BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
MARCH 19, 2007

CALL TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Beaverton City Council was called to order by Mayor
Rob Drake in the Forrest C. Soth City Council Chamber, 4755 SW Griffith Drive,
Beaverton, Oregon, on Monday, March 19, 2007, at 6:30 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

Present were Mayor Drake, Couns. Catherine Arnold, Betty Bode, Bruce S. Dalrymple,
Dennis Doyle and Cathy Stanton.  Also present were City Attorney Alan Rappleyea, Chief of Staff Linda Adlard, Finance Director Patrick O'Claire, Community Development Director Joe Grillo, Public Works Director Gary Brentano, Library Director Ed House, Human Resources Director Nancy Bates, Police Captain Stan Newland and Deputy City Recorder Catherine Jansen.

VISITOR COMMENT PERIOD: 

There were none.

COUNCIL ITEMS:

Coun. Stanton said on Thursday, May 22, 2007, at 7:30 a.m., at the Kingstad Center, the Westside Economic Alliance would hear a presentation on the Economic Cost of Traffic Congestion in the Region.  She also noted that on Friday, May 23, at 11:00 a.m., the ribbon cutting ceremony would be held for Safe Place for Youth, a new homeless shelter for teens, at 454 SE Washington Street, Hillsboro.  She said this project was a result of the HUD Program. 

Coun. Bode added that this new youth shelter would have 18 beds for homeless youth, and the need was such that they could use five times that many beds.  She said these were kids whose parents asked them to leave and they go from friend's home to friend's home sleeping on sofas.  She said they were struggling to stay in school and carried all their possessions in their backpacks.  She stressed there was poverty in Beaverton. 

Coun. Doyle reminded Council that the Economic Impact Statements were due April 17, 2007. 

STAFF ITEMS:

There were none.

CONSENT AGENDA:

Coun. Doyle MOVED, SECONDED by Coun.  Bode, that the Consent Agenda be
approved as follows:

Minutes for the Regular Meetings of February 12 and March 5, 2007

07055 A Resolution Forming the Murray Boulevard Extension Local Improvement District (Resolution No. 3893)

Contract Review Board:

07056  Authorize the City Attorney to Enter into a Professional Services Contract with Outside Counsel to Provide Municipal Court Prosecution

07057  Bid Award - South Central "A" Utility Improvements Project

Coun. Stanton thanked staff for meeting with her to answer her questions.  She referred to the South Central "A" Utility Improvements Project and said the City spends a great deal of money on water and sewer projects such as this project.  She said she was pleased that the City started saving money years ago to upgrade these systems and scheduled the projects for replacement.  She said she appreciated staff's foresight and maintenance of the systems. 

Question called on the motion.  Couns.  Arnold, Bode, Dalrymple, Doyle and Stanton
voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.  (5:0)

WORK SESSION:

07058  Verizon Cable TV Franchise

Bruce Crest, Administrator, Metropolitan Area Communications Commission (MACC), presented MACC's recommendation that the City grant Verizon Northwest a cable television franchise to provide service to city residents who are within Verizon's current telephone service area.  He said the MACC staff report, franchise agreement and letter responding to issues raised by Comcast, were in the Council packet and Verizon representatives were present to answer questions.  He said in 2005 Verizon started upgrading its telephone plant that served the MACC area, to fiber optics (known as fiber-to-the-premise: FTTP).  He said the upgraded plant provided improved telephone service, high speed Internet and cable television services.  He said MACC staff spent a year negotiating with Verizon for the cable television franchise to serve the MACC jurisdictions.  He said negotiations were completed in January 2007 and during the negotiations the Commission was kept informed on the status.  He said on February 8, 2007, MACC held a public hearing on the proposed franchise agreement and recommended that the affected jurisdictions adopt the Verizon franchise.  He said that in order for the franchise to become effective, all 11 member jurisdictions must adopt the agreement; if a single jurisdiction denies the franchise, it would be vetoed for the other ten.  He said if the franchise was adopted, this would be the first area in the Pacific Northwest that Verizon would offer cable television services. 

