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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-05-22 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC 7525 Northwest 88 Avenue �P Phone (305) 722-5900 Tamarac, Florida 33321-2401 R� Fax (305) 722-4509 May 18, 1992 NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Workshop Meeting of the City Council on Friday, May 22, 1992, at 9:00 A.M. in the Conference Room #1, Tamarac City Hall, 7525 N.W. 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The purpose of this meeting is as follows: 1. Discussion regarding Cable Television. 2. Discussion regarding Fire Services with Broward County. The City Council may consider such other business as may come before it. All meetings are open to the public. Carol A. Evans City Clerk CAE/kj THE CITY OF TAMARAC IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER AND DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS CITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1992 Tape 1 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Bender called the City Council Workshop meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. in Council Chambers, City Hall. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND A MOMENT OF MEDITATION : Mayor Bender asked for the Pledge of Allegiance and a Moment of Meditation to wish a speedy recovery to Councilman Irving Katz. PRESENT : Mayor H. L. Vice Mayor Councilman Councilman Bender Henry Schumann Norman Abramowitz Joseph Schreiber ABSENT AND EXCUSED : Councilman Irving Katz ALSO PRESENT : John P. Kelly, City Manager Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager Mitchell S. Kraft, City Attorney Phyllis Polikoff, Secretary 1. DISCUSSION regarding Fire Services with Broward County John Kelly, City Manager, said the City communicated with Broward County in 1991 to find out if they were in a position to provide Fire Services to the City. He said Broward County did not provide anything advantageous and the City did not do anything. He said a letter was sent to the Broward County Administrator asking how much money could be saved if services could be provided. Mr. Kelly said the City had a very good Fire Department and the level of service was excellent. He said the question related to the costs involved and this would be addressed at a Budget Workshop. Mr. Kelly said nothing would be done until Broward County guaranteed that the City would get the same level of service or a much better level of service. Mr. Kelly said a letter with attachments was sent to him and to Council from the Fire Union representative. He said the letter indicated that the Firefighters wanted to remain with the City. He said any information received from Broward County would be shared with the Firefighters because he wanted them to be a part of the decision making process. Mr. Kelly said many cities in the United States consolidated their Fire services. He said the City could probably merge with other neighboring cities and not with Broward County and this would also have to be factored into the decision. He said any change with Broward County would not be made during this fiscal year. C/M Abramowitz read a portion of the May 13, 1992 letter into the record (see letter and attachments). He said the Council and Mr. Kelly should look at alternatives. He said several years ago, the City considered merging with the Cities of Lauderhill and Sunrise with -the intention of saving money and improving Fire services. He said the Cities of Tamarac and Lauderhill were compatible but the City of Sunrise was not. C/M Abramowitz said on many occasions he spoke with members of the Fire Department. He said they provided a very important service and the City had to be shown that they could save a great deal of money. He said in his opinion if the latter did not occur, there would be no reason to change. City Council Workshop Meeting 5/22/92/PP Page 2 Mayor Bender said he spoke to Randy Correll and assured him that the City would do whatever was best and beneficial for the City. He said the City would consider a change if they could save a substantial amount of money. C/M Schreiber said he thought it was very premature at this time to make a decision. He said Fire Department personnel wanted to remain in the City and their loyalty, experience and service should be taken into account. C/M Abramowitz asked if the Firefighters were permitted to speak to members of Council under the new Jennings Law and City Attorney Kraft said, yes. V/M Schumann said in 1989, the, Police Department wanted to merge with the Broward Sheriff's Office. He reiterated C/M Abramowitz's remark that the Firefighters must be protected and asked if the City would not be protected if the Firefighters merged with Broward County. C/M Abramowitz answered that in the case of the Broward Sheriff's Office takeover there was a stipulation that if Police Officer passed the physical examination, he would be absorbed by the Broward Sheriff's Office. He said he would want the same stipulation if Broward County wanted to take over the Fire Department but at this time, nothing was happening. He said that is what he meant by protected'. Randy Correll, said the letter from the Metro Broward Professional Firefighters (attached) was signed by 100% of the bargaini g unit members of the Department. He said in the past the City