Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000/04/13 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - Regular Minutes of the Cable TV Advisory Commission April13, 2000 Page 1 OFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK CABLE TV ADVISORY COMMISSION APRIL 13, 2000 --7:00 P.M. ST. LOUIS PARK CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Bruce Browning, John Herbert, Ken Huiras, Robert Jacobson, and Mary Jean Overend. Rick Dworsky arrived at 7:13 p.m. MEMBERS ABSENT: Dale Hartman STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator; John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator; and Shirley Olson, Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: Joel Jamnik, Attorney of Campbell Knutson, Kim Roden, Vice President of Public Affairs and Customer Service, Time Warner, and Terry Judson, 3016 Lynn Avenue South 1. Call to Order - Roll Call Chair Ken Huiras called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. 2. Roll Call All current members of the Commission except Dale Hartman were present. 3. Approval of Minutes It was moved by Bruce Browning, seconded by Robert Jacobson, to approve the minutes of January 27, 2000 meeting of the Cable TV Advisory Commission. Motion carried unanimously. 4. Adoption of the Agenda It was moved by Robert Jacobson, seconded by Bruce Browning , to adopt the agenda with additional items of New Business. Motion carried unanimously. 5. New Business A. Election of Officers It was moved by Robert Jacobson, seconded by Mary Jean Overend , to continue with the current slate of officers (Chair Ken Huiras, Vice Chair Bruce Browning). Motion carried unanimously. B. Review of City Attorney Report on AOL Time Warner merger Minutes of the Cable TV Advisory Commission April13, 2000 Page 2 Joel J. Jamnik reviewed a proposed draft of the proposed transfer/change of control of the City’s cable television franchise and concluded that the proposed merged company will have the necessary legal, technical and financial qualifications, based on the standards of review established by the applicable law and City franchise, to continue to meet the terms and conditions of the City franchise, and that consequently the request by Time Warner Cable to approve the transfer should be approved. Ken Huiras asked what the status of the merger was. Mr. Jamnik stated that the merger would culminate this fall. Ken Huiras asked if any major problems were anticipated. Mr. Jamnik didn’t anticipate any problems. Kim Roden, Vice President of Public Affairs of Time Warner concurred with Mr. Jamnik’s report. Bruce Browning asked if it had been determined to allow other competing Internet service providers (ISP’s). Kim Roden stated that Time Warner was open to competing ISP’s and stated that there was a memorandum of understanding submitted to the Federal Communications Commission outlining the technical and legal issues with Road Runner. Robert Jacobson asked if a draft of this report was available. Mr. Jamnik stated that copies of this supplemental information were given to Reg Dunlap for review. Reg Dunlap inquired about the bona fide business reasons to merge and Internet restrictions mentioned in the FCC form 394. Mr. Jamnik said that the FCC would address both of these issues in the next few months. Terry Judson, 3016 Lynn Avenue asked for more information about access to other ISP’s. Ms. Roden stated that St. Louis Park would have more options and Time Warner wouldn’t discriminate on who would provide the service or the size of the customer. Mr. Judson asked if basic customers would be able to upgrade to digital. Ms. Roden stated that they were not related. Mr. Judson asked how much this would cost. Minutes of the Cable TV Advisory Commission April13, 2000 Page 3 Ms. Roden explained how cable rates were determined. Bruce Browning asked if other ISP’s have to pay for service. Ms. Roden explained that they would have to reach a negotiated agreement. Mr. Judson asked if it was possible to have Media One bid. Ms. Roden stated that they were free to place a bid and stated that there may be others interested. Reg Dunlap indicated that the City has not advertised an invitation for other companies to bid. Chair Huiras introduced resident Terry Judson, 3016 Lynn Avenue who was present. Terry Judson, 3016 Lynn Avenue, stated that he has been dissatisfied with the service he has received from Time Warner. He was upset about losing the TV Guide channel, having channel 23 transformed to a full time infomercial channel, and was concerned about rate increases without better service. Reg Dunlap indicated that the City had recently approved an agreement by Metricom, but didn’t have any details. Terry Judson asked the history of cable in St. Louis Park. Reg Dunlap gave a brief history. Mr. Judson asked if the demand of subscribers were not met could this transfer/change of ownership be held up? Mr. Jamnik stated that discretion was limited and that a time line had to be followed. Bruce Browning asked if RoadRunner was part of Time Warner. Ms. Roden explained that Road Runner was a joint venture with several partners. It was moved by Robert Jacobson, seconded by Bruce Browning, to accept the report and forward the report to the City Council with the recommendation to hold First Reading of the resolution changing ownership on May 1, 2000. The motion passed unanimously. Mary Jean Overend was concerned about basic cable subscribers. She asked if when digital was offered would it affect the ability to get basic cable. Ms. Roden indicated that digital wouldn’t affect basic cable access. Mary Jean Overend asked what would change. Minutes of the Cable TV Advisory Commission April13, 2000 Page 4 Ms. Roden stated that rates may go up, but digital would be added as an option. Robert Jacobson asked if digital was high definition. Ms. Roden indicated that this was the case with conditions. She explained the theory of digital and HDTV and indicated that HDTV wouldn’t be able to get digital without HDTV television sets. The Commission discussed digital and high definition TV and asked Ms. Roden the advantages of digital. Ms. Roden stated that the advantages were mainly the