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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/12/1999 COW agenda COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE AGENDA Meeting Location: Meeting Date and Time: Mount Prospect Senior Center Tuesday, January 12, 1999 50 South Emerson Street 7:30 p.m. I. CALL TO ORDER - ROLL CALL Mayor Gerald L. Farley Trustee George Clowes Trustee Richard Lohrstorfer Trustee Timothy Corcoran Trustee Daniel Nocchi Trustee Paul Hoefert Trustee Irvana Walks II. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 1998 III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD IV. POLICE DEPARTMENT REACCREDITATION Beginning on January 30, 1999 through February 3, the Mount Prospect Police Department will be subject to an onsite review of Police Department operations by a team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). The accreditation process and designation as an CALEA-accredited law enforcement agency is a distinction indicative of a highly professional and well-managed law enforcement agency. The Mount Prospect Police Department was first accredited in 1989 and was the 97th Agency in the country to receive such a distinction. The Department was reaccredited in 1994 and is now standing for its third Accreditation review. Currently, there are over 500 accredited Police Agencies in the United States, Canada and Barbados. Over 436 individual performance standards are reviewed for compliance. In order to achieve reaccredidation, a Department must achieve a minimum compliance rate of 80%. During the Department's reaccredidation in 1994, a 97% rating was achieved. We are hoping to match or exceed that rating in the current assessment. Chief Ronald Pavlock and Accreditation Manager Sergeant Michael Semkiu will provide the Village Board with a brief overview of the process and the benefits that the Police Department and Village derive from being an Accredited Agency. The attached information package provides background material to facilitate discussion. V. CABLE FRANCHISE POLICY DISCUSSION - AMERITECH NEW MEDIA At the December 8, 1998 Committee of the Whole meeting, the Village Board discussed the draft Franchise Agreement with TCI. At that meeting, the Village Board directed Village staff to complete negotiations with TCI in anticipation of a final Agreement being brought before the Village Board in the near future. Discussions with the Village Board concerning the TCI Agreement were intended to establish policy decisions regarding a Franchise Agreement that might be attractive to a possible competitor to TCI. NOTE: ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND THIS MEETING BUT BECAUSE OF A DISABILITY NEEDS SOME ACCOMMODATION TO PART/C/PATE, SHOULD CONTACT THE VILLAGE MANAGER'S OFFICE AT I00 SOUTH EMERSON, MOUNT PROSPECT, ILLINOIS 60056, 847/392-6000, EXTENSION 5327, TDD #847/392-6064. Village staff pointed out a number of areas which would most likely need to be revised if a competitor were to become interested in the Village of Mount Prospect. Among those items were the definition of gross revenues and the potential loss of that revenue. The change in the number of PEG channels (Public, Education, Government) from the current number of eight to a potential of four was identified as a potential change. A discussion also took place regarding the status of the Public Access Studio at the TCI facility. The Village Board endorsed the staff's recommendation on these items. At the conclusion of the Committee of the Whole meeting on December 8, staff forwarded a copy of the revised draft, which the Village Board had discussed at the meeting to a representative of Ameritech New Media for their review. The results of the review are attached for information purposes and discussion. The changes requested by Ameritech are consistent with agreements, which have been executed in surrounding communities. Aisc, the changes, which are requested, are items, which were expected to be revised once the Agreement with TCI was completed. The discussion this evening will focus on determining whether the Village Board is comfortable with the revisions to the proposed Franchise Agreement with TCI as requested by Ameritech. Once the revisions to the Agreement are completed, it is expected that both Agreements would move forward to the Village Board for final approval; thus allowing for cable competition within the Village of Mount Prospect. Assistant Village Manager David Strahl has been working with Ameritech on this Franchise Agreement and will be present at the meeting to facilitate the discussion. Representatives of Ameritech have been invited to attend in order to clarify any points the Village Board may have. In addition, copies of the Agenda and proposed Agreement have been forwarded to TCI for their information. VI. NON-PROFIT CORPORATION TO MANAGE PUBLIC ACCESS STUDIO Cable Production Coordinator Ross Rowe undertook the task of meeting with surrounding communities to formulate an Agreement to set up a funding mechanism that would allow for operation of the Public Access Studio which is currently in a facility owned by TCI. The intent of the corporation is to manage the programming and ensure that proper funds are available to maintain the Studio on behalf of the public access users in the various communities. The Studio in Mount Prospect serves as a regional studio for approximately seven communities. The majority of these communities have few public access users. Mount Prospect has enjoyed the most success in encouraging public access users to produce programming at the Studio. The Franchise Agreements, which the other communities have executed with their appropriate cable providers, do include a percentage of revenues devoted for Studio purposes. Unfortunately, these communities have utilized those funds for general municipal purposes and have not earmarked the funds necessarily for operational costs related to maintaining the Public Access Studios. This Agreement creating the non-profit corporation lays the groundwork for these funds to be combined for operational purposes assuming the communities participate in that purpose. It is quite likely that a number of communities will not contribute the funds necessary for the operation unless they have significant numbers of public access users. The Studio must be maintained as a required by all Franchise Agreements with other communities. Therefore, until a community actually participates in funding, any users to the Studio from their community may in all likelihood be charged a flat fee to utilize the Studio so that the cost of operation for the Studio is not borne unfairly by a limited number of communities. This document is provided to the Village Board for informational purposes at this time. It is expected that staff will continue to have discussions with TCI concerning the Studio operation in the near future pending any revisions requested by the Village Board. This item is brought before the Village Board so that members are aware of issues related to the Public Access Studio and staff efforts to address those issues. Ross Rowe will be in attendance at the meeting to answer any questions. VII. MANAGER=S REPORT VIII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS IX. ADJOURNMENT H:\GEN\Cow'C, genda\l 1299 COW AGENDA.doc