did not save any money and in his opinion, there still were no savings. He said his co-workers wanted to remain City of Tamarac Firefighters. Mayor Bender said nothing would be done until Broward County sent something in writing to the City. 2. DISCUSSION regarding Cable Television Mayor Bender said he received many complaints regarding the contracts offered by Continental Cable. He said individuals had problems with Continental Cable on the weekends and there were different rates for different areas in the City. Mayor Bender said the City was limited on how it could raise revenue in the future and he asked if the City should explore the possibility of starting its own cable company. He said a private cable company would be an asset in the future and the City could compete with regard to rates it would charge. C/M Schreiber asked if Mayor Bender knew what the cost was to start a cable company and that most people would be happy if they were able to make a choice of cable companies. He said he did not want the City to spend any money. Mayor Bender said he was working on this project with Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager. Ms. McDermott said that according to the 'Cable T.V. Act of 1984, the franchising authority could award one or more franchises within its jurisdiction and the City was allowed to have more than one cable franchise. She said the present agreement with Continental Cable was a non-exclusive agreement. Ms. McDermott said the Charter precluded the City from having exclusive agreements with any company for any type of service. She said competition could control the abuse the City presently endured and which would continue without an alternative. Ms. McDermott said a competitor could provide better rates but she had data from other cities which indicated the existing company could lower their rates after the new company came in and set their rates. f] J City Council Workshop Meeting 5/22/92/PP Page 3 Ms. McDermott said over 177 miles of cable was in the City. She said many States were providing alternative competition and passing bond issues. She said this was called 'over build' whereby the existing company was allowed to continue and a new company was permitted to come in. C/M Abramowitz said the City sent inquiries to over 50 cable companies in the Country. Ms. McDermott said affirmative responses came in from a few companies who would provide turnkey' operation but they needed information as to what the City would do, what the customer base was, what was already in the City and what the City would fund, etc. She said the important question was what was the City looking for. C/M Abramowitz said several years ago, he and Mr. Kelly met with a cable company representative who was ready to compete with American Cable, He said the representative said he would only provide service to a small community but he was told this was against the law. C/M Abramowitz said he agreed with C/M Schreiber that there has to be a plan. Mayor Bender reiterated Ms. McDermott's statement that the City had a non-exclusive franchise agreement with Continental Cable. He said in his opinion Continental Cable violated many provisions in the agreement and the City would be able to cancel the agreement if they took legal action. Mayor Bender said City Attorney Kraft was investigating legal ramifications and alternatives. He rhetorically asked what the City's rights were with regard to cable which was laid in the rights -of -way and easements. Mayor Bender said he was unhappy that the rates varied greatly and the cable company imposed a participation requirement. He said Council was were working very hard to satisfy the citizens and to rectify the situation in an economical way. V/M Schumann said in his opinion the rate and services which Continental Cable offered to one community should be offered to the other communities. He said this was not being done. C/M Abramowitz said representatives from Continental Cable came to City Hall and advised that when they purchased American Cable, they were in violation of the franchise agreement. He said at that point, they were ready to advise that contracts would cease and service to the residents would be terminated because of the City. He said this would not be permitted. Mayor Bender OPENED the public participation portion of the Workshop. David Krantz, resident, expressed his concerns and stated that Continental Cable was not regulated by State, Federal or County Governments and they did not have any competition. Carl Alper, resident, expressed his concerns and said they were the third largest cable company in the Country. He said the previous cable company, American Video, contracted with American Cablesystems to sell its assets. He said at that time, the City received 3% of the gross earnings and they are still continuing to receive 3%. Mr. Alper said the Charter stated that a franchise company could not assign its rights without Council passing an Ordinance indicating its consent. He said Council also had to prepare a formal consent which would be recorded in the Public Records of Broward County and these did not occur. Mr. Alper said if Continental Cable left the City, other cable companies would be happy to come in. Tape 2 ov City Council Workshop Meeting 5/22/92/PP Page 4 Abe Garr, resident, expressed his concerns and said a meeting wag