HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-07-26 Min - Board SPECIAL MEETING
July 26, 1999
In accordance with District Code Section 2.08.010 the TDPUD minutes are action only
minutes. All Board meetings are recorded on audio tapes which are preserved perpetually
and made available for listening to any interested party upon their request
The special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District was
called to order at approximately 3:10 PM in the TDPUD Board Room by Vice President Hemig.
ROLL CALL: Directors Joe Aguera, Ron Hemig and James Maass were present. Director Bob
Jones was absent and Director Pat Sutton was expected.
EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Mary Chapman, Susan Craig, Steve Hollabaugh, Peter Holzmeister, Joe
Horvath, Kathy Neus, Bob Quinn and Ed Taylor.
CONSULTANTS PRESENT: District Counsel, Steve Gross; Marty Skeer of RMI.
OTHERS PRESENT: Eric Breisach, David Merchant, Roger Terneuzen and Jim Faircloth,
representatives of USA Media.
PUBLIC INPUT: There was no public input.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUSINESS PLAN PROCESS—REPORT ON STATUS OF PLAN AND
STATUS OF POLE ATTACHMENT LICENSE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE DISTRICT AND USA
MEDIA—CONSIDERATION OF AUTHORIZING CONSTRUCTION OF A BACKBONE OPTICAL
FIBER NETWORK — CONSIDERATION OF CREATING THE POSITION OF DIRECTOR OF
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
Mr. Holzmeister reported as follows: The District retained the services of Resource Management
International to prepare a business case study to determine whether it would be prudent for the
District to enter the telecommunications field. The first step was to approach USA Media, the local
cable television provider, to offer them leased bandwidth on the District's system for enhancement
of their service. We learned that US Media negotiated a new franchise with the town that required
them to offer improved services. The improved services would require the use of fiber optic
technology.
USA Media informed the District that they, too, were planning to use such a network and they would
lease bandwidth to us. We took the position that we needed a more reliable system than is normally
associated with a CATV operation, that we are interested in offering telecommunication services
and the discussion quickly turned to the possibility of forming a joint venture.
Director Sutton arrived at this point in the meeting, 3:22 PM.
Marty Skeer of Resource Management prepared a document containing principles of a joint
venture. At first USA Media officials told us they were enthused about the document, that they saw
no problems and that we should work out the details. Then, on July 12 USA Media changed their
position. Roger Terneuzen told us that they were not interested in a joint venture if it involved
sharing Internet business.
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USA Media told us they are interested in a construction partnership whereby we own our portion
..j of fiber and they own their portion of fiber. They would then, without partnering with us, provide
CATV and Internet service. Their proposal was that we use our fiber to perform SCADA services
and offer Internet without partnering with them.
We countered that we would be willing to provide Internet on our own, as they proposed, but we
need to lease two channels on their coax cable to get to the customer premises. USA Media said
they would not lease us capacity on their coax, that it was built for their use and they wish to keep
it for their use. We told them that we built poles for our use but share them with USA Media and that
we expect US Media to now cooperate with us. We discussed the pole attachment license
agreement. At that point the meeting ended.
On July 19, 1999, Marty Skeer, John Foreman of RMI and I met with Chris Hillard and Roger
Terneuzen of USA Media. They gave us a proposal which provided that the District would pay
$15,000 per mile to USA Media to build the fiber optic network. They would own it and our District
would maintain it for a fee. They would share 20% of their Internet profits with us and we would pay
the cost of the computer cable modem to enable Internet service. This proposal does not serve the
District's strategic needs.
In Mr. Holzmeister's opinion, the District should proceed with deployment of a telecommunications
network in two phases. Phase 1 is the fiber optical backbone network and should be undertaken
immediately. Phase 2 is the telecommunications distribution infrastructure and should be
implemented as subscriber demand is developed.
Mr. Terneuzen indicated that USA Media would like to resume negotiations with the District.
After some discussion, Director Maass moved that this item be put over to the next meeting and that
the Board direct staff to continue discussions with USA Media and report back at that time. The
motion was seconded by Director Aguera. ROLL CALL: Director Jones, absent; all other Directors,
aye. SO MOVED.
The Directors will be provided with a copy of the franchise agreement between USA Media and the
town.
DISCUSSION OF THE STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH WILLIAMS COMMUNICATIONS;
POSSIBLE ACTION
The Board was provided with a document that describes the elements of a joint venture between
the District and Williams Communications regarding installation of conduits through the Glenshire
Drive and Donner Pass Road corridor. At this time it is not yet in final form but facilitates a
discussion of the key points of the joint venture. Mr. Holzmeister reported that the District is at a
point where time is becoming critical. This joint venture with Williams carries significant benefit for
the District but the project must proceed this summer and fall. The critical step in the process is the
CEOA review which needs to proceed immediately to satisfy the project schedule.
The Board asked for a legal opinion as to whether or not the District can claim a categorical
exemption on this project. The matter will be placed on the next meeting agenda.
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CLOSED SESSION
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It was not necessary for the Board to go into closed session. '
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ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 5:05 PM.
TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC UTfLITY DISTRICT
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Robert A. Jones,Present
Prepared by - -� _
Susan M. Craig, Deputy District Clerk
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