Crest said this agreement was reasonably comparable to the Comcast Franchise Agreement; if approved it would provide residents with a choice between two cable television companies.  He said MACC believed the competition would help both companies provide the best customer service possible.  He said if the agreement was approved by all 11 jurisdictions, Verizon would start offering cable television service in approximately one year and the service should be available to all areas within five years.  He said Verizon had almost completed its build out of the Beaverton area and was interested in quickly upgrading its cable services to this area.  He said this would only affect those residents who have Verizon telephone service; not Quest customers.  He repeated that this agreement has to be approved by all MACC members.

Coun. Dalrymple asked if all the points and issues within the franchise agreement were the same for all of the cities. 

Crest replied that all the jurisdictions were adopting the same agreement that was recommended by MACC. 

Coun. Bode asked where the City was in the process. 

Crest said Beaverton was the eighth city to consider the franchise; seven cities have adopted the agreement and Washington County, Tigard and Lake Oswego would consider the matter in the next month.

Coun. Stanton referred to Public, Education and Government (PEG) access and asked if the same level of service would be offered for PEG channels. 

Crest said it would.  He said Verizon would provide the same six channels that Comcast provides and it would also provide the $1.00/month fee for subscribers.

Coun. Bode asked for those who already have cable service would the fiber optic deliver cable television.

Crest said the optic fiber would deliver telephone, cable and high-speed Internet access.  He said Verizon has a twisted-pair copper plant that has existed for many years.  He said that was now being upgraded; they were building side by side a fiber optic plant that would cover the entire area now covered by the telephone plant.  He said for those who wished to signup for more than telephone service, Verizon would run the fiber from the main line to a box on the side of the house to hookup all connections for telephone and internet service.  He said when Verizon starts offering cable service they would attach the customer's existing cable lines to that same box to start the service.  He said fiber optic cable lasted longer, was state-of-the-art and was more reliable than twisted-pair copper.  He said the advantage Verizon has over the long run, would be that as new services come on-line, they can go through the fiber; they would attach a new piece of equipment at the head end, run the electronic signal down the fiber and adjust the settings at the box, so that the customer would have the new service.  He said they would not have to dig in the right-of-way to add more cable or fiber.   

Coun. Arnold said she appreciated the service comparison between Comcast and Verizon.  She asked for clarification of a comment in the staff report that when there was an agreement in place, then MACC would discuss the franchise with Comcast. 
Crest clarified that if the franchise was approved by all 11 members, then Comcast could go to MACC to discuss the differences between the two franchise agreements.  He said MACC was willing to discuss this with Comcast.

Coun. Arnold said it did not seem that the automated telephone response and caps on fines were a big issue. 

Crest said their hope was that both companies would provide such excellent customer service, of which telephone response was a major part, that this would become a moot point; if there were any fines they would not be imposed because they were doing an excellent job.  He said regarding telephone response, the two companies handle calls differently.  He said Verizon has five regional call centers in the United States and they load share between them.  He said one advantage to that was that calls were answered quickly.  He said Comcast has a regional center for each service area and that works for them. 

Coun. Arnold asked about automated response.

Crest said both companies use automated response system to answer telephone calls.  He said MACC has measured Comcast calls from the beginning of their franchise.  He said they think it will be easier for Verizon to meet the telephone answering standard because the regional centers can instantly route the calls around the country due to the fiber optic cable.  He said they would be willing to discuss this with Comcast.

Coun. Arnold asked when MACC would talk to Comcast. 

Crest said if the franchise was granted and Comcast asked for the same changes, they could hold discussions soon after the request. 

Coun. Doyle said he was glad MACC responded to Comcast's concerns for that answered his questions regarding franchise comparability.  He noted the agreements were found to be reasonably comparable and asked if there was a definition for that term. 

Crest said reasonably comparable was the negotiated standard that was in the Comcast agreement that was negotiated in 1999.  He said Comcast and MACC both agreed to that standard. 

Coun. Doyle asked if Comcast has the ability through its contract to renegotiate its franchise. 

Crest explained Comcast could discuss any concerns it may have with MACC and could renegotiate its contract.  He said MACC was always open for discussion. 

Coun. Dalrymple complimented Crest and MACC for putting this package together for it was clear and easy to review.  He said he had no further questions.

Coun. Stanton said MACC would be meeting on April 5 and the agenda included Comcast's annual review.   She encouraged interested citizens to attend the meeting. 

