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,/j <br />City of <br />Elk -~-, <br />River <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: City Council <br />FROM:. Tina Allard, City Clerk <br />DATE: December 3, 2007 <br />SUBJECT: Cable Department Update <br />Information <br />Following are some items currently happening with the cable department/commission. I <br />plan to start providing quarterly reports to the Council regarding the cable department and <br />commission activities. <br />FCC Rulings <br />Telephone companies petitioned the FCC for a change in cable regulations due to difficulty <br />in working with many different local governments. <br />The FCC agreed and released an order that will reduce local governments' authority to <br />regulate cable franchises. The FCC stated local governments often have drawn out <br />negotiations with no time limits, make unreasonable build-out requirements, requests for <br />"in-kind" payments, and demands for public, educational, and government access. The FCC <br />order states these actions violate the Communications Act of 1934 which prohibits <br />"unreasonable" barriers to franchise applications. <br />The FCC Order overrides any local laws and regulations but does not override state law. <br />Cable Commission Attorney Bob Vose drafted a couple of detailed memos explaining the <br />FCC Order. They are attached for your review. <br />Webstreaming <br />Webstreaming would allow us to playback Council meetings on our website. Elk River, <br />Delano, and Buffalo are part of a pilot project to provide beta testing. The meetings would <br />be played on the website beginning the day after the meeting air date. The City of Buffalo <br />(www.ci.buffalo.mn.us) went live with Webstreaming and you can visit their website to view a <br />sample of how this new feature will look. I am unsure whether our site will be live when you <br />receive this memo as consultants are currently working on this program for us. You can <br />check back at ww~v.ci.elk-river.mn.us under Government. In the future we are hoping an <br />individual will be able to click on specific parts of the agenda for items they are interested in <br />watching. <br />S:\Clerk\Cable\Council\111907 CC Update.doc <br />