music, picture quality and variety of programming. Mary Jean Overend was concerned about the actual number of residents in St. Louis Park that would be able to afford these additional options. Ms. Roden explained how the upgrade would provide more options to the consumers. She explained how channels were determined and how cost was determined. Mr. Judson recommended taking less channels for less cost and questioned whether or not some other kind of package could be offered. Ms. Roden stated that ala cart programming could not be negotiated because it was hard to get an agreement signed since was expensive to administer and programmers didn’t look for this type of tier. She reviewed the draft of the proposed line-up with upgrade and stated it would be similar to that of Bloomington’s which has recently upgraded. C. School District funding for 2000 The Commission reviewed the letter dated 2/26/00 from Charles Fiss re: School District equipment. Robert Jacobson questioned if it was necessary for the High School to have MPEG non-linear systems. Bruce Browning questioned if the Commission was the only source of funds for this equipment and believed it was good to asked the School District what they wanted to achieve with what they are currently doing. John Herbert believed the funds should continue to be allocated but believed that a strong recommendation to take a certain course of action could be made at the time the funds were granted and would serve a purpose in the long run. Minutes of the Cable TV Advisory Commission April13, 2000 Page 5 The Commission believed that the equipment provided to the High School does provide a good introduction to the equipment but was not being used as a marketable tool for career. Robert Jacobs recommended thanking Charlie Fiss for his response. Reg Dunlap indicated that this already had been done and Charlie Fiss was willing to show equipment at the May Commission meeting at the High School. The Commission directed staff to ask Charlie Fiss if the School District was taking advantage of State contracts. Robert Jacobson believed that the School District needed a better replacement schedule for equipment. Chair Huiras directed staff to request an itemization of past funds distributed and how the School District spent money. Reg Dunlap clarified with the Commission that he would follow-up with Charlie Fiss on the following issues: 1. Location of equipment that was not on inventory. 2. If the amount of 8 fully digital MPEG formatted DVC Camcorders was correct on current needs list. 3. The need to itemize the cost per each piece of equipment. 4. If the School District was taking advantage of State Contracts. 5. How was School District disposed of equipment. Reg Dunlap said that the District had disposed of some equipment in the past and let John McHugh of the Community TV Department have first chance at it. Mr. McHugh said that he declined to accept some of the tube cameras, but that a beta VCR was saved for use at the Lenox Senior Video Club. John McHugh asked the Commission to consider equipment funding for non-public schools. He indicated that staff has been evaluating ways to help non-public schools take advantage of used cable TV/equipment. He stated that a couple of options would be to have Commission make a request of the School District to donate used equipment to non-public schools or the City donating current Community TV equipment (10 years old) that needs to be updated. Terry Judson suggested soliciting business for equipment or repair services for non-public schools. The Commission was in favor of donating used Community TV equipment (after replacement with new equipment) and discussed an initiative where the Commission would request tax deductible donations of used equipment from the community through the Park Perspective and Minutes of the Cable TV Advisory Commission April13, 2000 Page 6 then the City could transfer equipment to non-public schools which in turn could provide more cable programming. John Herbert stated that he would investigate if the School District could donate useable equipment. D) MACTA Update - Reg Dunlap presented a brief report of MACTA’s legislative efforts, and that two conferences would be held this summer to further develop a bill proposed in the current session by Ramsey/Washington Cable Commission. E) Reg Dunlap said that John McHugh is preparing a report for Council on discussions with Wide Open West about building a second cable system in St. Louis Park. Mr. McHugh said that it was the Internet services that was the reason that a new company could come in a build a new system, and that the company would like to meet with the Commission and City Council about their application. 6. Old Business A. Needs assessment update John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator presented a draft of the Needs Assessment phone survey. The majority of the Commission felt that the survey was too long, but felt they would trust the survey company who were experts in the field. The Commission suggested offering an alternative to those residents who were chosen but couldn’t complete survey via telephone (i.e. mail survey or come to City Hall to complete). John Herbert didn’t believe from his experience that the survey was too long, but questioned if it was possible to alert the community that this survey was going to be conducted in the near future. 7. Reports Mary Jean Overend requested a graph of statistics showing the type and amount of cable customers and recommended that copies of current news paper clippings related to telecommunication be included in Commission packet. 8. Communications from Chair - None 9. Communications from City Staff Reg Dunlap briefly discussed the open access issue with MACTA and reminded Commission of MACTA luncheon to be held on May 5th. Minutes of the Cable TV Advisory Commission April13, 2000 Page 7 10. Adjournment With no other business to come before the Commission, it was moved by John Herbert, seconded by Bruce Browning to adjourn at 9:25 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Shirley Olson Recording Secretary ATTEST: Reg Dunlap Civic TV Coordinator City of St. Louis Park