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Telecomm Policy Committee 1996/03/21 TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 21, 1996 The agenda having been posted on Friday, March 15. 1996, the regularly scheduled meeting of the Telecommunications Policy Advisory Committee (Committee) was called to order by Chairperson Paul McMillan at 4:10 p.m., on Thursday, March 21, 1996 in the Gordon Hoyt Conference Center. 201 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, California. Committee Members Present: Chairperson P. McMillan. P. Boydstun, B. Whorton, D. Stanton, F. Feldhaus, W. Wiseman. Committee Member(s) Absent: T. Daly, J. Mayer Staff Present: E. Aghjayan. M. Bell, L. Moses, J. Spalding, V. Tiwari, K. Thalman, G. Anghel, G. Broeking, P. Grimes, S. Frazier, B. Gorson, R. Howell. Guests Present: Jim Kramer, SpectraNet Paul Brestyanszky, FCI 1. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no comments from the public. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 15. 1996 The minutes of February 15, 1996 were approved 5 -0. 3 ABSENT (W. Wiseman arrived after the approval of the minutes). 3. SPECTRANET NEGOTIATIONS AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT STATUS J. Spalding introduced Jim Kraemer of SpectraNet (SNI) who was available to answer any questions asked of SNI regarding the project. Staff updated the Committee on developments concerning the negotiations process between the City and SpectraNet (SNI). Staff has held a number of technical meetings, legal meetings, and marketing meetings with SNI. Two Feasibility Study consulting companies were interviewed - San Francisco Consulting Group (Peat Marwick) and the Arthur D. Little firm. It was unanimously agreed by the raters to select the San Francisco Group for the Feasibility Study. The work on the study will begin the week of March 25th-and will cost approximately 5400,000. Phase I of the project is currently being defined and will serve 90 percent of all the industrial and commercial customers in the City, in addition to the major governmental buildings /facilities and schools. The high level design and specifications are in progress and the schematics are now on their way to the City. A map of the City was shown that outlined the fiber routes, UTS Phase I, long distance telephone carriers, and the Economic Redevelopment areas of the City. 61 J. Spalding explained that the purpose of the Pilot Project will be to demonstrate the UTS system technical capabilities to potential customers. to test the marketing strategies, to test volume of usage and pricing. and to test the billing system. A draft UTS participation agreement will be developed for the pilot project and work on the detailed design and specifications are under way. The Pilot Project is estimated to cost S5 million with a planned construction start date of August 1996 with completion expected by December 1996. The Pilot Project will serve 30 to 90 businesses and will be located in Anaheim Hills between Lakeview and Imperial Hwy. and Orangethrope Ave. and La Palma Ave. The Disneyland area and City Hall East and West will also be included in the Pilot Project. The Pilot Project will include some City facilities and a Demonstration Center at City Hall West. J. Kramer stated that SNI has spoken with a few of the businesses that are in the proposed Pilot Project area and all are definitely interested in the UTS system. TRW -Redi could be one of the largest benefactors from the UTS because they are currently reliant on Pacific Bell for local access. The higher bandwidth capacity and speed of the UTS is not available through Pacific Bell. The new services that will be available through the UTS will also be highly beneficial to them. The Environmental Review process for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is in progress and will include a very careful review of the aesthetics of the UTS in Anaheim. Submission of the initial study and preparation of the negative declaration and City department review will take place in March or April 1996. Submission of the negative declaration to the State Clearing House and response to any comments will take place in April or May 1996. Publication of the negative declaration for public . comment and response to comments will be in April or May 1996, with a staff report on the results of the CEQA review to the Committee and the City Council in June 1996. The Lead Agency (City of Anaheim) will make its CEQA determination on or before June 1996. The legally mandated challenge period will be expected to be completed in July 1996. The next steps in the due diligence process will include completion of the UTS participation agreement for the Pilot Project in May or June 1996, completion of Feasibility Study in May or June 1996, City Council action on UTS participation agreement for Pilot Project in June 1996, and completion of the business case in June 1996. F. ther scheduled dates include the compliance with the regulatory/legislative requirements in June 1996, establishment of the ownership /legal structure in June 1996, and City Council action on the final agreement in July or August 1996. After the completion of the above, construction of the Pilot Project will begin in August 1996. Completion of the financing package and funding for Phase I should occur in September 1996. Construction of the full UTS will take place in October or November 1996. ISSUES ADDRESSED: J. Spalding explained that the CEQA process was legally necessary for the UTS project, as are all sizable projects, even though there do not appear to be negative impacts on the environment. J. Spalding advised the Committee that the Pilot Project