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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006/01/19 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF JANUARY 19, 2006 ST. LOUIS PARK COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Bruce Browning, Rick Dworsky, Dale Hartman, Ken Huiras, Bob Jacobson, Mary Jean Overend, Rolf Peterson STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator; John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator OTHERS PRESENT: Arlen Mattern, Time Warner Cable Public Affairs Administrator 1. Call to Order Chair Dworsky called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Browning, Dworsky, Hartman, Huiras, Jacobson, Overend and Peterson. 3. Approval of Minutes for December 8, 2005 It was moved by Commissioner Browning, seconded by Commissioner Overend, to approve the minutes of December 8, 2005, without changes. The motion passed 6-0-1, with Commissioner Huiras abstaining. 4. Adoption of Agenda Commissioner Huiras requested transfer approval be inserted as item 7(b). It was moved by Commissioner Huiras, seconded by Commissioner Peterson, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed 7-0. 5. Public Comment – None 6. New Business A. Review model fiber requirement ordinance Mr. Dunlap indicated this was brought to the City Council and was forwarded by the City Manager to this Commission. This study refers to Loma Linda, California and a study in Seattle. These are general concepts that the Commission could consider and tailor to St. Louis Park needs. The options could be to do nothing, or gather information and make a recommendation to City Council, either for or against a fiber optic ordinance. New construction could be required to be pre-wired for a fiber optic network. The recommendation can be specific or general. Other City staff could attend the next meeting to answer questions about ramifications on the right-of-way ordinance and for economic development. Commissioner Huiras asked if there was a sample of the ordinance? Mr. Dunlap replied yes, it was very specific. This meeting was to provide background and they could discuss it more on February 9th. Jim Erickson, President of FiberFirst Minnesota, indicated they are a non profit advocacy group and their mission is to educate, advocate and facilitate deployment of Fiber-to-the Home (FTTH) throughout Minnesota. FTTP (Fiber To The Premises – for businesses) is beginning to explode, with many businesses and cities utilizing fiber optic technology. Several Minnesota communities already have gone with fiber, most rural communities being provided by their local telephone company who had upgraded or were serving new areas. Commissioner Jacobson asked if any of the cities provided free service? Mr. Erickson replied they all charged a fee. Mr. Erickson continued and indicated other countries are providing FTTH. We are 16th in the world in fiber optic connectivity. Bandwidth demand is growing and the cost of fiber is going down, and copper and wireless cannot meet the bandwidth demands. Fiber and wireless are complementary services and neither replaces the other. There are two scenarios when talking about distributing wired systems: overbuild (building new fiber networks in established neighborhoods), and “greenfield” (installing fiber networks in new homes/office). It makes sense in greenfields because there are reduced construction costs, fewer right of way issues and the network financing is easier. Developers still install copper because the existing formula makes money, they don’t know about FTTH, they think it is too expensive, and/or a general lack of information. Some homebuilders are starting to consider FTTH and it will happen more. Five Minnesota developments have included FTTH since September 2005. Some cities are now requiring FTTH in new developments, including Loma Linda, CA. The City of Loma Linda requires developers to deed back the infrastructure, the City then provides services over fiber. Other carriers can also ride fiber or install their own infrastructure. Commissioner Jacobson asked if the developers install different equipment and have conflicts? Mr. Erickson replied there are some different standards, but the fiber optic pipe is neutral. Mr. Erickson indicated Minnesota cities must get FTTH because we cannot be left behind. An ordinance similar to Loma Linda’s would be a logical first step. They can use FTTH developments as stepping-stones to overbuild existing neighborhoods. FiberFirst can help draft the ordinance, host stakeholder meetings, host technology tutorials and organize site visits. The Loma Linda ordinance is one page, with 50 pages of standards. Commissioner Huiras asked why they were interested in St. Louis Park because it was very already developed? Mr. Erickson replied he was following the cable TV approval process and he believed it would have been appropriate for the City to ask Comcast what their plans were to provide fiber during the transfer process. St. Louis Park had demonstrated an interest in being technologically advanced and is addressing wireless needs in the broadband area. While growing communities were probably more fertile ground for FTTH, it would have been better to require FTTH when Excelsior and Grand was being built. The sooner fiber is deployed, the better. Commissioner Hartman asked how far the fiber goes, all the way through the house or to an interface? Mr. Erickson replied there are many ways to do it. The fiber can go up the side of the home and to the existing