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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-08-15 AFN Options Committee Minutes10/23/24, 10:10 AM AFN Options Committee Meeting - AFN Options Committee - City of Ashland, Oregon Learn about the City's plan to construct and move the water treatment plant -Clean drinking water is an essential right Agendas and Minutes City of Ashland V AFN Options Committee (vieWAll) AFN Options Committee Meeting Agenda Monday, August 15, 2005 Minutes View Agenda Attachments j AFN Options Committee Meetin, August 15, 2005, 7:30am Siskiyou Room, CDES Building, 51 Winburn Way CALL TO ORDER Lee Tuneberg, Administrative Services and Finance Director called the AFN Options Committee meeting to order at 7:35 am on August 15, 2005 in the Siskiyou Room of the CDES Building, 51 Winburn Way Ashland, Oregon. ROLL CALL & INTRODUCTIONS Committee members Barth, Collins, Donovan, Mace, Mackin, and Shultz were present. Councilor Russ Silbiger was present. STAFF PRESENT: MIKE FRANELL, CITY ATTORNEY MICHAEL AINSWORTH, CABLE TV MANAGER RICHARD HOLBO, TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENGINEER https://old.ashland.or.us/Agendas.asp?AMID=2288&Display=Minutes 1/7 10/23/24, 10:10 AM AFN Options Committee Meeting - AFN Options Committee - City of Ashland, Oregon C I N DY HANKS, PROJECT MANAGER BRYN MORRISON, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ELECTION OF A CHAIR, VICE -CHAIR Paul Mace volunteered to be chair, Kevin Shultz second. Paul Collins nominated Michael Donovan/Rick Barth second. Committee voted for Donovan for chair: Barth, Collins, Donovan, Mace, and Mackin all Ayes. Motion passed. Mace will be vice chair. The Committee discussed the duties of the chair and vice chair and determined that the Committee will set the agendas with support from staff. REVIEW COMMITTEE MINUTES Approval of minutes from August 2, 2005 meeting. Mr. Donovan/Mr. Mackin m/s to approve minutes as presented. All Ayes. PUBLIC INPUT Ed Kennedy- Mr. Kennedy stated that a marketing plan is needed. His concern is that there needs to be a strategic marketing plan and there is no leadership. He felt AFN will continue to lose money and the consumer doesn't understand the product. He would like to see it work and the City keep AFN. Thomas Gaffey, 680 Oak St- He stated that the City doesn't have a generally accepted accounting principal operating statement for AFN and using the figures that the City has is dangerous. He stated the operating statement needs to be analyzed and the City needs to look at sales rather than marketing. Art Bullock, 791 Glendower- He stated he is grateful to the Committee and they have difficult and important work. He is hopeful that they will produce realistic projections and sound financial models. He hopes they will produce what it is really going to cost, and who will benefit. He stated it is the Committees job to identify alternate financial options for AFN. Written testimony was submitted into public record. LEGAL TRAINING & DISCUSSION https://old.ashland.or.us/Agendas.asp?AMID=2288&Display=Minutes 2/7 10/23/24, 10:10 AM AFN Options Committee Meeting - AFN Options Committee - City of Ashland, Oregon Mike Franell, City Attorney spoke to the public meetings and records laws. He stated that any time there is a quorum, it is subject to public meeting laws and there must be a notice provided to the news paper and minutes must be taken and produced in writing. He added that any notes taken are also public record. The Committee asked if would be appropriate for a smaller group to get together to discuss these issues. Mr. Franell responded that it is appropriate if not doing so as an official subcommittee. He also explained that it would be limited to hold an executive session and there is no provision for one. The Committee questioned if they would be able to discuss the possible sale of AFN. Mr. Franell responded that they could. The Committee questioned if there are restrictions for management personnel talking to third parties and proposing deals. Mr. Franell responded that they cannot make any binding commitments unless Council had authorized the manager to do so. The Committee questioned the fairness requirement for AFN and if a manager wanted to offer a new service. Mr. Franell responded it would be subject to public bidding requirements and AFN must go out for a request for proposal (RFP). The Committee asked if there were restrictions on things that could be in the public bidding process. Mr. Franell responded that there is not and there are no restrictions on the sale of public services. The City only cannot sell for less than the fair market price. The Committee asked then how free months of service is given. Mr. Franell responded that it is legal if they show it as common practice in the industry. The Committee discussed one option to place AFN under another administrative body. Mr. Franell explained the relationship between the City and the Mt. Ashland Ski area and the Ashland Community Hospital. Mt. Ashland is a private not for profit, and are not required to abide by public records laws. If the City structured AFN this way they would be required to have a public process. He added that there would be more stringent rules for a for profit agency. The Committee questioned if the City would be liable for the hospital new construction debt. The City would be first then the insurance would provide second. The Committee questioned if the City supported