oversee our community's rights-of-way. Imagine a time where any provider could repeatedly dig up parkways and rights-of-way without checking with the Village as to where water and sewer lines currently exist. That is only one of the potential dangers. The other major loss would be financial. Since franchises would no longer be required, the Village would no longer receive franchise fees and services from telephone, cable, and other utilities. It is not unreasonable to assume that all other utilities would challenge the franchise requirement in court, and would probably win. In light of these developments, it would be in the Village's best interest to develop a comprehensive telecommunications ordinance that will insure the ability to derive financial benefit and limited control over what is placed in our rights-of-way. Many major cities have adopted such an ordinance and are deriving financial benefit not only from telephone and cable plant, but also from private fiber company plant as well. Staff has collected some of these ordinances and have begun work on developing such an ordinance for Mount Prospect. Another change that has come about since the modcation is the implementation of the new rate regulation rules. The Village has been certed by the FCC to regulate the rates for Bl level of service (over the air stations and access channels) and any equipment or services necessary to provide cable (i.e.- remote controls,, convertors, installation changes, There are many steps and guidelines that the Village and Telenois, have to follow to comply with the FCC rules. The proce is currently at the point where Telenois is to provide the Village with required pricing information so that i Board may determine whether the prices rks., The Villa le has, experienced charged are allowable a,nd fall wilithin the FCC benthima difficulty in receiving this, information in the format *in w'w ich it is requilred to be, sent. Staffis at its Isposol to force Telenois to currently exploring with the FCC what options the Village has comply with the FCC rules. Once staff has received the required information, the Village is then required to seek public input on this information. One problem staff has encountered is that Telenois has served the Village with a legal notice that they feel prevents the Village from making this information public. In addition,, this notice requests that i seek Telenois' approval before copying or allowing viewing of these materials, and seeks to have these materials returned versus staying in our records. Staff is cur�ently exploring with the FCC and Village legal counsel whether the Village must fully comply with this notice or whether only a portion of the materials are applicable. Many other TCI -served cities have received this same notice. The modification of the franchise agreement called for several changes. The biggest change was the conversion to single cable. The Village was told this would take a maximum of sixty days and would be completed in October. That was not the case as it turned out. The conversion went poorly to say the least. Telenois contracted out to another firm to actually do the conversion, which proved to be very dcult to get a handle on. The Communications Division office experienced a signcant increase in complaints. At one point in the conversion process, this office averaged -twenty-five complaints a day, many about conversion appointments being made and no one showing up. In retrospect4 is now obvious that Telenois was not adequately prepared to handle this project. They lacked `pand manpower capabes to complete the conversion on tinv. In late November or early December, when the conversion was again supposed to be near completion., the contractor Telenois hired walked off it taking all of the records of who had and had not been converted with them. Telenois estimated at that time that 95% or more of the subscribers had been converted. They then decided to turn off the A cable and would rely on those who lost service to call and notify them. The percentage of those converted was grossly over-estimated,, and the phones were jammed. Thi's will be addressed further in the customer service and complaints area of this report. Another change called for in the modification was the upgrade of the system and the implementation of fiber optics for the system backbone. While fiber optics have been placed within rights-of-way and on poles in some areas, it is staff's understanding that it has not been 'ons, with'Telens s fully acttvated yet. Staff has had several meefings and phone conversaoitaff ti reg,arding this work due to the fact, that permits were applied for ancl� obtained, but the contractors rarely kept the Village informed of when and where they would be working. This created difficulty for Public Works and Communications in monitoring the project and doing inspections and follow-up. Staff intends to impose tighter restrictions on permitted work if this continues to be Telenois' practice. I Another item included in the modification was the transfer of ownership of the franchise from Telenois,, Inc. to TCI of Illinois,, Inc. This transaction has yet to be completed and paperwork filed with the Village. The Village has received a request for franchise renewal from TCI of Illinois,, but cannot act upon it until the transfer is completed. One of the major components of the modification was the major test that would be conducted on the old A cable. This was to be a test of at least 12 months that Would allow for new services and technology. This test system has experienced many delays in implementation,, and it is now anticipated that there Will be an announcement about the project in March with a launch in April of this year. When it was first proposed, this test system was cuffing edge and there were very few tests of its kind. Due to the delays, there have now been several other tests started around the country that have diminished the impact that this test was supposed to have. Enclosed is a front page article from Multichannel News that ran in the January 31st issue where someone had leaked the story of this test. Many on the Village Board may remember the TCl official quoted in the article, Mark Hess, as he was once the System Manager here in Mount Prospect. In this article, the TCI response about this test is less than enthusiastic and at one point contradicts what the main selling point to the Village was - fiber optics. Earlier franchise renewal was mentioned and the fact that the Village had received notice from TCI that they intend to ask for renewal of the franchise. There are federal laws that govern this process and many steps the Village must go through to ensure that it complies with those guidelines. What staff is proposing for this process, in an effort to save expense., is to build a team of experts to handle the renewal steps. To save the expense that most municipalities incur in hiring a consultant to oversee the renewal process, I will personally lead the project (having been a consultant myself prior to working for Mount Prospect). In addition., staff will call upon the services of professionals that Mount Prospect has used before in their respective fields of expertise. One area that the Village must examine is the financial condition of the company. I would propose using the services of Lou Karrison. He has done the auditing and financial review of TCI for Mount Prospect for several years, and is currently assisting staff with the rate regulation review. Another area of the cable operation the Village must review is the technical performance and condition of the system. Again.. I would propose using the services of an individual that staff has worked with for many years, Jonathan Kramer. He has worked with the staff of Telenois before and they are comfortable in working with him as he analyzes their operation. It should also be noted that Mr. Kramer served as the head of a joint committee of all of the city, county and consumer organizations in negotiating with the cable industry the new technical standards for cable TV that were adopted by the FCC. As for legal assistance during the renewal process, I