Cable & Telecommunications Commission

MEETING MINUTES CABLE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION May 5, 2015 The Cable and Telecommunications Commission met in the Community Conference Room of the Village Hall at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, 2015. In attendance were: Present: Alan Barasky Neil Charak Greg Lapin Steven Robinson John Sanner Adam Simon Ken Urbaszewski Absent: Paul Diambri, Chair John Chaput Also Present: Andrew Lichterman, Assistant to the Village Manager In the absence of Chairman Paul Diambri; Vice-Chair Steven Robinson oversaw the meeting. Minutes A motion to approve the minutes from the March 24, 2015 meeting was made by Commissioner Urbazewski and seconded by Commissioner Barasky. The motion passed unanimously. Public Comment There was no one present for public comment. AT&T Annual Report Vice Chair Robinson noted that there are large discrepancies between the number of complaints noted in the AT&T report compared to the Comcast report that was reviewed at last meeting. Vice Chair Robinson noted that AT&T reported 974 complaints in 2014 and Comcast reported 96 complaints. Commissioner Simon suspects since AT&T is a State franchise agreement their numbers reflect the entire State, whereas Comcast is specific to Deerfield. Commissioner Simon noted that these reports are presented to the Illinois Commerce Commission and the information contained in the reports is pursuant to the Cable and Video Customer Protection Law. Verizon Lease Revisions Vice Chair Robinson noted reviewed an email from Village Attorney Coblentz regarding the final revisions to the Verizon lease agreement, based on the Commission’s input. He noted the lease requires liability insurance of $2 million and authorizes the Village to review insurance limits once during each renewal term, and require an increase in insurance coverage at that time. This was recommended by Chairman Diambri at the last meeting. Page 1 of 2 Cable and Telecommunications Commission May 5, 2015 Vice Chair Robinson also advised that Attorney Coblentz included a new requirement for submission of an engineering study including a right to terminate the lease if the engineering study discloses that the antenna facilities would prejudice or impair the primary function of the tower. Lastly, it was noted that Verizon can only terminate the lease after the fifth anniversary date of the lease for technological reasons, or if Verizon determines the antenna facilities have become impracticable or unnecessary for wireless communications. Vice Chair Robinson expressed his appreciation to all commissioners and of Attorney Coblentz to get the lease into this draft form. He noted that the changes in the lease are consistent with the motion for approval at the last meeting. Mr. Lichterman thanked the Commission for their consent and stated that a report and recommendation seeking authorization to approve a lease with Verizon will be presented to the Village Board for consideration at an upcoming meeting. AT&T Cable Broadcasting Mr. Lichterman noted that the transition to broadcast AT&T public access completely in-house was successfully completed as of April 30, 2015. The Village no longer relies on the Highland Park Public Access Studio for any cable broadcasting and channels 17 & 18 have been eliminated. This transition will save the Village tens of thousands of dollars over the next 5 years. T-Mobile Monopole Proposal Commissioner Lapin and Commissioner Simon recused themselves from the discussion. Mr. Lichterman noted that in his conversations with Park District Executive Director, Rick Julison, it was noted that the Park Board would only want to move forward with the proposal from T- Mobile if they received a letter from the Village Board stating they are in favor of the use. Vice Chair Robinson acknowledged the obstacles with the Park District’s request and as an alternative offered that the Cable and Telecommunications Commission could provide a letter to the Park District concurring with the need for the T-Mobile cellular antennas and offer technical review and assistance. Mr. Lichterman stated that he would convey that to the Park District and work with the Commission to prepare a letter if the Park District wanted to proceed in that direction. Adjournment Commissioner Barasky made a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Charak. The motion was unanimously approved. The meeting was adjourned at 8:11 PM. Respectfully submitted, Andrew S. Lichterman Assistant to the Village Manager Page 2 of 2