would need to be developed in a complete loop before it becomes a functioning system. J. Kramer added that the Pilot Project will be an initial part of Phase I construction and will be functional prior to the completion of the entire Phase I construction. J. Spalding stated that the proposal is that the CEQA process will be completed once for the entire Phase 1 and Phase II of the UTS. 4. NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS & INFORMATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM P. Grimes described a unique funding opportunity that staff just recently discovered that is sponsored by the National Telecommunications Information Administration, a division of the United States Department of Commerce. This year there is approximately 521.4 million available through this program whose purpose is to promote development and wide - spread availability of telecommunications and information technology, specifically for purposes that serve the public interest. Organizations, public agencies, and any non - profit agency is eligible to apply for the funds. There are four broad -based applications under this 62 • grant: (1) Community -wide networking, (2) Health Services, (3) Life -Long Learning Services. and (44 Public Services. There are three types of projects allowed: (1) Innovative Demonstration Projects (Up to S750,000 available in Federal matching funds). (2) Access Projects that provide underserved communities with greater access to the benefits of the National Information Infrastructure (up to S250.000 available), and (3) Planning Projects that enable organizations. or groups of organizations, to develop strategies for the enhanced application of information infrastructure (up to S100,000 available). Under the grant program. a number of public and non -profit agencies in the City of Anaheim could be eligible to receive consideration for matching funds. Funds will be awarded and distributed under the above three categories of projects. The Committee was asked to contact P. Grimes with ideas of what organizations they feel would benefit from applying for the matched funds and to get the word out to the schools, libraries. etc. The sponsoring organization must be a non - profit agency and partnerships are encouraged. The matching source must be identified and the projects scoped out when applying for the grant. An initial description of the project must be submitted by April 4, 1996. In the past, staff had expressed that a portion of the revenues from the UTS could be kept in a special account for use on projects such as these. Community Services has some neighborhood projects that the City could develop partnerships with that would provide Internet access to a community center. Staff would like to see private participation in matching of the grant funds. A question was asked if a specific Utilities account would be established to receive the revenues from the UTS. There are several sources of funds coming to the City from the UTS - the upfront payment of $6 million and the payment to the Utility for reimbursement of capital costs in the construction of the loop which will be phased into the Electric Utility Fund. The specifics of the accounting will be developed later, but the funds should benefit the City and the Utilities Department. • A UTS Management Committee could be established to govern the administration of the system, when the Phase [I expansion should begin, what kinds of policy issues the City will take part in, budget development and monitoring, and other types of decision making. The Committee could consist of representatives from the City and SNI or perhaps a citizens advisory group. The variety of scenarios are being discussed in the due diligence process. 5. OPEN OUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION There were no further questions or discussions. 6. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING E. Aghjayan advised the Committee that staff will give another status update to them at the April 17, 1996 Committee meeting. Staff will try to obtain presentations at future meetings on types of services that will be available through the use of the UTS. • 7. ITEMS BY SECRETARY No additional items. 8. ITEMS BY COMMITTEE MEMBERS B. Whorton stated that she is currently working on her Masters in Library and Information Science and staff have provided a wealth of information for her courses. She thanked Vish Tiwari and Georgetta Anghel for their presentation to B. Whorton's class on the UTS proposed project in Anaheim. The class found the presentation extremely interesting and helpful. 63 D. Stanton described his recent trip to the Telecommunications Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. He found the conference very interesting and informative. p. McMillan asked if it would be possible to have V. Tiwari give his presentation to the Planning Commission because it could be very beneficial to its planning efforts in the City. E. Aghjayan stated that he has also given presentations recently on the UTS and will be giving one next week to the Northern California Power Agency and another at the American Public Power Association's Annual Conference in June. He gave a presentation recently to a group of private utility senior executives in the marketing area which focused on the energy and telecommunications link and why this is a great opportunity in the industry restructuring and the different types of services that can be offered in a deregulated environment. 9. A motion to adjourn was made at 5:20 p.m. MOTION CARRIED 6 - 2 ABSENT. Repgctfully s mitt d, / „ le t: Edward K. Aghjayan Secretary, Telecommunications Policy Advisory Committee • • 64 •