would propose to use the services of in- house counsel Everette Hill and the more specialized services of Peter Coblentz,, an attorney the Village has used in cable matters in the past. The legal services will come into play once preliminary work and surveying are completed and are ready to negotiate. Another area that the Village will need to explore during the renewal process is that of JONAINAK mom The years with fewer complaints have followed action by the Village Board in reviewing the cable company's performance. As you can see, 1993 was a record breaking year. Complaint 0 resolution is a very time consuming task that is only exacerbated when we have limited staffing %WW to field complaints and respond to them. Many times during 1993.. especially during conversion,, all staff members took complaints while other job responsibes became a secondary priority. :do a Vrl Awk Wv vii AP w f In addition, the company has repeatedly failed to comply with the rules that require the filing of reports and documents with the Village. Only after being placed on notice of violation did the company provide the required technical reports and other documents that are to be filed with the FCC and the Village simultaneously. The company has failed to provide the Village with a copy of their annual EEO report for 1992. The company will be placed on notice of violation for this. During the last year, the company did away with the full-time trainer position who used to provide the CSR's with continuous training. In retrospect, this has apparently not been a good move, and subscribers have increasingly complained about the CSRs and the lack of knowledge they seem to possess. Finally, the conversion to single cable has forced all of the local taxing bodies to examine their use of cable television, or in some cases, lack of use. The one thing that Mount Prospect did that was vastly different than in other communities was that we called ' together all of the other taxing bodies to discuss the downsizing of the access channels and their use. Many of the other converted communities simply made the choice for everyone without discussing it. The result of these discussions was that the channels would be designated for use by the type of the programming and not specifically assigned to any one entity. A keen interest in the possibility of doing joint or group programming also surfaced. Several entities questioned whether the Village's operation could be expanded to include doing their programming. We will continue to explore joint programming options. The overall result was an amicable solution to some very tough choices. Listed below is the final consensus for access channel use to date: Channel 6 _1Government Access Channel 15 Meetings/General Information Access (Board Meeting,, Information Programs) Channel 16 Message Board Channel 24 Harper College Channel 25 Oakton Community College Channel 26 Special Events Access (Parades, Recitals) Channel 27 Radar Weather .. .. ....... . ..... ....... Channel 28 To be determined Channel 35 Public Access In conclusion, the face of telecommunications is entering a period of rapid change. More demands will be placed on municipalities to deal with the technological end of things. This may force the Communications Division to revise its priorities with regards to programming, franchise oversight, joint programming ventures, and the like. I have enclosed some press clippings and items of interest to assist in keeping up with this ever changing field. CLP/dmd C:\WPWIN601DATA\VILLMGR\CBLUPOT,,94 1% i i i i January r Telecom Pro, wsal Could" Preempt City Franchise Authority Gore stated OW thie policy grew out of the following five princi- ples: 0 encourage prhraate invest- rrn't 0 provide and protect compe- Won; open access to the network-, av ld cuing infornrsation hives and have nic" , 060DWW fleaihle and re- Mwasive governmerd action. Goi a provided feu detallsr on how these principles would Gore reaffirmed. the adn ixts- n'ato unher- est mrvice. UnWersal service re- hrs to the ootacept of enimming 4[or+t We service to the infomuLbon superhighway) for t tt,_ of Ih Telecom all Americans. The proposed Policy says ] i the p� �7 {��on Rind eAablis a fede r -i-- board to make recommenda- UODS On universW sefmce< He ALSO challenged private &Wustry to pmWde free links from the kdonluation superhighway tQ ev- ery dassroom, library, hospital Xnd clinic by the year 2000 Other telecommunications twills � in CowtMSS right oo � The Hot S _ MOUntuftT 'fir dam and F t hold hawbo later this month on NR a telecommtuuc &0ons tn- hustructurr bill a - lg Choirrun or *` _ and Rep- JWk FUAb (R-T� ),. _ p ber of Lhe eubWrt WWlee. 0 i i F ilii i - 4. �,' .._ ►Pt .. 1 ♦ ! t 4 t : 4 i � i i �: i mi � t .eX� . ;� x _ � i t i i t i t i, i w 3 a. J. W41- Log Ff 1 3 F `. i <i t t i i i r '► f Ft t- t i F +.i t i. t i i i i• t �° �3 � i ♦' t t r. � - � t4 S. i t F k i t' t i + i r �r,i .i t ►► t_ i t 1 i { • i t ! 1 t Gore stated OW thie policy grew out of the following five princi- ples: 0 encourage prhraate invest- rrn't 0 provide and protect compe- Won; open access to the network-, av ld cuing infornrsation hives and have nic" , 060DWW fleaihle and re- Mwasive governmerd action. Goi a provided feu detallsr on how these principles would Gore reaffirmed. the adn ixts- n'ato unher- est mrvice. UnWersal service re- hrs to the ootacept of enimming 4[or+t We service to the infomuLbon superhighway) for t tt,_ of Ih Telecom all Americans. The proposed Policy says ] i the p� �7 {��on Rind eAablis a fede r -i-- board to make recommenda- UODS On universW sefmce< He ALSO challenged private &Wustry to pmWde free links from the kdonluation superhighway tQ ev- ery dassroom, library, hospital Xnd clinic by the year 2000 Other telecommunications twills � in CowtMSS right oo � The Hot S _ MOUntuftT 'fir dam and F t hold hawbo later this month on NR a telecommtuuc &0ons tn- hustructurr bill a - lg Choirrun or *` _ and Rep- JWk FUAb (R-T� ),. _ p ber of Lhe eubWrt WWlee. 0 1AMMY 3 1, 1 "41 11 .......... All" WE TLI� 11,1, 1�� #01t 1 U Ask" AW AIML AM 111n, is By KIM MTXHELL & PETER IAM13ERX Tele-Communications Inc.'s suburban Chicago cable system plans in xAarch to unveil an ana- log tr4il using up to 120 channels to measixre consumer demand for the types of services that Will eventually be offered in a digi- tally compressed cable urtiverse, About 8,600 subscribers, in the city of Mount Prospect, LL, will be involved in the test, which could offer as any as 120 channels of standard cable service as well as PPV, a la carte and spe- cial services and a 24 - channel test of Discovery Communications Inc.'s Your Choice TV (YCTV), TCI executives declined toprovide further details of dates, pricing and ser- vices included in the test, which calls for the system to ac- tivate an additional 62 channels of capacity on top of 62 existing channels, Mark Hess, director of new se sdevelopment for TC1 in Denver, emphasized that w a] focuses on product, not tech- nology, TCl primarily wants to test demand for a wide range of services that the deployment of digital cornpresaion will begin to enable over the next 12 to 18 mon ths,,, "The 150 -channel system is something that has to be market - tested," Hess said. He added that although the re- cently concluded TCl/AT&T/TJ S West Inc. video -on -demand Wata in Denver — known as Viewer's Mdr* as" of WOW ur" A"a" Choice TV --have proved that movies are a business, "there are other potential businesses be- yond movies. Things like HB02 and 3, which wive not been able to launch. or potential services like YCTV," he said. CA ..... ..... ...... ..... TCI will take advantage of aper_ capacity in Mount Prusliect "basically to find out what else you put in compression beyond movies --beyond and behind YCV1," he added." YCTV project leader Nancy Stover said last week that theMountMot Prospect test will launch all i41.3 test services simultane- ousle, allowing YCTV to gauge its impact in a competitive, ru- turissiesetting. YCTV and TCI are anticipating a 25 percent of the subscribers will use the service, she said. YCTV will command a be* total of 25 channels --24 service channels and one It barker --in the test, making it the fledgling company's largest test to Has date. TCI has not deter - YO mined the how it will price YCIV, she said. *# The open capacity Hess referred to is available thanks to two separate 62 -channel (450 )VIFL- 1 analog cables, the legacy of a franchise war fought in the suburban region more than a dec�e ago. The sygton was built to 1241 -channel, capacity via the dual cables that access Mount Prospect as well as 13 other corn- munities, serving approximately 62,000 subscribers. When TCI bought the system in the late See TC4 Page 42 TCI Will Test 120 channels In Continued from Page 1 19809, Hess said thcae channels — incl rding about 20 public ac., oe.wa,s diannels were under. u,sed, �qual ly, discorcerung was that each home needed a set-top converter to access both cables. Since then, TCI has negotiat- ed to have all 14 communities within the franchise shut down one of the two cables and settle for 62 well -used channels. The plans -out of the %m,�Tidary cable wa,a completed last year.