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Home My WebLink About09/12/1995 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE SEPTEMBER 12, 1995 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Gerald Farley called the meebng to order at 7.32 p m Present at the meebng were Mayor Gerald L Farley, Trustees George Clowes, T~mothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert, M~chaele Skowron, and lrvana Wilks Absent from the meeting was Trustee R~chard Hendncks Also present were V~llage Manager M~chael Janoms, Assistant V~llage Manager Dawd Strahl, V~llage Attorney Everette M H~II, Jr, Communications Administrator Cheryl Pasal~c and Special Counsel to the V~llage on Cable Issues Peter Koblence II MINUTES ~ Acceptance of the M~nutes of August 22, 1995 Motion made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Corcoran to approve the M~nutes M~nutes were accepted Ill CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None IV. CABLE TELEVISION ISSUES A. OVERVIEW OF FRANCHISE RENEWAL PROCESS 1. Update on Technical Review: Communicat,ons Administrator Che~/I Pasalic prowded a general overview of the problems which the V~llage has experienced m dealing w~th TCl and the complex~bes of the renewal process One such Item which complicates th~s matter Is the fact that TCI has not completed transfer of ownership so the quesbon of the formal renewal process ~s [n doubt The formal renewal is outhned due to the process specifically by law, however, transfer of ownership not being completed, the V~llage ~s m a somewhat informal renewal process at this t~me The Village has moved forward the best ~t could by following the typical renewal process as outhned by law Among the ~tems to be rewewed Is the past performance of the provider Th~s performance is measured by c~bzen surveys and a Pubhc Heanng The regulations outhne a ten-step renewal process The V~llage could be considered to be at approximately step three of the process at this t~me Ms Pasahcprowded an overview of the Consultant's Report and recommendabons along w~th responses from staff Sue Dean, TCl Manager In Mount Prospect, spoke She stated she had just received the report yesterday and has not had the opportunity to review ~n order to respond to any quesbons She stated that TCI intends to comply w~th the Franchise Agreement Mayor Farley stated the V~llage Board w~ll rewew the ~nformat~on prowded and recommend further acbon in the future 2. Report on Survey Results: Cheryl Pasalic stated that the V~llage received a 22% survey returned Approximately 22,400 surveys were ma~led and over 4,600 were received The Village received assistance from Governor's State Umvers~ty ~n complhng the results She provided an overview of the data that was provided ~n terms of complaints Major complaints from the citizens Included cost, programming, service and p~cture quahty B. FOURTEEN YEAR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION Mayor Farley opened a Public Heanng at 8:22 p.m. All Trustees except for Trustee Hendricks were present. Notice was provided on September 1, 1995 in the local newspaper. The purpose of the Public Hearing is to offer input from citizens mlat,ng to cable television. Iver Iverson, who lives at the comer of Isabella and Rand, spoke He stated that he has lived in Mount Prospect for 28 years He stated that he has had numerous problems w~th TCl d~gg~ng on his property in area which ~s not pubhc right-of-way He also related h~s numerous discussions with TCl in trying to rectify the situation of damage to h~s property due to heavy equipment and the placement of a cable telews~on pedestal on pnvate property 2 Mr. Boyle, 224 North Louis, spoke He stated that he was asked to take part ~n a TCl survey to rewew lntelhgent TV He stated that it was a s~x-month survey process and he volunteered to participate Unfortunately, there were numerous technical d~fficult~es with the hook-up of the Intelhgent TV system and he called the Mount Prospect TCl office more than a dozen t~mes to try to get resolution He was promised a resolution from TCl which never occurred He h~ghl~ghted extensively the poor customer service w~th the local Mount Prospect office Ed~h Wilson, 907 South Elmhumt, spoke She stated that she has expenenced poor programming and is concerned about the more wolent programming that ~s now prowded on an earlier bas~s each day She stated that she feels there are poor quality programs offered by cable Nancy Bobikewicz, 1119 Meadow Lane, spoke She stated that she participated ~n the Intelligent TV test She stated there were technical d~fficulbes w~th the Intelhgent TV set up and had great d~fficulty ~n trying to get credit for mowe rentals that were m~stakmgly charged on her b~ll She also stated that she has had numerous problems ~n trying to get a service line e~ther raised or buned ~n her back yard Mayor Farley closed the Public Heanng at 8:50 p.m. Cheryl Pasalic prowded add~bonal comments concerning the Intelligent TV test She stated that TCl conducted th~s test on a secret bas~s and required any part.c~pants ~n the test to s~gn an agreement so they would not tell the V~llage they were participating ~n th~s test She also requested that wntten comments be allowed to be submitted for an add~bonal 30 days or unbl October 12 Cheryl Pasal~c read ~nto the record three letters that were provided as wntten comments concerning the TCI Cable System One letter was from T~mothy Nalepka of 211 Me,er Road ~n Arhngton Heights Even though he has an Arlington Heights' address, he ~s a Mount Prospect resident Another letter was received from John Carney who ~s President of the Colony County on Old Orchard Homeowners Assoc~abon His address ~s 1455 Plcadllly C~mle ~n Mount Prospect The final letter which was a handwritten letter received from a Jennifer Berger ~n Mount Prospect Mayor Farley stated he would welcome TCl to respond to these items the next t~me the d~scuss~on of cable ~s on the Agenda 3 Cheryl Pasalic stated that the current Franchise Agreement ~s expire m due to August of 1996 and the V~llage Board can extend ~t, ~f they desire, on a month-by- month basis or on a longer term General comments of the Village Board members ~ncluded a cons~derabon of competitors to TCI which may be interested ~n coming ~nto the community Other comments ~ncluded a determination whether the V~llage ~s currently ~nvolved m a formal renewal process or an informal process A suggesbon was made to consider conducting a survey of community users to the community access channel Attorney Paul Koblence stated that the V~llage ~s currently following the Cable Act as ~t outhnes renewal process although the V~llage ~s not currently required because TCI has not met the nobce requirements Th~s information was prowded as general overview to the V~llage Board and the Pubhc Heanng was necessary as part of the renewal process Future cable meetings may be scheduled m order to address additional ~tems necessary as part of the renewal process V. MANAGER'S REPORT None VI. ANY OTHER BUSINESS The Village Board requested a response from the Post Office m which several Mount Prospect residents which have Arhngton Heights addresses ~n the border areas have their address changed to Mount Prospect VII ADJOURNMENT Closed Session was not called as part of this meeting. There being no further bus~ness, the meeting was adjourned at 9 30 p m Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL DS/roc Assistant V~llage Manager