coax (Cable TV co-axial signal wire). In Loma Linda they took the fiber into the home and into a bedroom. Cable companies currently use hybrid fiber coax: a multi-strand fiber trunk to a digital node in each neighborhood, and analog coax cable from there to each home. Craig Rapp, Springstead Company, added they typically bring it to the side of the house. The challenge at Evermoor was to get builders to build the interior wiring to a CAT 5 enhanced status. Builders are now seeing the advantage to the increased cost. If you could have fiber to every location in your house, the devices still aren’t capable of taking the bandwidth directly. The point of FTTH is to get as big of a pipe as close to the end user as they could. That allows the transmission system so other accessibility can be used. Regarding the question about why St. Louis Park, if they want to be a technologically advanced city, what is the infrastructure you need and the delivery system to get them ubiquity and speed? They need fiber in the system because it is the greatest delivery mechanism for speed. Commissioner Browning asked if fiber is a different infrastructure? Mr. Rapp replied no, there is a head end and there are a series of nodes to continue to boost the signal. It was not dissimilar from a cable system. It is designed and operated so when they light the fiber, it is fully operational. Commissioner Hartman asked for further clarification on his question? Mr. Rapp responded what probably exists in a single family home is the fiber in the street and copper/coax to the side of a house. They would have fiber to the side of the house, which would give enhanced capacity. They may not change the interior wiring, which would be cost prohibitive. That will give expanded bandwidth capacity, even over the interior wiring. In built environments, getting the fiber from the street to the side of the house is step one. As houses get renovated or people decide they want more, they might invest in new wiring in the house. Commissioner Overend asked if they were familiar with the Telecommunications and Information Society Policy (TISP) Forums, hosted by the Hubert Humphrey Institute? Milda Hedbloom, the organizer of the TISP Forums, had addressed the Telecommunications Commission a few years back. Mr. Rapp and Mr. Erickson both said they were well aware of Ms. Hedbloom and have worked with her in the past. Commissioner Browning asked if fiber is more secure? Mr. Rapp replied yes. When they developed Evermoor, the developer’s vision was for a centralized system for home security, Internet, telephone, etc. This offered the greatest level of security for home operations. You can go to one place and have one bill for television, telephone and Internet. Commissioner Browning asked what the upper end of the bandwidth is with conventional fiber? Mr. Rapp replied they could get 150 megabits. Commissioner Huiras asked if they were putting in a fiber or CAT 10 plug, rather than the normal plugs that are currently in homes. Doesn’t that eliminate ability for consumers to purchase on the open market? Mr. Rapp responded he wasn’t sure how it was handled, but it wasn’t a standard that didn’t allow for people to use phones, etc. purchased at places like Target. Their major focus was to make sure it was wired at the highest standard at the time. Commissioner Huiras asked staff if fiber is on the cable system now in most areas of the City? Mr. Dunlap replied yes, that fiber goes to each of about 25 nodes in St. Louis Park, with about 500 homes to each nodes. From the node, the signal travels through coax cable, passing the 500 different houses. Mr. McHugh added the way it is built, the traditional system that runs off of the fiber optic node never has more than two amplifiers. Commissioner Browning asked if the actual cost per foot of fiber was now the equivalent of the cost per foot for copper, or close? Mr. Rapp replied he believed it was close. Developers don’t have to pay for this infrastructure. They work with private providers who run the line. Mr. Erickson stated that system wide, fiber and the electronics required for a fiber system versus copper and the amplifiers required, the net result would be a lower cost per home. It is important to get the first mile out of the home to communicate with the world and it should be the fastest it can be. They can encourage developers to do it or require them to do it. They could work with developers to discuss the advantages. Commissioner Huiras asked if the Loma Linda ordinance covered only residential or did it include new commercial development? Mr. Erickson replied both. It also covers a remodeled home, if more than 50% of the home is remodeled, said Mr. McHugh. Chair Dworsky asked how the fiber to the home originated? Mr. Erickson replied it comes from the head end, such as the telephone companies switch or the cable company’s head end where the pipe comes out into the neighborhoods. Commissioner Jacobson asked if fiber was more fragile than copper? Mr. Erickson replied he was not sure, but believed not. Commissioner Jacobson stated when they talked about drops is St. Louis Park mostly overhead? Mr. Dunlap replied approximately 2/3 of St. Louis Park is above ground. Commissioner Jacobson asked if they were doing the node to the house with copper? Mr. Erickson replied the cable company was. They were not using the advantages of fiber. There is a discussion about private versus public and whether the public should own this piece of infrastructure or whether