�, vating 'Now that TV is remctiv, � , the secondary cable, the 8, home trial will in essence be- corne a 900 MHz system — al- most on par capacity -wise with Time Warner Cable's Full Ser- vice Network in Orlando, Fla., and its Quantum system in ue,ens,,,N',Y. Hi�ywevtr, doet kok rot MounIt ProM, wit to bocomn v TCV9 full- service network technical trial, complete with digital video servers, significant two-way ca- pability or data packet switch- ing, Hess said. "ICs not going to be our FSN. Any place with fiber to the feeder is a candidate for, that, and Mount Prosped�j , L�nl Rut, Hes pointed out, a 11"P number o- interactive services can become reality through com- pression alone — years before full-blown FSN-type networks become viable. Given a digitized 120-pius- channel system offering only rrummal return channel capaci- ty for on -demand or near -on -de- mand ordering, "we can tag up to 16 million items" ranging from movies to home shopping for delivery over a network es- sentially still in the broadcast mode, he said. Ironically, in September 1991 Comiuftwr Reports surveyed sub- scribers in rive cable systems throughout the nation, only to determine that the least satis- factory" was TCI's suburban Chicago system. The magazine's determination was based on pric- ing, picture quality, outages and customer service issues. -401 Like Tele-Communications, Inc- in Mount Prospect, M, sev- eral other MSOs find that ffiew unique dual -cable systems -- remnants of 1nnel fran- chise ware or yore — offer unique opporWnitme to expand channel capacity. By this May, Cablevision In- dustries Inc. will reactivate a second, dormant cable already in the grminid to introduce eth- nic and pay-per-view services in Long Beach, Calif. In Toledo, Ohio, Buckeye Cablevision in using one cable to continue ser- vices while it upgrades a seomd cable to greater bandwidtti. Unlike TCI, CVT plans no high-profile, new savices mar- ket test. However, it does ex- pect to deliver new multilingual programming to Hispanic, Cambodian and other commu- nities among 62,000 Long Beach subo2ibers this surnmer I The sudden doubling of ca! pacity from 450 to 900 MHz al- so will, make room for more PPV, said Joseph van I.Amn, CVTs senior vice president of engineering. The design will leave headroom lbr digital corn - pression as well. CV1 believes the cost will be about $42 per home passed -- considerably cheaper than an estimated $3,200 -per -home for Pacific Bell in the same market. And, at $760,000 to $1 million (depending on how much trw* fiber CV 1 adds), the project will be far cheaper than a $12.5 -mil- lion -plus C"V1 rebuild to 750 MHz. Buckeye engineering vice president James Dryden has begun a five-year project to ex- pand one of two cables to 550- 750 MHz, reaching some neigh- borhoods by next year. Mean- time, the other cable will con- tinue carrying current services and, in the end, could be dedi- cated to other usm like power- ing amphfiem —00 F R *e o CC ead,iesKnif T By JEANNINE AVERSA ing indications that the FCC is very serious about WASIMOTON - With the Fed- reducing rate bench- eral Communications Commis- marks. Cable lobbyists sion widely expected to take an- and executives have in - other whack at cable rates, Re- tensified lobbying activi- publican lawmakers pushed ties over the past couple against tougher regulations they of weeks in anticipation said could Impair the industry's of further price -cuts. investment in an information su- While none are surprised perhighway, about where the FCC is Any further cuts would be "in- heading, the industry is consistent" with Congress' and getting jittery over the - Vice President Al Gore's goal of timate outcome. developing a superhighway, Rep. Wall Street is bracing Jack Fields (R -Texas,) told FCC for a storm. Partly in an - Chairman Reed Hundt during a ticipation of the FCC's ac - hearing on the superhighway pol- tion, MSO stocks have icy last Thursday. Other Repub- traded down about 8 per- licans, including Reps. Dan cent in recent days. Stock Schaefer (Colo.) and Joe Barton analysts have varying predictions (Texas) also took Hundt to task. on how bad the damage might The Republican wagons began be, but all are nervous. to circle last week based on grow- "I'm not recommending any of HUNDT them apart fi-om TCI and Liber- ty," Tinker said. "Reality's set- tling in." Rate regulation combined with a rate freeze has trans- lated in a $2 billion hit to cable industry revenues and delayed the startup of 40 new program ser- vices, the National Cable Television Association reported last week, cit- ing figures compiled by Paul Kagan Associates - As previously report- ed, the FCC is expected to lower benchmark rates for regulated cable systems at its Feb10 meeting. Just how dra- matic the reduction will tua ; I aIkt, t, &3 not clear, CA& sources outside the FCC think it could be anoth- er 10 percent. The FCC is also ex- pected to extend the rate freeze, now set to expire on Feb. 15. See FCC, Page 39 00 t FCC L k I dd t n In� R Cu Cortfinzwd from Page I Sources said the FCC is not likely to cut rates another 18 per- cent, as consumer groups and some members of Congress have urged. The FCC has previously rejected doing so. The FCC has not decided whether it Will order an across- the-board reduction in the bench- mark prices or depress only some. It also is unclear whether the FCC will build new variables into its rate formula that would account for cost differences aris- ing, for instance, from providing service to low-density areas, FCC officials and cable lobbyists said. "No decisions have been made," Hundt told lawmakers, adding that the 1992 Cable Act that empowers the FCC to regu- 0 late rates must be interpreted to encourage the offering of new ca- ble services. The FCC doesn't want to stifle that, he said. Any lowering of the bench- marks "will undercut cable com- pany investment in plant and new service," warned NCTA president Decker Anstrom. The FCC is walking a tightrope in trying to emure a fair price for both consumers and cable com- panies. A preliminary survey of the top 25 MSOs'largest systems' rates found that one-third of those subscribers were experi- encing price increases under the new FCC rules. "No one should have that," the FCC official said. Another point the FCC is also trying to determine Is: "Are rates going down the appropriate amount?" an FCC official said. That amount is based on the price differential between com- petitive and non-competitive ca- ble systems. For months, the FCC has been working with economists to determine whether the current competitive differen- tial of 10 percent is the right one. According to the NCTA!s calcu- lations, cable prices for regulated services and equipment declined 10.5 percent between April and September 1993 based on rates of the top 25 MSOs 10 largest sys- tems- The FCC, which hasn't completed its own survey of these systems, is expected to release its findings in early February, The FCC's rate review re- sponds to petitions filed last sum- mer from cable, consumer and municipal groups to revisit the price rules. The review also re- sponds to pressure