the hospital with direct fund transfers. Mr. Tuneberg explained that there is no trading of dollars and the City would be able to issue bonds to the hospital if needed. The Committee questioned if the same would be true for Mt. Ashland. Mr. Franell explained that there is a statute that allows the financing for the hospital but there is not one for the ski area. The Committee questioned if AFN was put into the same arrangement as the hospital, if it would be possible to transfer monies and what the reporting requirements would be. Mr. Franell responded that they could transfer funds and there would be a reporting requirement however the City does not monitor how funds are expended. Mr. Franell clarified that the City does not own all the assets of the https://old.ashland.or.us/Agendas.asp?AMID=2288&Display=Minutes 3/7 10/23/24, 10:10 AM AFN Options Committee Meeting - AFN Options Committee - City of Ashland, Oregon hospital only the land and buildings. The City owns the land and most of the fixtures at Mt. Ashland. If the ski area adds additional fixtures, they would become property of the City. The Committee asked if the City could sell the ski area. Mr. Franell responded that they could not, but could sell the assets. The Committee discussed that the debt could be included if AFN was placed under another administrative body and spoke to the benefits of site visits. REVIEW DOCUMENTS The Committee asked about the progress of hiring an Information Technology Director and if the person would be hired before the Committee had made its recommendation. Mr. Tuneberg responded that the City is currently reviewing applications and no interviews had been set. The candidate will most likely be hired after the Committee had finished its work. The Committee discussed the items presented in the packet. They spoke to the Navigant study and questioned if AFN had implemented any of the suggestions made and how much the study cost. Mr. Tuneberg responded that the study cost $90,000. Michael Ainsworth, Cable TV Manager responded that all of the suggestions were implemented however some were not realistic for Ashland. He added that they would have liked to have had a full time sales person to go door to door and the study found nothing that AFN was doing grossly wrong, just items that needed adjustment. The Committee questioned if cable rates had been increased and when. Mr. Tuneberg responded once in June 2004, 8% and once in February 2005, 6.6% and they are now looking at another increase. Councilor Russ Silbiger added that it was recommended that internet be raised 25-30%. The Committee discussed that they would like a report from staff with the results of the recommendations from Navigant that were implemented by the City. The Committee discussed the overall market as well and would like staff to present a competitive market analysis. The Committee discussed the possibility of AFN becoming a retail Internet Service Provider (ISP). Richard Holbo, Telecommunications Engineer responded that the City would be able to provide the service with additional staff. Staff will present to the Committee the revenues and expenses associated with becoming a retail ISP. The Committee questioned why the City had not before. Mr. Tuneberg responded that the City originally entered into a partnership with the ISP's for the customers benefit and top management made that determination. https://old.ashland.or.us/Agendas.asp?AMID=2288&Display=Minutes 4/7 10/23/24, 10:10 AM AFN Options Committee Meeting - AFN Options Committee - City of Ashland, Oregon The Committee discussed the possibility of implementing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Mr. Holbo stated that it would require a partnership for the City with another entity and they have tentatively explored the possibility with a couple of firms. He added that if the City wanted to move in that direction, they should have entered into it a few years ago and feels that it would be difficult to justify the expense now. Mr. Ainsworth agreed. The Committee would like staff to provide an operating statement showing the possibility. The Committee discussed that they should review how the market has changed since the Navigant study and would like staff to prepare the following: 1. Cost analysis of becoming a retail ISP 2. Cost analysis of VOI P 3. Possibility of a conversion to dct5000 plus or similar product and the cost over a three year period 4. Possibility of Video On Demand 5. Results of the recommendations from Navigant that were implemented by the City 6. Competitive rate analysis 7. Summary list of contracts for AFN The Committee discussed the benefit of having Dick Wanderscheid and Gino Grimaldi attend the meetings and asked that they be invited to the next meeting. The Committee discussed the Programming Committees responsibility. Mr. Silbiger responded that they make recommendations at the tier level. NEXT MEETING(§), The next meeting will be September 8, 2005 at 7:30 am in the Siskiyou Room of the CDES Building. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:23 am Respectively Submitted, Bryn Morrison Administrative Assistant Administrative Services Department https://old.ashland.or.us/Agendas.asp?AMID=2288&Display=Minutes 5/7 10/23/24, 10:10 AM AFN Options Committee Meeting - AFN Options Committee - City of Ashland, Oregon Online City Services Email Updates Sign up to receive local important News & Events. 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