held several months ago with representatives of Continental Cable and they were asked to designate a certain termination date. He reiterated that the residents requested a designated termination date on all contracts, rates and services and the ability to make a choice. Sam Schwartz, resident, said he agreed with the previous speakers and expressed his concerns regarding the cable company. He said services were being disconnected because contracts had expired and were not being renewed. He said although his contract expired February 1, his s rvices would continue and asked if he would be protected from havi g his service disconnected until the matter was settled. Milt Siegel, resident, expressed his concerns and said the cable company affected almost all the residents in the City. He said they wan ed to increase their rates in addition to getting 100% participation. He asked if the first years' rate could be guaranteed for more than one year and Ellen Filipiak, representing Continental Cable, said, no. He said the company was offered $13.70 for the first year and a 15% increase for each succeeding year and the company turned it down. He asked Council to communicate with the company and request t em to accept what was offered. Joe Padwa, resident, asked about the City installing satellit T.V. dishes and it would not be necessary to install any wires. Florence Bochenek, resident, expressed her concerns and asked that Continental Cable give everyone the same rates. C/M Abramowitz said before the new Federal Law was passed, a franchise cable company had to come before a municipality to ask permission to increase rates. He said after the law was passed, the City no longer had the right to be involved with rates and by the end of 19921r a new Federal Law will be passed regarding cable companies. C/M Abramowitz said at one time, American Cable was able to make deals with regard to rates. C/M Schreiber said he believed different rates being given to di ferent communities violated the franchise agreement. He said people wanted cable T.V. but it was very costly. He asked if the City could p tition the State Legislature to declare Continental Cable a public utili y and they would be regulated by the Public Service Commission. V/M Schumann said communications were controlled by the Federal Government under the F.C.C. Mayor Bender reiterated his statement that Continental Cable violated the franchise agreement with regard to the rates that were charged. He said if they conformed to the agreement, everyone would be treated equally. He said last year they generated $5,500,000 in revenue. C/M Abramowitz said he was the City/County Commission Liaison to',Broward County and two years ago, they passed an Ordinance regarding cable companies. He said in his opinion, the Ordinance did not improve the situation and the only relief would come from the Federal Government. Leo Platz, resident, expressed his concerns and suggested that Council should determine the legal status of the franchise agreement. He said once this was done, Council could negotiate and advise a new company that the City could reserve the right to regulate the rates and this was not in opposition to the Federal Government. Ellen Filipiak, Vice President and District Manager of Continental Cablevision of Broward County, Florida, said she had a letter from a previous City Attorney regarding the franchise agreement at the time they purchased American Video and American Cablesystems throughout the Country. She said the legal franchise owner is still American Cablesystems of Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Cablesystems which is a registered trade name. li City Council Workshop Meeting 5/22/92/PP Page 5 Ms. Filipiak said the letter she referred to indicated that since the owner of the franchise was the same, no Council action was required and Continental Cable took the proper steps. She said Continental Cable was the legal franchise holder for the cable system in Tamarac. Mayor Bender said he had documentation which indicated a merger' took place and Ms. Filipiak said it was an acquisition'. Ms. Filipiak said most of the contracts for service were inherited when Continental Cable purchased American Cablesystems. She said the contracts were designed to increase the number of subscribers and the franchise allowed different promotions to do this. She said not every promotion was the same. Ms. Filipiak said Continental Cable honored contracts which were inherited from American Cablesystems but when the contracts expired, service and rates would change. She said as the contracts expired, the rates revert to the regular rate of $27.40. She said some services were disconnected at the individual's request and Continental Cable did not arbitrarily disconnect anyone's service. She said some contracts expired but the service continued on a month -to -month basis as long as negotiations proceeded. Ms. Filipiak said bulk -service agreements were offered based on 100% participation. She said there were options which she hoped to soon make available to the City. Ms. Filipiak said many communities were paying only 30% of the regular retail rate. She said Continental Cable proposed that during the first year, the discount would be 50% of the prevailing rate; during the second year, the discount would be 40% of the prevailing rate and during the third