it should be privately owned. A number of communities have chosen to own it privately. Many argue this is as important an infrastructure as roads, etc. Their view is that the first thing a community should do is to talk to the incumbent provides (phone and cable) and work with them to encourage or require them to do it. Commissioner Overend asked about Federal regulations? Mr. Erickson responded that the Federal government is involved at this stage regulating phone and cable companies. There is discussion about a national franchise or even State franchises. B. Review Draft 2005 Annual Report to Council Commissioner Huiras indicated in May the By-Law revisions were completed and requested a new copy. Mr. Dunlap responded he would send them. C. Review Draft Work Plan for 2006 Chair Dworsky indicated it stated in October a meeting if needed, what would determine if they needed that meeting? Mr. Dunlap replied if they needed more discussion on any particular item. The Commissioner could determine that in August. Commissioner Huiras indicated sometime in the next six months the transfer would take place. Is Comcast agreeable to send a representative to the meetings? Mr. Mattern replied they would continue business as usual and he would be attending meetings for now. Mr. Dunlap added he sent a packet to Kathy Donnelly-Cohen of Comcast. She has a conflict on Thursdays, but wanted to continue receiving a packet. D. Elect Chair and Vice Chair (effective at next meeting) Commissioner Huiras nominated Commissioner Dworsky as Chair, Commissioner Jacobson seconded. There were no other nominations and Commissioner Dworsky accepted the nomination. Commissioner Overend nominated Commissioner Huiras as Vice-Chair, Commissioner Browning seconded. There were no other nominations. Commissioner Jacobson motioned, Commissioner Peterson seconded to close nominations and accept the nominations of Commissioner Dworsky as Chair and Commissioner Huiras as Vice-Chair. The motioned carried 7-0. 7. Old Business A. Franchise Renewal Update Mr. McHugh updated the Commission that they were awaiting final signatures, but that executed copies of the franchise agreement would be available for distribution some time this month. The City’s Zoning official, Gary Morrison, met with cable TV staff and the Pavek Museum’s general manager, Steve Raymer. The project is going forward to build an addition. They will need to have a survey done on their property and apply for a variance because the addition will be closer to the street than allowed. The earliest meeting for approval would be the March Board of Zoning approvals. They anticipate starting to build in June. The addition will contain a studio with a control room, a washroom and new exhibit space, with a television theme. Commissioner Huiras asked if they needed a written agreement with the City? Mr. McHugh replied yes, the City needs to supply proof of insurance and have their (Pavek Museum) name on the certificate of insurance, to use the studio. Commissioner Huiras asked if a studio would be available in the interim? Mr. McHugh replied the Time Warner studio would be available through the end of December, 2006. Commissioner Huiras asked if something happened and this was not approved? Mr. McHugh replied then the cable company could either accommodate them or they could make arrangements with the School District. Commissioner Huiras stated the cable company has the agreement that they can close that facility within twelve months. Mr. McHugh replied that was true. They could be between studios and using the high school until the studio is finished. They may be able to start without it being finished the way they want and then complete it. Commissioner Jacobson asked if the high school was available for use during the summer? Mr. McHugh replied yes, staff is there year-round. Commissioner Overend asked what happened with the equipment grant for the school? Mr. McHugh replied they will be using the money for the high school studio and equipment. They plan to add components to their fiber optics system so the City can interface with them. Commissioner Huiras asked who was putting in and responsible for the equipment at Pavek Museum? Mr. McHugh replied the City is responsible for the equipping. The Pavek Museum is responsible for the facility. Commissioner Huiras asked if the City was purchasing the equipment? Mr. McHugh replied yes, but not until they had received money from the cable operator, which would be happening at the end of June. It is the local channel support grant, which is going to be spent on several different things, principal among them equipment and support for continuing the local origination effort currently on channel 16. Commissioner Huiras asked when the franchise takes effect? Mr. McHugh replied after they had gotten executed copies of the franchise agreement. The franchise agreement has Time Warner continuing local origination until the end of 2006. Commissioner Jacobson asked how the studio equipment needs would be determined? Mr. McHugh replied they would solicit input from the Board. The Pavek Museum has supporters that are video professionals that can also provide advice. No cameras, lights, etc. had been picked out. Commissioner Jacobson asked about the size of the space? Mr. McHugh responded it would be slightly larger than what is currently available at the Time Warner facility. It will be larger than 20’ x 20’, the ceiling height will be around 20’ and the grid will hang between 13-15’ above the floor. Commissioner