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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-26-1974 City Council Minutes MINIFEES SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, March 26, 1974 -7:00 p.m. PLACE: Crisp Conference Room, City Hall, 13777 Fruitvale Ave., Saratoga,' California TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting I. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmen Bridges, Brigham, Diridon, Kraus and Smith Absent: None II. ORDINANCE 38.54 Ordinance Granting a Franchise to Saratoga Cable Television~ Inc. to Construct, . Operate and Main~'ain a Cable Television System within the City of Saratoga Mayor Smi~ op~ned. the meeting and initiated the discussion by giving a brief recapit~atiop .=, 0f the state of the ne~gotiations with Saratoga Cable Television to this point. He felt that the Council could accept the line assessment charge for Area No. II as long as service .is eventually .~te~ed~ but if less than 50% sign uplzd'~'!n~._~b~'p~=sel~.~6d~D~bZs~:~i~'_p~ng ~p of the equivalent of 50~'~ign up. In other words, the franchisee would sustain the additional cost burden. The City Manager indicated that the revised cost would be somewhat less than originally anticipated. A thumbnail estimate of the Sobey Road area indicated that 40%.of the utilitie~ were underground and 60% overhead. This would lower the cost from the estimated $182 to about $140,1based on present cost projection. He also indicated that in the Pierce Road area, fusing the same estimate as above, the cost would be reduced from about $372 per customer to $250. It was also indicated that the second point of contention'~8~rnjngthe'Toll Gate area had not yet be'en resolved. Mr. Ji~ Nishimura, President of Saratoga Cable Television, Inc., responded that be felt the 50% criterion was somewhat inequitable originally. He felt that Area II included only 7% of the homes in Saratoga and that the risk is still there. In the projected $8.50 rate per month he did not include the cost of cable construction to the Area II homes. He was always talking and thinking in tprms of a special line assessment charge Mr. Harvey Ingham interposed that he liked the idea of building the entire ~ystem at once. Mr. Nishimura responded that as-a result of the meeting with the Mayor and City Manager this morning~ he ~i~ agre~'fo'.accelerate the pre-sell period, but he does not feel he can accept less than the 50% pre-sell before building the system in Area II.. - Mayor Smith responded t~at it appears! w~' are now down to one issue: The question of the 50% acceptance. He indicated he would prefer that the 50% requirement be waived and favored the-id'ea~t~at ehe whSl~ City be d0'ne at once. Mr. Austen Warburton, ~t~orney for Jame~ Nishimura, responded that under ~his proscription, the risk/falls entirely'.upon the appll~an~'slshoulders. The Mayor responded that it comes down to the question 6£ ~he~ ~e i~htive is' ib~t'~gE pla~_~"f~ft' ~d"i~ sh0~ld ~i~h t~e ~o~ wh'~ s~n~s tO .make th~ Councilman~ Diridon indicated he thought. the Council has given ~i~ to this ~&H{~e _to ~a[~, es~eC~li~'f~rding!'[~ $8.5~' ~r~mb~h fe~ the 'ti~e ~rame for construction, the lin~ ~e~me~ fee, and the special Connection fee if the home is over 150 feet from the line. A~ this'point, Mr. Nishimura requested a Ordinance 38.54 - Ordinance'Granting a Franchise to ~ ...... ~' (Sara~aga~-CabfeTT~vision~'~n~.- ~nt'd.)~7 ............ ~'b~ie~ahcus 'w~ h~s ,att~n~...~.~ The meeting was recessed for ten minutes, '~bo~%i~ re&~r~' t'~yor {~troduqed the following motion: He moved the adoption of OrdinanCe 38.~4 with the new map which includes the additions to Area I on the west side of Sobey Road~'apd~in add~ition, the in- clusion of the Tol~__a~elarea i~. Service Area I. He further moved that the line assessment charges be applied to Areall on the assumption'~f 50% sign up and that the system be construc~e~ as a wh~le. The motion was amended to provide that the entire system be constructed within 18 months from the start of construction. It was assumed that ~onstruction would begin after the Certificate of Compliance from the Federal Communications Commission w~s_~cquired~ i~ ....... .................... 'Mayor Smith indicated 'that since substantive changes had been made to the ordinance, this would be the time ~or [he re-introduction of same. At this point, Mr. Warbu~ton indicated ~that Mr. NishimUra would extend the principal trunk into Area II which, as xt appears, would exceed 50% of~be_ system cost in that area. However, he*is still concerned about the minimum 50% sign up. He indicated he would compromise the 40% sign up prior to extension of service into ~ea ti. There was no further discussion regarding this point. The amended motion was carried unanimously. Mr. Warburton'indicated to the Council ~hat his client would advise t~em of his d~cision. III. OTHER BUSI~SS None. IV.' ~JO~ - It was moved by Councilman ~aus ~nd seconded by Councilman Bridge~ that the meeting.be adjourned. The motion was carried. The meeting ~as adjourned at 8:40 p.m. ~ ~ '~.. '.,-~ ~ spectful3 ubmitted,'~~ "" ~ '- C' ,"' ~ .... - ': xty Clerk