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David Permar, legal counsel far Triangle J, said that he supports the recommendations <br />of the Cable Committee. He spoke about the federal law on this subject and said that the County <br />must act on the transfer resolution within 120 days or it is deemed approved. The 120 days runs <br />out on June 12, 2000. There is a provision that allows an extension. Time Warner Cable has <br />agreed to an extension. He recommends that the County Commissioners defer action on this <br />resolution so that a franchise could be renegotiated. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked why the County should approve this transfer considering <br />there is no franchise agreement in advance. He has some concerns about this merger. He is <br />concerned that AOL actively censors content on its websites. He is also concerned about assets <br />and control being dangers to freedom of speech and to freedom of choice in the marketplace. <br />Also, in reading the FCC's response to what Time Warner did with Disney, he has concerns about <br />how this was handled. <br />Michael Patrick again spoke saying that he shares Commissioner Jacobs' concerns. <br />He said that one of the concerns that the committee is trying to promote through the condition on <br />open access is to require that there be other ISP's that could be utilized over the cable system. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked if any of the governments that Triangle J deals with have <br />not approved this transfer. Mr. Permar said that everyone has deferred action except for Wake <br />County who adopted it with mandatory access. He feels that this is anon-binding poll on the <br />federal level. He said that one advantage of putting the decision off is that there could be a feel of <br />what other local governments are doing. <br />Commissioner Brown asked about the implications of rejecting this transfer and Mr. <br />Permar said that he was not sure. In this case, where there is a transfer of control, it is less <br />obvious as to what the impact of the denial is going to be. <br />Commissioner Brown is very interested in protecting consumers on access to the high- <br />speed Internet connection. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that the whole process regarding cable TV is a charade. <br />He said that whether or not the Commissioners approve or deny this resolution, it means nothing. <br />He asked about Direct TU and if the customers were entitled to receive local broadcasts. <br />David Permar shares the frustrations of Commissioner Halkiotis. He mentioned some <br />important language in the resolution about Time Warner Cable not being able to use the <br />revaluation of assets as a result of this transaction. If this resolution was not adopted, Time <br />Warner Cable could come back and charge Orange County's customers for the up-valued assets. <br />At some point in the future, the satellite companies will be required to carry all of the local <br />channels. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to <br />defer consideration of this matter of corporate socialism to a subsequent meeting of the Board of <br />County Commissioners. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />The Board decided to hear the Triangle Transit Authority Annual Status Report and to defer <br />the closed session to a subsequent meeting. <br />10. REPORTS <br />a. Triangle Transit Authority Annual Status Report <br />The Board received an annual status report from the Triangle Transit Authority. <br />Jim Ritchie, General Manager of Triangle Transit Authority, reported that the number of <br />TTA bus riders was up about 8.4% in fiscal year 1999, and in 2000 it is growing 19.9%. The TTA <br />bus and van program carried about 726,000 riders in fiscal year 1999. He made reference to <br />passenger miles traveled and said that the goal was to get people out of their automobiles. He <br />said that TTA carried many times more passenger miles than were carried on Chapel Hill Transit. <br />The Board of Trustees asked the staff to prepare plans to expand bus service from the current 25 <br />peak vehicles to 79 peak vehicles over the next five years. TTA will need a fee increase in the <br />vehicle registration tax ar some other related fee at around 2004-2005 to sustain this level of <br />increase. He summarized the changes that would be made over the next five years. <br />