Jacobson asked if it would be overhead lighting with remote control? Mr. Hugh was unsure they would have the need for a dim circuit. He anticipated a separate switch for every outlet on the grid. Mr. Dunlap indicated a sub-committee was created to promote studio use in St. Louis Park and had yet to meet; and suggested this committee include studio equipment and staffing. Commissioners Browning and Jacobson were interested. Mr. McHugh said he has solicited information from other entities which have built studios in the last five years. Commissioner Huiras stated that they had six PEG channels and were going to five, which one was going away? Mr. McHugh replied channel 98 (NASA-TV) would be replaced with a local on-demand channel available to digital subscribers. They would be testing that this month. Subscribers will get a 30-day notice regarding the change in channel line up. NASA-TV will move to channel 16 and will be seen between midnight and 3 PM. Commissioner Huiras stated Time Warner could close the Beltline office and an office is supposed to be located within ten miles. Ten miles of what? Mr. McHugh replied from the City border. Time Warner has two offices in Minnetonka and one in Richfield. The Minneapolis office will be changing from customer service to a training facility with a drop box. They are all less than ten miles away. Commissioner Huiras stated if he had to change his digital box, where could he go? Mr. McHugh replied they could schedule a truck to come to the house to exchange the box for no charge. Commissioner Huiras indicated they had allocated $1.1 million for LO. Did that include equipment like the van or was that cash? Mr. McHugh replied it was cash over ten years at three different points in times, in addition to the van and its contents. Commissioner Overend asked what conditions were written into the agreement for St. Louis Park and if they were like the ones in Minneapolis? Mr. McHugh replied he hadn’t seen the Minneapolis document and couldn’t compare them. Minneapolis started from a different position than St. Louis Park. Mr. Dunlap said Time Warner is still remodeling the Belt Line facility and there are no plans to close it. Mr. Dunlap said another possibility they were considering was a drop box at City Hall for converters, for example if someone moved. B. Transfer Approval Commissioner Huiras asked if they would be getting a report from Comcast with the requested items, including the ISP cost changes and what they were going to do as far as the changes? Mr. Mattern replied there was no new information regarding ISP’s. Mr. Dunlap indicated at one of the Council meetings Brian Grogan specified what Comcast had done when AT&T moved to Comcast.net. There was a long time to transition both Email addresses. They did a good job when they made that transition and were very interested in doing the best job they could. At this point they hadn’t been able to tell them the details, but they pledged that they would get that information to us as soon as they could. Until the transaction closes, they are not supposed to be making or releasing those plans because of Federal Trade Commission boundaries. They will give the customers plenty of advance notice before this happens. Commissioner Huiras stated transfer of the addressing was only one piece. The cost was another major piece. Will they protect them for their cost? Mr. McHugh indicated it was an information service and city or Federal government did not regulate price. Commissioner Huiras stated the citizens could be looking at three or four cost increases in a year. Mr. McHugh indicated they were looking at possibly being able to get broadband from the City through a wireless network by the end of 2006. C. St. Louis Park Wi-Fi project update Mr. Dunlap reported the City Council approved the staff recommendation to accept the lowest responsible bid. There was great interest from vendors. They approved going to the next step, for staff to negotiate with the vendors and providers to put the trial together. They were on schedule and the pilot is expected to be available around March 1st. In June the City Council will make the decision whether or not to go forward with the build out to the rest of the city. The coverage areas are approximate and within the next week they will do an engineering inspection to better know where the boundaries will be. More information will be forthcoming. Chair Dworsky asked how many vendors expressed interest? Mr. Dunlap replied eleven. Commissioner Huiras asked if there would be bleed over from the pilot areas into surrounding neighborhoods? Mr. Dunlap replied line of sight and trees affect the signal, which was why the boundaries were not exact. City Hall is at the boundary of one of the areas and they were interested to see what kind of reception they would get. Commissioner Browning stated they were doing tests during winter and there was no foliage on the trees. How will they compensate for that or will they look at that again in spring and make changes? Mr. Dunlap replied he would trust that they thought of that, but was not sure of the answer. Mr. McHugh added the maps distributed prior to the meeting were based on street boundaries that were described by the city and not completely accurate. Commissioner Jacobson stated at the MACTA conference there was discussion about trees growing during the course of the summer which changed the pickup drastically and that hadn’t been considered. Commissioner Browning asked if they had made any determination regarding costs and if the people that are part of the study would have to pay for the service? Mr. Dunlap replied he did not know, but would check the report. 