2.0. SWCSR 08-15-2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes of the Sherburne/Wright County Cable Commission Thursday, September 20, 2018, 1:00 p.m. (Buffalo City Hall) Present: Chair Tina Allard (Elk River), Vice Chair Gina Wolbeck (Big Lake), Commissioners Mert Auger (Buffalo), Andrew Carlson (Cokato), Terri Boese (Dassel), Paula Bauman (Delano), and Rachel Leonard (Monticello). Commissioners LeeAnn Yager (Maple Lake),Dan Madsen (Rockford), Shane Fineran (Watertown) were absent. Also present: Technology Consultant Bill Bruce, and Attorney Bob Vose. 1. Call to Order—Chair Allard called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes—February 1,2018 Commissioner Auger motioned to approve the February 1, 2018 Sherburne Wright Cable Commission Meeting Minutes as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Carlson,unanimous ayes,motion carried. 3. Treasurer's Report a. Financial Statements — Treasurer Mert Auger presented the financial statements as outlined in the staff report. Commissioner Carlson motioned to accept the September 2018 Treasurer's Report as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Boese, unanimous ayes,motion carried. b. Return of Franchise Fees - Auger stated the return of the August 2018 Franchise Fee payment to each member city would be appropriate at this time to help defray some cable related expenses. Commissioner Wolbeck motioned to approve a return of all provider's August 2018 franchise fees to each member city. Seconded by Commissioner Carlson, unanimous ayes,motion carried. 4. Attorney's Report a. Small Cell Wireless Update—Vose reported the FCC will meet on September 26, 2018 to adopt final rules on small cell wireless. The State of Minnesota passed legislation in 2017 allowing private utilities to access right of way for their own poles or use city-owned poles. The Minnesota law delineated the timeline, fees, and conditions cities can utilize during the process; the law also exempted municipally-owned utilities. The FCC rules conflict with the Minnesota law and the FCC language does not exempt municipally- owned utilities. In addition, the FCC is denying other previous municipal utility exemptions as well. The rules will likely be challenged through litigation. Vose will continue to monitor the situation as some member cities own municipal utilities. b. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking — Vose reported the Proposed Rulemaking includes language with potential to impact the Cable Commission. First, the FCC proposes to require PEG fees be used solely for PEG capital costs. The term capital costs is being narrowly defined to include only construction of PEG studios, not maintenance or replacement of equipment or existing facilities as the cable commission is doing. Cable companies will likely argue in favor of this requirement; cities can comment against. If adopted, the ruling is certain to be challenged in court.