from mostly Democratic lawmakers, who have been urging Hundt to re- visit the rules since he assumed the post in late November, "I have a sense that whatever they do will be tough," said Ca- ble Telecommunications Associ- ation president Stephen Effros, who accused the FCC of trying to "gui up consumer expectations." "Who knows what the deliber- ations will yield? _ All I know is that additional tinkering with the benchmarks would be very counterproductive," said Tele- Communications Inc. senior vice president Robert Thomson. One analyst said that some of the s' attempts to show they need money to build the information b-u- perhighway were clwm-y. "Just be- cause you announce you're gouig to put fiber into public schools a cou- pie of days before Al Core takes the podium doesn't mean you'll will sympathy, a "one nalyst saki, refer- ring to a TUI plan announced just before the Jan. 11 "superhighway sumn-vC in Los Angeles. Separately, the some cable lob- byists expect the FCC to launch a new proceeding to look specifi- cally into a la carte arrange- ments. The FCC has all investi- gation under way of 51 cable sys- tems for possible violations of rate rules. Many of those sys- tems' a la carte arrange nients are being examined. __1WN John M. Higgins ti-vnin'buted to this story. „;vi✓G/art„�� ,,, ��py � ;dY� 'I�' 40 �G � I M i u w Y � r w i a �� wr 6w A, a W ry w es swt on, ei ''Iaw� Ameritech Corp. said Monday it filed a federal court case to over- turn, a law that revents it from offering ca pie e v ee the. sameareas 'fit it providet tele-, phone service. It in U.S. courts in Illinois and Michigan to dedare the law unconstitutional. The cornpax%vAnts to introduce c , ` � sJ Illinois The Chkagio-based reeonal Befl, bun %Nkhl Usdidm MN Amaitech said It WW Ow court$ i wants to � t other' e:rvrvide s it a video -on -de- mand and entertainment, educe- tinai, abopping and mediml lo- q krm'fiom Ameritech"th e Cable r �to PoiAct, of -I �t pp . mix �t it �e i mi itshome Wd vi its freedom, of speech and,41fth Amen Of, equAl ell, A,tlatic Corp,based in Philadelphia,.also h a� similar, fu, Mto a i eVhot leh �, e court, Med that it had the right to offer the service, but the Justice Department is appealing the can. N�w e4ble tele!" on agr.e`eml _- mv t m- ay cut cost m* N%unt Prospect By L*my SMITH Daily Herold Staff Writer Mount Prospect residents will be able to use cable -ready televi- sons and videocassette recorders by the end of the year now that trustees have approved a change in technology. Village trus tees Tuesday agre W - to allow the cable television franchise holder, TC1 of Illinois, to -switch the village's system from dual cable to singlecable. An Z- n1t - between the company dlhe tage was mached last month and officially was approved at the regular board meeting. Residents will be able to use the latest audio and video equipment because of the switch to a single cable. Company offidats said the average cable bill should op, by ,$3- �5W "I'm very happy to see " haw Trwtee 9v Paul Win. Hoe- pe-s—in ten said- "...1 know a lot of rest- dmtg have wanted it." blout Prospect is the last of 13 M Northwest suburban communities served by TC11 to switch from the dual cable -system, Village board mem bm decided earlier this year that the reasons they refused to al- low the switch were no longer val- id. Jim Mitchell, program mar ager for TCI, said the rompany will be- gin switchg the eable in Septem- ber and sbutuld finish in about 60 days4 In the agreement: TO iagrees to tall morme fiber optic Cable in the village. set limitations on the novement of public access chan- nels on the dial and have longer customer service hours at the Mount Prospect office. Village trustees had refused to allow the switch to S_iogle cable in the past because of numerous complaints from residents about quality of the signal they received and treatment by the company's employees. Complaints have since decreased and the -relation-ship be- tween the village and the company has improved, officials said. 11 oval as September 14, 1993 Dear Subscriber, Beginning Monday, September 20th, TCI of Illinois, inc. will begin a systematic "conversion" process for The Village of Mt. Prospect. Your cable service will convert from a dual system to a single system. We plan to make this transition as efficient and convenient for our loyal subscribers as possible. If you have any questions regarding this process, please call (708) 299-92400 TCI of Illinois, Inc. is proud t serve The Village of Mt. Prospect an because we are committed to continue t deliver the highest quality cable servic that our Mt. Prospect subscribers have com t!o expect, we know this conversion i another step foward in our ongoin commitment to you, our subscriber. Sincerely, AL JP* Jeanne Buddingh General Manager, TCI of Illinois, Inc. V mm -Wk I Kip TC1 of 111inois, inc-- If the ML Prospect Village Board® .approves modificaLow W h _ of Minoiso, c4_1 ftzEbenmay soon be able to take advantage of the hast innovations metre ut- dustry part of a_, teat conducted by the compsony. 1Ue terms of the which was reviewed Vile p T g y gamcall _ for ML .- _tom -- Oust iin the cztnitry w - a var y of new came .VIS§ technology will be test marketed. Although the teat concept is still in die "development, stage," TO Stage manager Kelvin Fee told the Journal it may allow ML t _i_ to pnview an ve - � - a x and - _ ivriuZsJUSt chanvietmay, i hmk pay-pes%-view vnm pay-p%-vilike special_ eU a- jeus and music concerts. t with I calis fW ML - is systmn to, be' cAmverted 66 -at a dual to single with _the, extm lice g aged for tht, et test of other (Continued on pagg JA) e TV F__ � -, g!;W� from par 1A) By LARRY SMITH Daily HeraldWrittt Cable TV subscribers in Mount Prospect will soon have a chance to experience =mething that no other television viewers in the country will see in the hear future. Telecommunications Inc. has decided to use the 8,800 sub- scribers ub- rieof the system to do a mar- ket ar .ket test of possible programming at could be part of the nation's largest cable television mnpany-s L to expand chaom is Northw sub urban commis, Wily will t firsin t country o the new program i E. °tt Drovides Mount ipect residents a kind of unique glimpse into what the future might hold," Village Manager Michael E. Janons said. The market test would start in Decen-ther or January and is, part of an a _mnt with the Village of Mount Prospect to convert their dual cable -system to a single -cable System. The second cable of the present system would be usedto ca the programming services of the market test. Kelvin D. Fee, state manager of TCI of Illinois, said the company ch Mount Prospect because the market test can tie done without interruptrmal ice and the company facilities are capable of handling the extra serviceM "We want to test it before we of - fer it nationwide," Fee said "'Mount Prospect is where we want to do this. It's going to be pretty exciting." Fee said a market test will be done on a volunteer basis and par- ticipants will need a special con- verter box to use the service The company hopes to attract soot) to 3,000 subscribers. The additional channels will car- ry a variety of programing from broadcast and cable television ser- vice - company officials said in a letter to the village, Subscribers will be We to eltl: r purchase in- dividual programs on a pay-per- view basis, or for full cable chan. nets on a monthly hasis. Offerings may change each mmith as differ- ent products are tested. "The equipment that picks up 500 channels doesn't exist Yet. . 1. CABLE TVs NEW ORDER X, -0 477 U A is Smith: Malone Is No Tarth Vaderl Ration to Or their rules in the new company. 0 Approach other cable systems about sharing FSN costs in sonic markris anti compete with other cable/telephone com- parties in others, a Keep the door open on acqoiring more cable properties once a definitive agreement is completed with TCI. "Our first joint objective after closing is to continue the building of the full ser- vice network," Smith said - We will have substantial ability to influence manufac- turers and we're working right now to do that in a way to enable the deployment to move quickly." The rollout of FSNs may prompt Bell Atlantic to reevaluate some of TCI's plans, Smith said. 