8. Reports A. Complaints Commissioner Browning commented that they didn’t get many complaints, but is that accurate when a complaint says someone sat on the phone for an hour and fifteen minutes? Mr. Mattern replied he was not sure that was real or not. Sometimes the customer service rep will transfer a customer to a supervisor, not realizing they are not at their desk and the customer will stay on hold. They will typically get a voicemail. There is a national help desk, which is where a lot of these types of calls go to, and he believed that may be the issue. It is an overflow. Commissioner Huiras asked if they had tracked if this occurs at a specific time of day such as lunchtime or break time? Mr. Mattern replied there is usually a rush in the morning and again when people get home. Mr. Dunlap said at least two or three people told him they kept track of the time they were on hold because they were curious to see how long it would take, and their phones have a “duration of call” feature. It’s possible they waited for 25 minutes on hold and another 15 minutes to have the issue resolved, and reported the figure as 40 minutes of hold time. 9. Communication from the Chair Chair Dworsky reported that Mr. Dunlap would be sending an Email regarding the E- NATOA, an electronic learning series. The next one is February 6th, what’s happening in congress. Others will be: March 6th about Wi-FI; April 3rd, primer on lobbying; May 1st, PEG producers; and, June 5th, State Legislatures. You can register from the instructions that will be included in the Email. Chair Dworsky read the mission statement, Section 2.184 Powers and Duties of an Advisory Commission. Commissioner Jacobson asked if their work plan followed the mission statement? Chair Dworsky thought they should look at them and bring them up to date. Mr. Dunlap replied he thought the work plan did address those points. Commissioner Jacobson indicated he believed there were a few points that they needed to take a look at that weren’t being addressed. Mr. Dunlap stated some of the language in the mission statement goes back to an ordinance that is ten or fifteen years old and includes some things that are not so important these days, for example interconnection. The cable systems are all interconnected now. Commissioner Jacobson asked if it would be appropriate to revise the mission statement in keeping with the current technology? Mr. Dunlap replied that could be looked at. It is a City Council ordinance and the Commission could add that as a discussion item or talk with the City Council at a study session to see if they would want the commission to draft amended language for them to consider the next time this ordinance is changed. The By-Laws were revised to reflect changes that other Commissions and Boards had been through. Commissioner Huiras asked if the mission statement was part of the By-Laws? Mr. Dunlap replied no, the points that Chair Dworsky read were from the ordinance that established the Cable TV Commission a number of years ago. He would send that to the Commissioners. Commissioner Overend suggested looking at Loma Linda’s mission statement and to look at other places. Chair Dworsky suggested looking at NATOA. 10. Communications from City Staff Mr. Dunlap indicated web streaming capability would be added to the City’s website soon. The website had been redesigned. They will start with archiving Council meetings and then add other programming. They will start with live streams from the local channels. This will be a low-resolution version. Commissioner Browning asked if residents would be able to pay city bills online? Mr. Dunlap was unsure if the E-Commerce had been extended on the new web site. Questions can be directed to staff at the February 9th meeting. Commissioner Huiras indicated he sent an Email about links. Mr. Dunlap replied some of the links on the old web site had not been transferred to the new web site yet. Staff was working on that issue. Mr. Dunlap stated a press release had been sent regarding the February 9th meeting, so residents could give feedback. They would be discussing the fiber ordinance and possibly a wireless update. Also, earlier on February 9th, a Bookmark in the Park meeting will be held at 3:00 in City Hall. The Inspections Department put together a video about selling homes and having a point of sale inspection. This will be available on cable soon and eventually through web streaming. There will also be a program on the Readathon held last October, which will be available as video on demand provided by Time Warner. Commissioner Huiras asked the status of the emergency equipment change? Mr. Dunlap replied the description they got from Time Warner’s engineers would be that it would happen before the end of the year, so it should have happened by now. He noticed an emergency alert system test recently while watching television at home, with a different kind of scroll on the top third of the screen instead of covering the full TV screen. He could still see the cable channel behind the text scroll, and except for the brief time when they were hearing the tones, they could hear the audio of the channel. 11. Adjournment Commissioner Huiras made a motion, Commission Browning seconded to adjourn at 9:08. The motion passed 7-0. Respectfully submitted by: Amy L. Stegora-Peterson Recording Secretary