Curt Henninger, Senior Vice President and Manager, Comcast Oregon/SW Washington, said Comcast was a big part of Beaverton; it occupied four different locations and of 1,750 employees more than 600 were located in Beaverton.  He said Comcast did not oppose granting a franchise to Verizon; however, they do not agree that the franchise agreements were reasonably comparable.  He said while MACC has indicated they could discuss this, they have no assurance that their concerns would be addressed.   He said he was giving notice to the City and others that if they were not able to negotiate a comparable franchise with MACC, they would go to the other 11 member jurisdictions for a solution.  He noted they submitted a letter outlining their concerns (in the record).  He said Comcast would have to bear hundreds of thousands of dollars of extra cost if their franchise was not amended.  He said there were questions of fairness relating to how calls were answered and fine schedules and caps.  He asked for Council assistance in assuring that the Comcast franchise remained competitively neutral in relation to Verizon's franchise.  He said if MACC finds the contracts were reasonably comparable, then Comcast should have the option of operating from its own agreement or selecting Verizon's agreement.  He said Comcast also has a fiber hybrid network at their plant.  He said fiber optic is run from the plant to the node; they then run coax cable from the node to the customer's home.  He said the advantage to this system was that it was easier and faster to repair than fiber optic.  He said they also share call volume from their Beaverton plant to ensure calls were answered locally.  He distributed information about Comcast to Council (in the record). 

Coun. Doyle assured Henninger that Coun. Stanton, the City's representative to MACC, would be pro-active in looking out for Comcast's interests.  He said he was aware of all that Comcast had done for the community and Comcast had friends in the community.  He encouraged Comcast to discuss this with MACC and said he was glad that Comcast was not opposing the franchise. 

Coun. Arnold asked Henninger if he saw the response to Comcast's February 12, 2007, letter (in the record).

Henninger said they had seen it.  He said until a franchise was adopted for a competitor, there was no obligation for MACC to change the requirements in the Comcast franchise.  He said if the franchise was granted, they would hold discussions with MACC.

Coun. Arnold said if this came back to Council, she would need to see actual financial data on how much was being spent on fines and such.  She said this information was needed to assess if the market was competitive.

Henninger said hopefully they would never pay fines.  He said in terms of what would qualify them to be fined; the standards would need to be the same for both companies. 

Mayor Drake said Comcast had done an outstanding job in servicing the community.  He said the financial information should go to Crest and all the member agencies.  He said that would ensure that everyone had the same information. 

Glen Johnson, Beaverton, said his opinion of Comcast was not flattering and he favored  competition.  He said in his experience as a Comcast customer, the company acted bullish, aggressive and without accountability.  He said competition would help and he reported he received poor customer service from Comcast.

ORDINANCES:

Coun. Doyle MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Stanton, that the rules be suspended, and
that the ordinance embodied in Agenda Bill 07059 be read for the first time by title only at this meeting, and for the second time by title only at the next regular meeting of the Council.  Couns.  Arnold, Bode, Dalrymple, Doyle and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.  (5:0)

First Reading:

Rappleyea read the following ordinance for the first time by title only:

07059 An Ordinance Granting a Non-Exclusive Cable Franchise to Verizon Northwest Inc. (Ordinance No. 4433)           

Second Reading:

Rappleyea read the following ordinances for the second time by title only:

07052  TA 2006-0003 (PUD Text Amendment) (Ordinance No. 4430)

07053  TA 2006-0010 (Sunset Transit Center and Teufel Town Center MPR Text Amendment) (Ordinance No. 4431)

07054  TA 2006-0012 (Merlo & Tektronix MPR Text Amendment) (Ordinance No. 4432)   

Coun. Doyle MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Stanton, that the ordinances embodied in Agenda Bills 07052, 07053 and 07054, now pass.  Roll call vote.  Couns.  Arnold, Bode, Dalrymple, Doyle and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.  (5:0)
Coun. Arnold abstained from voting on Agenda Bill 07054, Ordinance No. 4432.

ADJOURNMENT:

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the
meeting was adjourned at 7:14  p.m.

APPROVAL:

Approved this 2nd day of April, 2007.

__________________________________
Rob Drake, Mayor