'Mere's going to be a re- examining of our overall strategy,' Smith said 'Me ultimate goal is to have switched architecture so that the interactive services can be introduced sooner rather than later. 'But that doesn't neces- swily mean that in some ar- eas we won't spend incremental capital to upgrade the system and do some of the things that were mentioned prior to the merger announcement by'rCl," TCI has signed a letter of intent to buy I million digital set-tup converters trunk General Instrument Corp, "Some of those (things) still niake sense even though there'll have to be. at some later date, some re-engineering of that architecture," Smith said,. Forinstance, FSNs need fiber deploy - men(. Smith said: 'We'll try to do it in a way that will preserve capital," He added that' SL, Is still a good in- icrim strategy, especially in areas where there are short loop lengths -anti yet nol top candidates for full service network deployment," Smith listed several reasons why Bell Atla III ic, which had talked to 1111111Y prospective partners. teamed up with Tc l_ -First. it had a national footprint and it was [lie larkrest MSO," he said. HIC company also boasted %lalollv, Clou-so-n arij Hartoo, according to Smith, flit Iso std IV %Ast coat-waint-N-, Pro- 'gratinning Itive"taw"K Bell Ailamic ro-alined several years ago ilial the w1uphone, cable anti computer indwaries would :,00n convergt, Stith said: "We learnt we probably c%eren'l going to be able to do this alone,, su we decided we needed a cable partner. Smith said he got to know Nialone at several cable -telco debate fo- rums, -%Ve found we didn-t debate at all.' he said -We were both talking about the same future,' He paid f14ialone's "Darth Vader- image doesn't match the man he's come to know, "John Nialont! is ver% di- rect: he is very competitive - He is very aggressive, but the notion of Darih Vader Just doesw tit him at all.' Smith said. -He's a formidable com- petitor. but with ;I slighth dif terent --Me. believe it or not, so am I -1 have lived In a regula- tory environment for 30 years In the business, 1;0 my external approach to all of my Constituencies rata} be a bit more ambassadorial - 7, 111,9110M STVILL. !W Jillikodc 46allnPAW Rayomw Soft says Us st* min be owe law-44UA46wiw tk&* JSM Mabm%, but warns be% *VWY tit M JWMAd" a cow peato as tm ?RC1 X_= M., I Indeed, some media in- dustry observers say iMalone is tired of being the lightning rod for cable 1ndut;try critics, Becoming % -cc chairman of Bell Atlantic will let hirci step out of file lime- light as Smith becollies (lie conlpany*s point man, 11ns is a verb good dkision of labor.' Smith said. -I've been in this field su lung I don't even see it as heat 11-s second na- ture and comes with the package:" Still. NIalone and other ranking TCI executives will be key placers in Bell At- lantic's luturv, Smith laid -1 ant (remendously impressed with his siraiegic undvrsanding and him he can catapult understanding of trends and developmeni,; and auguries 11110 action. Smith said lie noted (hat \Ialone will be III charge of "multinit(lia and all (Iia( stui I ' Clouslon anti Barton, he added- -are it very intpuriant part of the business land they will he runolmz very large pars of this new buslncs-a, 1U -.11 YOWK14 I144r-ft- T u date, cahk and *kphow ca (tiles haven't competed with their lkethm i1a t -be %amie to, but that f, clluu-� sect Jing to The b*m worUft dud can affurd Wad ofconw- U&M Will Ply straightforward w be adiL -tech. oology and regulation has now made dwse kinds 'of gentlemen's agreements vim &-USouth chuIrm" John Clendenin =W 1aA week he expects mom WkDca. ble alliances like his company's with Prime Cable and the Bell Adantle-TC] merger. He also said BellSouth would vlew Bell Atlantic as competition it it does lausimem in his mnpany's territory. 'If we face a market challenge in our area, we will respond.' Cliendenin said. Smith said Bell Atlantic will compete with other telcos in some areas and cow erate in others: 'if every time I do some- thing, I have to select someone who isn't a competitor of mine somewhere. I hard - 4y have anybody to select firom." While liberty Media -backed QVC WNW& owert try to guess exactly W1 iid All Mat biluff vairicuff nwill ct We con" neo uwt by I fime we're deploying them in a cem Inc- nrvampi:4 its bid- for ftramount area and who. perhaps along w•idi oil Communicadmm tne. LW w -tet Struth cable comwies, we can deploy it wit =W Bell Atlantic wisp remain an observ- ht siti& "As wr arr Wumig coguitev, er in the battle. 4AW " becoming very ek-du that it) "We want accew to everything a stu-inatwwaW tost!i per sub Ur twt llt- �dlo does and it takes getting a part of it passed to equip subw6twn VdIlit"fit to do that, well do it. But we don't need smVices — espt�-Molly now -.4,k tral- c A of any studlo,' Satith said. -We're not were ping to have additional *wctl going to get directly involved in with KS — -to suing I,* tinable ..-. Paramount ?hat's John's move. I sup- very lw*- c . to after these tctrpL_ port him 100 percent in QVC's bid-- acrv- Beg Adantic — which has won tenta- 'Mr full, wrVice ortwork frau iti, tive federal court approval to deliver be w -wed And *1uVk%s-* video services in its telephony -service Smith said revenue gruerall"ll region spanning six states and Washing- video-owdemand and lim-'ist teirpit, too, D -C. — will continue to press video wUl gmw treme-adouslY -because *- "-tone k -As, Smith said. talking about virtuAfly fto mArkri shi,. "Ws very low incremental cost for us Bril At etc is lusling VO- 1) U." and it's fungible,* he said. 'We can take video -over copper telephone lieu It from one "on to another where we suburban Washington. DC, expect to have lower penetration but 6rMe response and picture qualn oU a market demand that would make dynatuitv�' he saidkrtowh-tlging it profitable." ADSL technology �h" bern ,oi TCI and Bell Atlantic are trying to de- wailited a finte bit, tennine how large a cable system must 'Mr *tutr Es. wss- good or tit I I t - I- i be to support FSNs, Smith said. But he 4% cable na"AU i f_W(Vt4ut t#f lilt. added that systems with 50,000 or fewer area because the loop is small, 'iii subscribers could get the technology. said - "laeaa-to-neaa wiiin Life u Bells in as manv as 40 cit liv,fir... aW,111 u Bell promises btm,"'ne et out your erasers; your & long-term networking f blueprint is11 about to ....... change. .,4i, +L the govern -1 ia: govern - M 1) .I.�A. Lir n iapproves, j,r eU kdanties ld , merger with relle-Commuracations Inc., the na- '! ion"s largest Cable -TV COMPanY, Justryto a, 'new 1, of s'p � � tii ,' v Iont Whearecosts, for local and lung- ° fistance ac s :Fall, broadband, will #loin h, D and wireless networ'<s and a new spectrum services will arise. of information 6 "laeaa-to-neaa wiiin Life u Bells in as manv as 40 cit liv,fir... aW,111 TOP OF THE WEEK, velop technology that brings reli- able, high-speed channels to the end user, then we are all going to be better off." Broadband technology will let us- ers link their computers and video- conferencing gear at fantastic speeds. For instance, two PC users will be able to swap files across the continent just as quickly as if they were both working in the same local office space. The two companies hope to even- tually deploy broadband technology for consumer and business services nationwide as an alternative to the local Bells. In fact, TO is already battling the Bells: It owns a 40% ,stake in Bell competitor Teleport Communications Inc. Throwing Om The Gauntid Teleport and other bypass carri- ers, such as Metropolitan Fiber Sys- tems, have already forced the Bells to improve services and lower the costs of local calls. Even long-dis- tance costs have dropped. The rea- son: More than half of the costs of a long-distance phone call go to local carriers for providing the last mile - long link that connects the cajJer with the network. Still, up until now, these bypass carriers have scratched away only 1% to 2% of the local phone market. With the full-scale backing of Bells eager to compete