year and thereafter, the discount would be 20% of the prevailing rate. Ms. Filipiak said Continental Cable offered a cooperative marketing arrangement with Homeowner Associations to increase subscribers and if this happened, the Company would offer a fixed cost for three years. She said if the number of subscribers dropped during this arrangement, the Homeowner Association would have to correct the situation within 60 days and if this was not done, the cost would revert back to the prevailing retail rate. Ms. Filipiak said she would continue to work with the Council and the Administration to resolve the situation and offer alternatives. She said Continental Cable would offer consistent options but everyone in the City would be offered the same options. Mayor Bender asked why the letter he received indicated a rate of $23.85 and Ms. Filipiak said the old rate was $21.90 which would increase as of July 1. C/M Abramowitz asked if there was a possibility that Continental Cable could offer a choice of channels and rates to the residents. He said the individual could be given the option to choose the number of channels and the cost would depend on what those channels were. Ms. Filipiak said this option was not workable. C/M Abramowitz said he was angry because the residents of the City did not have a choice. Ms. Filipiak said Continental Cable offered two levels of service. She said one level of service cost $7.50 and included Channels 2 through 22, CSPAN out of Washington, D.C., stations out of Atlanta and New York and a local channel. She said the next level of service included all the satellite services, excluding the premium channels. She said it was difficult to have different selections of channels for different communities. C/M Abramowitz suggested that Continental Cable should offer choices composed of different channels and different costs. Ms. Filipiak said this was not workable because everyone should be offered the same level I City Council Workshop Meeting 5/22/92/PP Page 6 of service. She said Continental Cable was investigating the possibility of making the satellite services into two tiers with two rates. She said there were tiering penalties with the programming contracts and if enough advertising was not sold, rates for all other services would increase. She said she would look at several options and would advise the City. Sam Schwartz, resident, expressed his concerns and said the rates were based on 100% participation. He asked what would happen if Continental Cable did not receive 100% participation from each building and Ms. Filipiak said she was investigating the possibility of requiring a lesser percentage of participation. She said Council had made numerous requests for Continental Cable to do that. Mr. Siegel said he agreed with C/M Abramowitz's comments that the proposals that Continental Cable made would not benefit the City. He said a community in Plantation was given a separate package and a different package was given to a community in Tamarac. He asked Continental Cable to offer a package and in return the residents would pay $13.70 as requested for the first year. He asked that the residents should be given a contract for one year with an option to renew for another year with a 10% to 15% increase. Tape 3 Ms. Filipiak said the systems mentioned by Mr. Siegel in Tamarac and Plantation were acquisitions. She said the community in Tamarac had a contract with Telesat which was purchased by Continental Cable and it was a condo and it did not receive the channels the rest of the City and Broward County received. She said the community in Plantation was acquired from a private cable company in 1987 and they had a different agreement. Ms. Filipiak said Continental Cable was fulfilling contractual obligations that they inherited. Mr. Alper read a portion of a letter dated 1988 from form r City Attorney Doody which pertained to the fact that rates, ser ice or operation would not change. He said the City based itsi legal understanding on what Continental Cable stated and there were changes. Sam Garber, resident, expressed his concerns and agreed with C/M Abramowitz that the City should get information from other' cable companies to come into the City. He also suggested that the City should find out what the cost would be to have its own T.V. station because it could be more economical for the City in the upcoming years and the City would not need Continental Cable. Mayor Bender responded that the City had to look to the future when the City was not collecting revenue from construction and when the tax base leveled off. He said the cable industry calculated that each subscriber was valued at approximately $2,000 to $3,000 per year and there were approximately 19,000 subscribers in the City. He said if the City had its own cable T.V. station, it could raise revenue by selling off a percentage of the company or it could go public. Mr. Garber asked if the City could generate bonds to raise revenue if it decided to have its own cable station. Mayor Bender said the City would investigate this as well. He said Council and the City Administration would explore every option and avenue before a decision was made. Ben Chicofsky, resident, expressed his concerns and asked if Ms. Filipiak could arrive at a percentage lower than 100% and one rate for everyone. C/M Abramowitz said Ms. Filipiak