HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013/02/27 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularUNOFFICIAL MINUTES
ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
MEETING OF FEBRUARY 27, 2013
ST. LOUIS PARK COUNCIL CHAMBERS
MEMBERS PRESENT: Bruce Browning, Rick Dworsky, Dale Hartman, Cindy Hoffman
and Bill Theobald
MEMBERS ABSENT: Toby Keeler, Rolf Peterson
STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator; John McHugh, Community
TV Coordinator
OTHERS PRESENT: None
1. Call to Order
Chair Theobald called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM.
2. Roll Call
Present at roll call were Commissioners Browning, Dworsky, Hartman, Hoffman and
Theobald.
3. Approval of Minutes for December 12, 2012
It was moved by Commissioner Dworsky, seconded by Commissioner Browning, to
approve the minutes of December 12, 2012, without changes. The motion passed 5-0.
4. Adoption of Agenda
It was moved by Commissioner Browning, seconded by Commissioner Dworsky, to
approve the agenda. The motion passed 5-0.
5. Public Comment - None
6. Action Items
A. Franchise fee audit partnership progress
Mr. Dunlap reviewed the memo. Minneapolis and St. Paul are both doing audits and
expect reports soon; Bloomington is doing an audit now; and the North Suburban Cable
Commission did an audit for 2009 and 2010. One possible partner was discovered;
Town Square Television will consider an audit at a meeting later this year.
It was moved by Commissioner Dworsky, seconded by Commissioner Browning to defer
to May 22 and direct staff to prepare a report on the franchise authorities that haven’t
responded by February 27, 2013, and to summarize the CTV North Suburbs 2009 & 2010
audit and the draft audits for Minneapolis and St. Paul. The motion passed 5-0.
Mr. Dunlap added that Comcast is allowed by federal law to pass through the franchise fee
on non-subscriber revenues to customers, so that the franchise fee calculation is changing
from 5.6% to 5.9% of the customer’s cable services. It will be a change of about 19 cents
per month for a customer whose cable bill is $75.
Commissioner Browning asked if we receive many calls about the franchise fee and if the
bill has a description about what it is? Mr. Dunlap said the calls were infrequent, and that
the most recent Comcast bill included a full price list that reflected the price increase
January 1, and a franchise fee description is in the footnotes. Parktv.org, the Park TV web
site, has a page dedicated to cable TV information that has PDF’s of the Comcast price
list, channel lineups and local offices.
7. Reports
A. Complaints
Mr. Dunlap said that there were twelve complaints so far in 2013, that six were related to
prices and three specifically mentioned the new rates for the DTA’s provided by Comcast.
There has been some media coverage of the way Comcast changed the pricing for the
DTA’s. Commissioner Browning pointed out that customers with analog TV’s need a
DTA, and that there are two levels: Basic for 50 cents per month, and Standard cable for
$1.99 per month.
Chair Theobald asked if all of the complaints were resolved, and Mr. Dunlap said yes, as
far as he knows.
Commissioner Dworsky asked if an email contact would be easier than receiving
telephone calls? Mr. Dunlap said that he does receive some emailed complaints which is
nice because there is a written record of the complaint. He also said that some callers
prefer having him email Comcast on their behalf, since they are tired of having to explain
their complaint.
Commissioner Browning asked about the customer that lost internet connection daily. He
said his Comcast internet access is rock solid so that complaint seemed unusual. Mr.
Dunlap said he hadn’t heard back since the complaint was forwarded to Comcast, so he
hoped it was resolved. Mr. McHugh said that it was very rare for a complaint referred to
Comcast Escalation wasn’t resolved satisfactorily.
Commissioner Browning said that some of the problems are long wait times, and that
sometimes the customer service people aren’t as well trained as they could be. He
described helping a friend with a Comcast remote control problem, and it turned out it was
the wrong remote control for that Comcast box, and had to be exchanged, but it took a
service call to figure that out. He said it would be better to have staff with more technical
expertise handle calls about technical issues, rather than someone who was trying to fake
it.
Mr. Dunlap said that the Comcast rep who attended the December meeting said they were
organizing support staff into areas of expertise, trying to set it up so customers could be
referred to another staff person with that expertise if they don’t know the answer.
B. Report on St. Louis Park’s franchise agreements with Xcel and CenterPoint Energy
Mr. Dunlap said that the Commission report was compiled from City Council reports by
Public Works Director Mike Rardin. Mr. Dunlap said the franchises had been in place for
10 years, so these were basically renewals. He found it interesting that since these were
ordinances, rather than agreements, they could be passed without the consent of the
companies. He said that the funds collected were dedicated to the City’s pavement
management program, which is a huge benefit to residents because when streets are rebuilt
the residents don’t have to pay assessments.
C. Park TV Programming reports for channels 15, 16, 17 & 96
Commissioner Browning said there was a lot of detail in these reports, and that it was
great to see the Park Update news program available on the City web site, too.
D. State legislative report
Commissioners Dworsky, Hartman and Mr. Dunlap attended the MACTA Day at the
Capitol event but did not set up meetings with any of our legislators this year. There is no
new state legislation expected this session related to cable TV or telecommunications.
Commissioner Dworsky said it was a well-attended event and a good way to stay current
and find out where to focus our energies.
A. Communication from the Chair
Chair Theobald said he was new to being chair, and thanks to Mr. Dunlap and Mr.
McHugh for staying late on Wednesday night.
B. Communications from City Staff
Mr. McHugh said that Park TV 15 had produced 8 programs so far in 2013.
C. Adjournment
Commissioner Dworsky made a motion, Commission Browning seconded to adjourn at
7:30 p.m. The motion passed.
Respectfully submitted by:
Reg Dunlap