against their sib- lings, however, alternative carriers should be in a much stronger com- petitive position. "Now that Bell Atlantic is putting on its competitive hat outside the mid-Atlantic region, it will be very helpful in promoting competition and knocking down regulatory bar - hers," says Metropolitan Fiber presi- dent Royce Holland. Additional competition will come ftorn )cable compard , es up gradi ing TV networks, to offer broad band voice, data, and video services to businesses. Even before the merg- er was announced, TO had revealed plans to pump $750 million worth of fiber optics into its network this year. Last week, TO and Bell Atlan- tic add edtothat, unveilingplans to install fiber qm Ta's 20 largest net- won by 19,98., W�m To offer two- way business voice, data, and ou'albnyt phone services, the cable -TV s the first companies will company., need to install Ater mith z er , sta te two-way asyn- offleial . But e,% chronous trans- the agreement fer mode (ATM) two sides to cc switching tech- 10ne,thing Lis ce nology. ATM is finally re-evolu the key to unit- ton, Congress ing the current 'BeL6 providins telephone and Bell Atlantic to cable -TV net- "'There is no works, says Ed place right no Mihm, a man- Insight Resear ager in Bell At- N.J. "It's like lantic's technol- They're either ogy group. "A lot of pieces are coming togeth- er, but there are still some holes,," he says. Bell Atlantic n a s d T , C1, em,ph,a,L'Z;e that by wor",kmiq as one will push, the techtnolc rwgv foard while dri,ving down th, Vie, costs. TO president—and brand- new Bell Atlantic vice chairman— John Malonear 'gues the two com,pa- nies" combined network will "bring the margmi,al cost of entry down, for the very smallest providers," thus spurring innovation. Malone main- tains that by the year 2000, more than half of the merged entity's rev- enue will come from services that don't exist today. And that excites potential custom- ers such as Jeff Marshall, managing ,dim rector of telecomuntications, for Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. in New York. "Mere"s great anti",paof hi'gh-value M"forTnation sources com- ing to )the surface, "' he says. '7, ech­ nol,o gy will, be accelerated by these kinds, of dedeals...The computer induStry 'L's Just as happy., `7he PC industry has been thhelast to recognize this opportmruL- ty1f, "o, concedes Sanjay Parthasarathy, group product -manager for ad* vanced consumer to at NU- crosoft. '"This merger it takes to get some of this technology down from theether and into reahity." —Mary E. Thy fault and Stephanie Stahl With P4Ui Travis and Joseph C. Panettieri Pop The Affift, Cork I fullt merger between a telco and a, cable the Befll Adantic-T0 deal, must pass mus - multitude of fed , and, local , , , al en if any of them tries to block the deal, leaves open an eight-year window for the me together as soon as the law allows. rtain:'The merger will force CongTess to ate aging comm'undcations laws. In addi- may remove the restriction against the lon,g-dis-tance semice, freeing the new take ort ,AT&T, MCL and, Sp w L way regulators can control this market - w," says Bob Rosenberg, president of :h Corp., a consultancy in Livingston, in avalanche rolling down a mountain. going to move or get buried." The issue: Do cable -telco mergers support competition or create m egamono podes? Bell Atlantic and, TCI argu, e 'that by competingagainst other Bells and cable Compa- nies on their own turf, they are forte ning competition. Others fear that the merger of two mono polies—evenmi competition against other monopolies—is an anti-com- petitive development. —M.E.T. �i TO Deal Brings Mt ►, about S9,6 billion of TCI and Liberty Me- dia o ° deb m ll Atlantic earnings may take as mug°lr as a :5 -percent hit this year, chairman byrnond Smith said the dint ° will, be tfft within thr or lr ° is deal cet,l` strenthes the v,al11es of all cable systems;' said Srtan, of Daniehs &Assmial M, "We think Wis pit Will 90 ep activity* A.tided, Mark l iely, a partner' in the New Ycorkkbased ieve,4itent banking firm of 'M"acIlonald Gni, � e 't i°s deal is direst cknowit ent fi°om most ;at ag 'essive -yin uMuaat,g di't right to prayide video) in its servict, area. SO in,g. e cahfe pi Peii e is v l a lre ° d. irs.:valoaW erou8b, to PaY a big preirtium to het ftp" " But, it ,also create some tangier taint for Borne averatom according, to Analysts ge and small aperatorvonll have t to eon parmrm or be swans by ger pjuaycrs to compete with aliianves such as rime 'warner lttc,x swo-g­and T"C -Sell Atlantic,, which plan to build high -cavity, broadband raet oeksu %n, ,mm. erteic,, service ",said,, Added .l efI 'Sint. head of Morgan �. Icy & C'o,'s media mergers and acpuisi.- tla ns deparirnent: "'N'o otte is tanditt ' atilt tads°fid W e»;re not saying yod have to ill ou't� t there are only four viable alp t rnatives if you're, doing Mbar i in's, competitive marketplace. "You can either compete on your own, form jnio ; veni ire Ali nut, O Ran t, cun. rtiurats witltu °aatarr operators. Vnu can also do nothhtg, but that's not a ,able altrti," G,ordon C rawford,, s njor vice pr °i,° deni ()i` Caplal Research `o.�which has exte"sive stock boldinp, in ^severa$ of the .� M.", agreed. els is a trend that can't be ignored any longer,` he said "Even small opera torts .are going to have to partner or gel out to a telco,'" Indeed, Adelphia, Commooicatitmi °tt� :noeslnt�tuvand Cox f`� t a rnttttunicat ons l`ncY havt, all admitted dis cussing, ip weenwmts with Aev tri tele ° o deaf,,$ ft tit. so tm Also mentionc as tiro-WVctive deal i kers: Ca„b ' ion ,sttrns,com, Cdr ait%ent,al Cab*vis'ion and Comcast Com”, aftl^oorigh ast leaved a swoogd nii l of'any such I'Ates late lab t wrek� l t,e're "Will be at least four major as nauncements before toe, end of the ye r,N" Predicted Andy Armstroog, presidtat of "l't Capital & otel Fred Moran. a rnedia Land enter. iammc t analyst at ' alornon Brothers Inc.. whi h Wised Bell AtfBatttirc in the TV ded' *Cl � 1COmW tes WWI" Over 1. million ;;-abs cumorners and Mose its °. er metrDpolitan areas . t to te"Wphorte E+t lc ff M clraai , of filar.. cua tpers. a Dat bose M50 With 140,00 cu toineers in Wisconsin", Delawwe and Texas any oVerawr Coff mfled to tru c tal into, q, RUM'S to help delery of new ,prod , Y cervict°, nW tkW *We're, athird° �"� Cnrlaowa�at r�� he e [,rider° inn mors ° e the o to i lar metropolitan, hoy the t.r°st too being they nett techn , to, the attaarlce tete m burbain sys off. 'i tact 0. 11ift It'll, be tyur ern,.. *By then. well be in a pos, 6i Yo to what works and what doesn't and the coms will be bearable and withiti, re h. We ntte"t need to be first, OurcusIximem arehy to, have 35, ohanmissof° becaitis a to re than they Wol have withottt u�a,*" Added one indu=stry 0,bwvlrr whote- qutsltedton'mir" '. ary of the cable induwy has bten en tirneand tame again,. it's s, brave new twn,rld, but not the end of l!" Tn,im DonattIli,. a vice, president with `erthe,im Schroder & C � aid, " finis bu'rte", iin't for, entreLar m, °"he guys wto Itar°ted this busiftew, in the a e visaonaes, Butgo— ung t!o bebard for a cable erti ° to continue` playing in this ttt�wevrer. Donatellisaid tta new of entrepreneur will emerge in the ne id cen- tury "lts going to tht guys from, l�'l ". and Cal, Tech a,nd those guys from Mi crosoft that start busi ses in their 'Five to f'ff ''ItaTelc o Deal Will Revolutioniz now, there will a cottage industry that Provides software, and processing a s tac,njs, that, will help maintain the oetworks being developed today°, Telco and cable reaction to the Bell At- lantic-TCI tlantic-TCI deal was, for the most part, positive. Ameritech vice chairman Louis Rutigliano liano sailed it "further proof that the communications marketplace is moving much faster than legislation or regulon can pmibly tomprehend.0 fie addedM 'Me best solution in the Haire of this ra id industry, change is to all 'est: to all ' Wt the customer decide," Noted Michael Rittm president -chief op - orating of&er of Continental shows rather sem " that mapr player° in both, indo , f st> a kh must tion in everycommw*y of video" , d Ota W It's ton n to tt"ll