Agenda - Council - 12/20/1983 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I i I I I C .ble Commission 1 ~20-83 P,.ge 2 description of the administrator position and contact Blaine and Coon Rapids to see if the5' were interested in a joint venture, seconded by Dean Rick. All voted in favor, motion carried. Jerry Dulgar asked Mr. O'Connell for updated information concerning the projected income on a monthly or quarterly basis for the Commission. Terry O'Connell presented an oral report on the status of construction. He said that in all essence the system is complete. However, there is a problem in Ramsey with an easement which is affecting 100 homes. Group W is now scheduling installations immediately as they are called in and then they are sending out the sales representatives. A full sales staff ~rill be working on Tuesday of next week. Since Monday there have been installations in all four cities; the studios are operational, headend facility is complete and the building is 90% oomplete. Institutional Network will be fully operational in November. Jerry Dulgar questioned the number of subscribers - approximately 650 in all the communities. Pat Lindquist questioned if any type of handouts will be distributed to let people know cable is available. Mr. O'Connell said that the sales representatives do this at the time they canvass the area. Dan Hartman wanted Terry O'Connell to check with the Champlin Dayton Press concerning doing a column as in the Union. Don Jacobson questioned the date the system was completed. Mr. O'Connell said it was Monday, October 17, except for.:the easement and feeder problems. According to Mr. O'Connell 3-4 miles of the whole system is not complete. At this time Mr. O'Connell handed out the typed progress report. Thomas Creighton questioned the balancing in Champlin. Mr. O'Connell said there was a problem with a resident in the arem. Dan Martman said that he received a letter from Croup W respondi~g to the fine. Fr. NorvA1 Reece, Vice President, said that Croup W is now operating in 650 co~nunities around the country or a total of 150 cable systems. Croup W did a technical and management audit of every system. They are committed to decentralization and are pushing the authority into the fields where it belongs. ltr. Reece explained that concerning pers~melthe bid called for 24 full time staff and as of today they have 38, not fully staffed in local origination and access. Capital commitment in the bid was $7.2 million and Group W has already invested $9.5 million. The miles of cable in the bid were 169 and they have built 327 miles. Also concerning the quality of equipment' the bid called for a 400 megahertz system and the one built is 450. Group W feels they have gone the extra mile to build the system. Concerning the interactive tier, there will be an interactive system. The security area will be available mcnn~ntarily. The problems with the interactive tier were in the different types of equipment purchased. Group W is attempting to give the Quad Cities the best. Concerning the construction delay Hr. O'Connell's report explained that there were a few problems. Access Programming - Group W is the only company to receive an Emmy Award for programming. Hr. Reece is greatly disturbed by the adversarial relationship that is developing between Group W and the Commission. If the Commission feels this will continue Group W will sell the system at cost. Group W does not feel a fine is justified or productive especially to the subscriber, since they will eventually pick up the cost. Mr. Reece will ~eet with anyone at anytime in order to enhance the'system.