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<br />'. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />M I NUT E S <br /> <br />Eugene City Council <br />Work Session <br />McNutt Room--City Hall <br /> <br />February 13, 1985 <br />11 :30 a.m. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Emily Schue, Richard Hansen, Cynthia Wooten, Freeman <br />Holmer, Debra Ehrman, Ruth Bascom, Roger Rutan, Jeff <br />Mi 11 er. <br /> <br />His Honor Mayor Brian B. Obie called the work session to order. <br /> <br />I. ALIGNMENT FOR WIDENING 6TH/7TH AVENUES <br /> <br />The councilors briefly discussed the alignment. <br /> <br />II. UPDATE ON METROPOLITAN CABLE TELEVISION COMMISSION ACTIVITIES <br /> <br />Councilor Hansen reviewed the composition of the Metropolitan Cable Television <br />Commission (MCTC) and said its charge is to oversee the contract with Group W <br />Cable and public access activities. The contract is being reviewed and some <br />changes have been proposed. <br /> <br />Reviewing his memo dated February 11, 1985, to the council concerning the <br />Cable Commission Activities and Issues, Randy Kolb, Information Services <br />Director, discussed the reorganization of the public, educational, and <br />government groups which provide public access activities and the Telecommuni- <br />cations Act of 1984 which deregulates the cable industry. He pointed out that <br />Group W Cable now pays a franchise fee of 3 percent, but the Telecommunica- <br />tions Act of 1984 will permit a 5 percent franchise fee. The franchise fee is <br />paid to the jurisdiction where the hook-ups are located. last year, Eugene, <br />Springfield, and Lane County received about $240,000. <br /> <br />The MCTC maintains that basic service in this community consists of 21 <br />channels because that is what the 1978 contract stipulated. Group W would <br />like to decrease the number of channels in the basic service. The MCTe wants <br />generic wording, such as "a 24 hour sports channel," in the new contract and <br />an unchanged definition of basic service. All 21 basic channels are on VHF. <br />If the franchise fee is increased to 5 percent, the MeTC suggests the addi- <br />tional 2 percent, which will equal about $200,000, should be used for public <br />access. One hundred twenty thousand dollars should be allocated to public <br />access programming and $70,000 should be used for telecommunications <br />planning. If the fee is increased, Group W will not have anything to do with <br />providing public access. <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council Work Session <br /> <br />February 13, 1985 <br /> <br />Page 1 <br />