how the ll [antic deal will change TCI. The telco's ca r week he doesn't intend to '& something that doesn't meed fixing," according to TC I treautrer BetnArldhttem, "I a.n cap at here don't know what we,�i�ng, to be! doinga 'yew , now. but it wild be d9ferrot :aid lit he excit- ing,"' xc tt-iin , he SCI presj,dettt John Ma.loale, will be- ,coffw Beg Atilivides vice h k and the MSO will get five on, Sell, AtlantWS board. ICs un � M eMs exact dw des *0 n be,� �he'� she stobe ; *'i wl"din produd, de - vel t and wrvice Wwadms. Now pmdwb "I Like to create things," he said, ''Ns is. s (erdleqW0nn for, nye to help dev6 op wt ws a : d setvites,101 be, a formw to, watch it W isofioldM The dett *611 also enrich Malone and O ch*vw Bob M M wffla get Bell Admdc 51 btl liottu MgVvm wilil receivet T5 perctlot of miSiGM, B M AWdc ' ° , Makee will, get about 5 prermt of the t+ Cc � nt�7, �S ea11 4 5rith vowed that el'l: atlantic will maoPv�e ►oto all does asad telecomm,"laic- tions busine°s s, it"s not rtow :n, but rde " is �a o Sum glacwt N dorrti:raant ay, velli W a ;1 b several p�laye and at will rel a'aililam, . , vale that v0s us and ctb , in c a for cusp " Inside its region, Bell; Atlantic,will WM 0d)W, cablesystemsOr ew t.eraa: rtntent services customv,rs. Bt �t1"aa -,fO noted that the R30C will be a cars- mon carrier and, Bre access to-saYcOVIV powy-bat wints to payto use its rte '`ere thedell left, QVIZ Network Inc.'s _,aid for Par , *uat Ccm,miurtivations Inc. hate tast, sic° was undeat: ,%raamiount`s board said Oct- A it's talliri �� 'to QVC about � its 59.5-biilio bw out offer. while Viacom Inc. execatives 4 they re 40 9 with NrAmIu.tt of .bub b%Ili°atli of�r ajW U"Icertai tain was whether`1°°y uih would bank QVC's Pacamount bid. nHFM I OCTOBER 18t 1953 /CABLE WORLD WHAT NEXT FOR TCI AND LIBERTY MEDIA? licr(,'s a runik)wn of the TCI jod Liberty Nlediti 43 sell Ball Atliwitic will hcwv to oblem) reg Lilt j tory Oiks to ovvii. If Me telco get-,; the necessary m-nvvns-, son io propor hes may im, i)rouwit t),-)c1t into the fold, but until then. most m/1 probably L)o held by a now public company a new publicly traded TELECOMMUNICATIONS INC. - L company if the telc 0 0 Cable systc Penn Nryis in New Jersey, sylvania, Virginia, k- Wust Virginia, Dulawart-,,, M,iryl -and and Washington, D.C., doesn't win the where Bell Atlantic ch.,livers telophony service, I 022 pe-rcent of Turner Broadcas ting System Inc. waivers it needs 0 40 percent of Discovery Coniinunications Inc. to operate those E A 33�percent stake In The Sega Chaniv,'.1. properties. u'releport Cotriniunwations Group Inc. nolwaiks in areas Bell Atlantic serves. LIBERTY MEDIA CORP. S 50 percent if itvie»it In U.S, Cable of PAturson, N.J. M .10-PorcenI. intereLt In Viqg'Init-Ps Coluinhiii Associfites. E 20 percent of Gardcn '5,tatu Ctable In New Jersey. n 50 -percent intert. ,;t In L(�llfeF)(-COIIIIIILiniciitioris in New Jefseyand Pvnn,--wivania. E 50 -percent interest in TKR Cable L.P. in New Jersey. 50 Percent of U.S. Cable of Evangola, N.J. 0 1&percent intervst in BET. 0 90 percent interesit in Encore, E 42 -percent stake In Home Shopping Network Inc. M 15 -percent st(-il(e in International Fanilly Entertainment It)(.*. '4, , N 28 percent of QVC Network iqcl 0 LOO percent Of SOLIthern Satellite Systems Inc. 0 30 percent (if Prince SportsCharind Notwoi-'k-s. E 11, percent Of VI(Ie0 hikobox Network Inc. 0 33 percent of Court TV. 0 50 perccnit of SlarNct Im. E 100 percent cit X r Press It itorniation Sui vices L.R Source: Cable World resonrch Note: This *Is actual text of Barry Marshall's August 20th memo. It's been retyped for legibility. TELE -COMMUNICATIONS, INC. TO; Sys teM Managers State Managera Division 'Vice Presidents FROM; Barry. Marsham ll Art Lee cce madonna Guent=er an Wilson DATE: Augwt 20, 1993 RE: 'Partially ill able] nnw- TRANSACTION CHARGES W1 HIM MR11 As we move into the regUlatOrY envirOnment it Is imP*rt=t to. re"MbOr somathLng vital... under regulations we can't simply adjust our e cc 4 c anymore.. We have 1:0 tak the revenue fz)= the BOUXCe$ that we can, WJ16n we can. To that t 3: w=t to remind each of you that tb,e transection charSres for upgradest downgradest custom= caused service calls, VCR hookups 0 etc,, are vital aeX revenue sources to us we estimate that by charging for ase functions, we can recover almost half of what we're 1015ing from rate adjustu*ztse We have to have disciplined much like the tall fee problem, we qh be disuaded [sic] f.Lcx the =barges simply because c=tomrz object. It will take awhile, but thcy, 11 got used, to it they pay, it to other service providers all the time. and it isn It free. with the phrxis C any I Please bang in cm this and installs we can still have a great f ouxth quarter when we hAvC Our h6aviGst v011 a The best nawro of all in, we can bla it ©n reregulation and the gcvetnment- ncw. Let's take U t1alge of it A bpm/as VILLAGE OF MOUNT PROSPECT PLANNING DEPARTMENT Mount Prospect, Illinois TOO MICHAEL E. JANONTS9 VILLAGE MANAGER (�oFROM: WILLIAM J. COONEY, JR., DIRECTOR OF PLANNING I DATE: FEBRUARY 3, 1.994 SUBJECT: ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM In response to Target's recent request for the Village's financial assistance to locate at the Northwest comer of Elmhurst and Algonquin Roads, staff has investigated the appropriateness of financial assistance as a means to attract and retain business in Mount Prospect. It is well documented that many State and local government entities utilize financial assistance as a means to attract and retain businesses. M4or corporations, such as Target, incorporate government financial assistance in their aneuta to determine locations. Although this assistance is not the primary determinant for location decisions, it can be the "tie breaker" between equal sites. In light of the discussion at the recent Committee -of -the -Whole meeting on this subject, it seemed evident that the Trustees would only consider financial assistance that would involve required public miprovwients. With that in mind, staff has drafted some parameters by which an assistance program could be designed for new retail establishments considering locating within Mount Prospect corporate limits. We will continue to investigate the establishment of assistance programs for other business types. However, due to the imminent Target request, this memorandum will only address economic assistance programs for new retail establishments. The Economic Development Commission reviewed the proposed assistance program at its meeting on February 2nd. The Commission was generally in favor of the economic assistance program with the exception of some modifications which have been incorporated into the attached document. Also attached is Exhibit #1 which details the potential benefit to the Village and developer if the proposed economic assistance program were approved. This exhibit demonstrates the one-year and five-year benefits to both parties. As you will note, the Village will receive $5.00 in sales tax revenue for every $1.00 of assistance to a developer under the proposed program. I woWdstwest that the attached draft copy of the econonlic assistance program be forwarded to the Village Board for their review and discussion at the next Committee -of -the -Whole meeting. Although it is a draft copy, it does incorporate much of the discussion that has previously taken place. wjC..hg I. Goals - The economic assistance program is designed to achieve the followin increase Village revenues by promoting new retail development within its corporate boundaries. B. To strengthen the Village's regional retail significance by attracting a variety of quality retail establishments. C. To expand employment opportunities for residents of Mount Prospect. D. To improve the Village's regional competitive advantage in the attraction of high volume retail establishments that will diversify its revenue base. II M Assistance Criteria - Listed below are the minimum criteria that must be met in order for the Village to consider providing an assistance to a retail establishment. A. The new retail establishment must generate a minimum of $10 million in annual sales. The