was investigating this suggestion. Maxwell Ingram, resident, expressed his concerns and said he wrote letters to President Bush and to other members of the State and Federal Government asking them to deregulate the cable industry. He said to - date, the responses he received were very favorable. He said as a courtesy to Continental Cablesystems, other cable companies were reluctant to come into the City. He said free cable T.V. was furnished J' City Council Workshop Meeting 5/22/92/PP Page 7 to the cable companies by CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS. He said Continental Cable did not generate any programs and they only paid a fee to the sources. Mr. Ingram said he requested representatives of CBS to provide free T.V. equipment to his community and they complied. He said additionally, they provided a one-year contract if anything happened to the equipment. Mayor Bender CLOSED the public portion of the meeting with no further response. Mayor Bender said in summarizing this matter that Council and the City Administration would investigate all legal and financial ramifications before they bring this matter to the public. C/M Abramowitz urged Mayor Bender to provide concrete data and suggestions in order for Council to make an appropriate decision. He advised Mayor Bender to be wary of a cable company whose past history was going into business with the express purpose of being bought. Mr. Kelly asked what direction should Staff take and Mayor Bender answered that he would speak further with Mr. Kelly and the financial direction would hinge on,the legal ramifications. He said he would take it step-by-step. Mr. Kelly said he needed more direction from Council and C/M Abramowitz said an Expression of Interest was needed. C/M Abramowitz suggested that City Attorney Kraft should research the franchise agreement and if the City, under they Charter, was allowed to go into the cable business. Mayor Bender asked for an Expression of Interest to go forward. C/M Abramowitz AYE C/M Schreiber AYE Mayor Bender AYE C/M Schreiber asked Council to direct City Attorney Kraft to ascertain if the City was legally permitted to go into the cable business and what the cost would be. Mayor Bender said it cost many dollars for the City of Pembroke Pines to find this out. C/M Abramowitz said the City had find out: 1. If they could go into the cable business. 2. How to go into the cable business. 3. If the City wanted to go into the cable business. C/M Abramowitz suggested that Council should direct City Attorney Kraft to provide Council with a legal opinion as to whether the City could have a cable company in the City. i V/M Schumann also Expressed his Interest to have Council go forward and direct City Attorney Kraft do to research and provide a legal opinion regarding this matter. Mayor Bender ADJOURNED the Workshop at 10:50 a.m. CAROL A. EVANS City Clerk J LOCAL 3080 FLORIDA PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS May 13, 1992 METRO BaROWARD PROFESSIONAL FIRE nGIHTERS 1501 South Andrews Avenue • Ft. Lauderdale, Florlda 33314q (305) 768-0959 BROWARD COUNTY COUNCIL OF PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS BROWARD COUNTY AFL-0l0 Mr. John Kelly Tamarac City Manager Dear Mr. Kelly the renbers of the Tamarac Fire Dept. would lake to express our feelings toward the proposal requested from Broward County for fire suppression services in the City of Tamarac. Looking at alter- natives for all aspects of city services is healthy and prudent. The Tamarac Firefighters provide an efficient and effective service for the City of Tamarac. We feel this requested proposal as well as the discussions] between the City of Tamarac and Browaxd County, which have been ongoing fo over a year now, will show the Tamarac Fire Dept. is one of the more effi of all the fire depts. in the county. we the undersigned would like to take this opportunity to inform you of our collective hopes of remaining City of Tamarac employees for the remainder of our careers. Thank you for your time. cc peter Mack. Personnel Director Jim Budzinski Fire Chief Larry Bender Mayor Norman Abramowitz City Council Henry Sdhuurenn City Council Irving Katz City Council Joe Schreiber City Council Member of the International Association of Fire Fighters Representing Over 95% of Paid Fire Fighters in the United States and Canada C METRO BROWARD PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS 1301 South Andrews Avenue • Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33316 (303) 768-0959 LOCAL 3080 FLORIDA BROWARD COUNTY COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS OF PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS BROWARD COUNTY AFL-10 NAME " 'POSITION YEARS IN TAMARAC Member of the International Association of Fire Fighters Representing Over 95% of Paid Fire Fighters in the United States and Canada LOCAL 3080 FLORIDA PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS METRO BROWARD PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS 1501 South Andrews Avenue • Ft. Lauderdale. Florida 33316 (305) 768-0959 BROWARD COUNTY COUNCIL. OF PROFESSIONAL. FIRE FIGHTERS BROWARD CO NTY AFL-0l0 POSITION iTA'2S xz, ZAJtARAC i< LA . X- A . r E&A r'r ec �i6 c S Member of the International Association of Fire Fighters Representing Over 95% of Paid Fire Fighters in the United States and Canada F-1