2017.05.23 WS Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Wilson continued with her presentation and reviewed with the Council how peg and franchise fees would be impacted in 2018. Councilmember Strub questioned when Shoreview left CTV. Ms. Wilson stated this occurred at the beginning of 2015. Councilmember Burg asked if franchise fees would be changing in the future. Ms. Wilson described how franchise fees were paid to cities. She anticipated CenturyLink would not have the subscribers that Comcast would have. Mayor Johnson questioned CTV's mission statement. Ms. Wilson stated CTV's mission was to provide equipment and training for the community to produce their own programs, to provide access to government channels and work with the community. She explained an example of this programming would be New Brighton Now. She anticipated CTV's mission statement would have to be amended due to the loss of funding. She reported Roseville School was CTV's largest producer at this time, followed by St. Anthony and Irondale/Mounds View schools. If this programming was to continue, the school district would have to assist with covering the $200,000 deficit. Another option would be for member cities to provide a portion of their franchise fees to assist in covering this deficit. Mayor Johnson inquired why Shoreview left CTV. Ms. Wilson stated Shoreview did not like the way the negotiations with Comcast was being handled. She explained the Shoreview representative did not support public access. Mayor Johnson asked if Shoreview still received franchise fees. Ms. Wilson reported this was the case. Councilmember Burg requested further information on the situation that occurred in California. Ms. Wilson explained California voted to move all franchise and peg fees to the State. It was her hope that CTV would be able to diversity its revenue streams in order to continue to operate in the community. Councilmember Bauman commented on the benefits of having nine cities negotiating with Comcast and CenturyLink versus a single city. She believed it was well worth the City supporting the community and government programming for New Brighton residents. Mayor Johnson agreed but questioned how much additional funding CTV was requesting. Ms. Wilson was uncertain at this time. Councilmember Bauman discussed how the funding support would be divided between the nine member cities based on the percentage of franchise fees paid to each community. Ms. Wilson commented on how difficult it was to calculate proper franchise fees based on the numerous services provided by Comcast. Councilmember Strub stated he could possibly support a portion of the City's franchise fees being allotted to CTV. He commented on the number of community events Roseville High School had compared to Irondale and Mounds View High Schools. He inquired if the City was utilizing the community resources enough for them to continue in New Brighton and wondered if the City was missing out on opportunities to better reach the public. He believed that government access was important but anticipated the community programming may have to be scaled back. Ms. Wilson discussed the services currently available to member cities and reported each member city was allotted 100 hours of free technical services each year.