corporation must provide the Village with average sales per square foot figures for existing stores within the region. B. The retail establishment must have the financial wherewithal to construct the project without the Village assistance. The Village will not pay for any up -front costs involved with the construction of the project. Coi There must be some extraordinary costs associated with the required site improvements and/or construction costs. Extraordinary costs shall include such items as environmental contamination, demolition of dilapidated structures, substantial off-site public improvements as required by the Development Code, or other costs that reduce the development potential of the proposed site. D. Ilie retail establishment shall create a mi"memum of 50 jobs per $ 10 million of annual sales. Mount Prospect residents shall be given the first opportunity to fill all available positions. E. The retail establishment must provide sufficient documentation that "but for" the assistance from the Village, the project would not be viable and would not accomplish the policy goals stated above. It will be incumbent upon the developer to demonstrate that a hardship exists warranting the provision of the assistance. Economic Assistance Program Page 2 F. The Village shall determine that the return on the Village's investment justifies the provision of the assistance. The developer must provide sufficient financial records that would enable the Village to complete an appropriate review. G., The Village Board shall determine that the proposed retail establishment meets the following criteria: That the establishment,, maintenance, or operation of the retail facility will not be detrimental to, or endanger the public health, safety, morals, comfort, or general welfare; 2. That the retail facility will not be injurious to the uses and enjoyment of other property *'in the immediate vicinity for the purposes already permitted, or substantially diminish and impair property values within the neighborhood in which it is to be located; 3. That the retail facility will not impede the normal and orderly development and improvement of the surrounding property for uses permitted in the district; 4, That adequate public utilities, access roads, drainage and/or necessary facilities have been or will be provided; 5. That adequate measures have been or will be taken to provide ingress and egress so designed as to minimize traffic congestion in the public streets; 6. That the proposed retail facility is not contrary to the objectives of the current Comprehensive Plan of the Village; 7. That the retail facility shall, in all other respects, conform to the applicable regulations of the district in which it is located,, except as such regulations may, in each instance, be modified pursuant to the recommendations of the Zoning Board of Appeals. HI. Proposed Assistance - The Village may provide the following assistance package to those retail establishments that meet all the criteria stated above: A. All financial assistances shall be provided on a reimbursement basis only. The reimbursement shall be paid out from a portion of the sales tax generated by the project. B. Reimbursable expenses shall be limited to those required public improvements installed in public rights-of-way and/or in public utility easements on or adjacent to Page 3 the subject property. The cost of said improvements shall be verified and approved by the Village and the maximum eligible reimbursable costs established prior to final approval of the assistance package. C. The Village shall pledge no more than a 1/4 cent of its Home Rule sales tax towards the assistance amount. Any such revenues pledged shall be generated solely from the subject development. If the 1/4 cent sales tax generated from the development does not cover the proposed assistance within five years of the establishment of the retail operation, then the development will forego the remainder of the financial assistance. If there are no ellig, i ble public improvements or extraordinary costs associated with the development, then there shall be no assistance provided. An MAL VILLAGE BENEFIT DEVELOPER BENEFIT SALES (1hO Sales Tax) (1/40 Sales Tax) A B WIN C D 1 YEAR 5 YEAR 1 YPMR 5 YEAR $10,000,000 $125,000 $625,000 $25,000 $125,000 $201000j,000 $250,000 i $1,250,000 $50'r000 $250,000 $30fO00,000$375,000 $1,875,000 $75,000 $375,000 $401000,pOOO $500,000 $2r5001000 $100,000 $500,000 $50,000,000 $625,000 $ $125FOOO $625,000 7;T ............ Phone: 708 / 3-0 Fax: 708 / 3 9922-6060022 TOO: 708 / 392-6064 The petitioner requests clarification of the motion made by the Sign Review Board at the January 3$ 1994 hearing regarding their petition for the following-, 1. 0 0 A variation in height to IS feet forsign a freestanding sicontanung six tenant panels. 2, A special use for a 4' X 10' electronic information display unit to be incorporated into a wall sign containing two (2) tenant panels and facing Elmhurst Road. 3. A special use equity option in order to identify more than one tenant on a wall sign. "1.,Re No, M, , i),!ffanj. t590 South Busse, ..L.r t gg ad The petitioner seeks a special use (7.330.D) equity option in order to maintai Wednesday, January 26,1994 The regular meeting of the Mount Prospect Business District Development and Redevelopment Cornmi*ssion (BDDRC was called to order by Acting C Bart Keljik, at 7,36 P.M. on OF Wednesday, Januaty 26, 1994 'in the Trustees Room of Village HA 100 S. Emerson St.,Mbunt Prospect, Illinois. 0 BOLL CALL: Members of the 'or mi*ssion present.* Hal Predovick John Metzenthir4 Calvin Huber, John Eilerin& Keith Youngquist, Bart KeIjik and Joseph Janisch. Also present were Village Trustee Richard Hendricks!- Laura Luted, Mount Prospect Library Board; William Cooney, Director of 14 PI and Kenneth Fritz, Economic Development Coordinator. AMPM.�'A L 9 F M P The minutes of the special meeting of December 1, 1993 were presented for approval. A motion was made by Calvin Huber, seconded by Keith Youngquist, that the minutes be approved as submitted. The motion to approve passed u r nously, 7 ayes, 0 nays. Mr. William Cooney introduced himself as the new Director of planning and indicated that he looked forward to working with the members of BDDRC on the redevelopment of the Central Business District. L4 i Mr. Fritz inaicated that the development including condomnuums and commercial by Pontarelli Builders was underway. He stated that demolition is taking place on the 100 West Northwest Highway building (formerly Aldi's, Sara Lee and Antique Center). The demolition work will soon be completed and total site cleanup will follow. Bill Cooney, Director of Planning, *indicated that a developer agreement was presented to the Village Board at their meeting of January 25 and was approved. He indicated that it was a favorable agreement four # do the Village. Tm he agreeent re motes the developer to pay the Village $2.6 million at Page 3 A motion was made by John Eilering, seconded by Joe Janisch, to approve the changes to the text 11 in the downtown section of the Comprehensive Plan has presented and forward these changes to the Plan Cominission. The motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays. Mr. Fritz indicated that he and Mr. Cooney had been discussing the possibility of re-exarm*ning the Downtown Comprehensive Plan. There has not been a comprehensive amendment to the Downtown Plan since presented in 1976. Given the changes that have occurred *in the plana and proposed Redevelopment Project in the Pine/Wille block, staff asked BDDRC. to consider scheduling a comprehensive revision to the 1976 Downtown Plan. It was anticipated that the work would begin after staff has had an opportunity to reflect on the various staff studies made over the span of time since the 1976 Plan. Staff proposed to prepare a draft plan and supporting text. This material would be presented to BDDRC for their review and recommendation. It was anticipated that this would occur sometime after June 1. Chairman Predovich indicated that the next regular i mmting of BDDRC s scheduled for Februwy 23, 1994. The meeting was adjourned at 8:27 P.M.