Council Minutes 11/25/1974
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Mayor Turnbow announced that the audit contract with Crandall, Hinckley, and
John as required by HUD under the terms of the Water and Sewer Project Grant
Agreement has been approved.
Claims were approved for payment. Councilman Swensen moved to adjourn at
12:30 A. M.; seconded by Councilman Cheney.
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MAYOR .
CITY OF AMMON
November 25,1974
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Minutes of Special Meeting of the Mayor and City Council:
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 A. M. by Mayor Keith C. Turnbow,
with the following City Officials present:
Mayor Keith G. Turnbow
Councilman Gerald B. Cheney
Councilman Brent Hirschi
Councilman Russell N. Swensen
Others present were Terry L. Crapo, Robert W. Bauchman,and Melvin Wright,
of the Upper Valley Telecable Company.
Invocation was offered by Councilman Hirschi.
Mayor Turnbow welcomed all to the meeting and expressed appreciation to those
present for their interest in discussing the proposed rate increase for telecable
service.
Mr. Robert W. Bauchman discussed the proposed rate-increase schedule, in-
dicating that it represents approximately a 200/0 increase on the monthly operat-
ing costs. He p~esented information as follows: Labor accounts for about 400/0
of the annual operating costs; labor is up 18-1/20/0 and will likely be up another
150/0. Pole rental is another significant item and is up from $3.00 per pole per
year to $4. 00 per pole per year or a 250/0 rate: increase (goes to Utah Power &
Light Co., the Mountain States Telephone Co., and the City of Idaho Falls where
applicable). All crossings over railroads have increased from $10 to $250.
Other items which contribute to the increased rate are the raise in costs of build-
ing new lines, the coaxial cable, and borrowing money. Operating costs are up
a minimum of 300/0 as campa red to 4 years ago when the system was installed,
and this is the first rate increase since the system was installed at that time.
The company has been hit with a 30i:. per subscriber tax payable to the FCC.
The billing to subscribers is on a computer, and the City is authorized to come in
and check the number of hookups at any time. Five copies of the quarterly re-
port will be mailed to the City each quarter. Wayne Merrill is the Auditor-CPA
for Upper Valley Telecable Co. Rate increase notices will be mailed to each
subscriber on the first of December with thpse being billed and special notices
are to be mailed to the balance of the subscribers. The old rate can be maintained
for one year if paid in advance.
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Mayor Turnbow asked if it is possible to bury TV Cable with telephone company
lines, and wa-s informed that this has been successful and working well at the
present time in some areas.
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It was explained that the FCC has pre -empted the rate structure and the maxi-
mum was set at 30/0 unless the. franchising authority can justify an increase
which must be approved by them.
Mr. Melvin Wright requested that the City advise them Of any new additions as
soon as possible and also provide them with a turrent map of the City of Ammon.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 A. M.
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