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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003/05/08 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 8, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. ST. LOUIS PARK SENIOR HIGHSCHOOL, ROOM 206 MEMBERS PRESENT: Bruce Browning, Dale Hartman, Ken Huiras, Bob Jacobson, Mary Jean Overend, and Rolf Peterson STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator and John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator/Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: Tom Marble, ISD 283 Technology Director; Charlie Fiss, ISD 283 Video Technician 1. Call to Order Chair Huiras called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Bruce Browning, Dale Hartman, Ken Huiras, and Rolf Peterson; City Staff Reg Dunlap and John McHugh; Tom Marble, ISD 283 Technology Director and Charlie Fiss, ISD 283 Video Technician. Commissioner Mary Jean Overend arrived at 7:05 p.m., and Commissioner Bob Jacobson arrived at 7:29 p.m. 3. Approval of Minutes for January 23, 2003 Chair Huiras inquired about item 5.c. the City “received an invoice” from Time Warner Cable (TWC). Reg Dunlap said that it should read that the City received a reply from TWC, responding to the City letter and invoice. It was moved by Commissioner Browning, seconded by Commissioner Peterson, to approve the minutes. The motion passed 4-0. 4. Adoption of Agenda There were no requested agenda changes. It was moved by Commissioner Browning, seconded by Commissioner Peterson, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed 4-0. 5. Old Business A. Channel 6 update: City draft Stand Still Agreement (SSA) with Time Warner John McHugh distributed copies of the City’s most recent version of the draft agreement and Deputy City Manager Clint Pires’ email cover letter dated May 7, 2003 to TWC. These items had been emailed that same day to all Commissioners. Mr. McHugh described the process which had led up to this point, and the necessity of the Telecommunications Commission to review and vote on their determination of the SSA. (The Telecommunications Commission Special Meeting for Thursday, February 20th had been cancelled due to lack of a draft SSA.) It was moved by Commissioner Peterson and seconded by Commissioner Overend that the Telecommunications Commission did make an initial determination that this practice may violate state law and the franchise agreement.” After discussion, the motion passed 5-0. It was moved by Commissioner Peterson and seconded by Commissioner Browning to support the draft SSA presented at this Telecommunications Commission meeting. The motion passed 5-0. B. Time Warner Cable Franchise Fees Audit Fees Update Mr. Dunlap said there is still $6,499 disputed by TWC. The City’s contract auditor, Scott Lewis, had sent new “schedules” in response to Mr. Dunlap’s follow-up questions. TWC’s most recent letter claimed the City owed them money, because TWC had overpaid franchise fees for the previous quarter. Mr. Dunlap said the original disputed amount with TWC was $8,700, plus audit costs. TWC has already paid $2,200 plus the cost of the audit. There are 83 subscriber addresses that were not on TWC’s list of homes passed in St. Louis Park, and TWC claims only 18 are “actual subscribers” for the years 2000 and 2001. Mr. Dunlap proposed to call a sample of the neglected addresses to confirm cable TV subscriptions. Commissioner Bob Jacobson arrived. 6. New Business A. City Budget Update. Mr. Dunlap described the City efforts to resolve the partial loss of state municipal aid. Layoffs won’t happen until 2004, if needed. Franchise fees on electricity and natural gas will start soon and contribute $800,000 per year. City Council, in its review of budgeting measures, have capped the educational access operation and capital grant at $48,000. B.-C.-D. Review Criteria for School District Funding, School District Funding, Review: School District using interns for extra experience and to produce programming. Tom Marble handed out an addendum of programming and equipment checkout information to supplement the report mailed to the Commission. Commissioner Jacobson stated he like the information presented and it should make the criteria doable. Mr. Marble asked if a three year record of equipment inventory will meet Telecommunications Commission needs. Chair Huiras and Commissioner Browning agreed it was reasonable. Mr. Marble briefly reviewed the historical funding of Educational Access at $25k with increases staring in 2000. Commissioner Overend asked about paid interns. Mr. Marble said they are developing a volunteer intern program for post-secondary students, and the paid-secondary student positions have been discontinued as a result of automated programming and school policies on unsupervised casual employees. He described the levy Technology Fund which remains separate from general fund budget concerns, is ongoing and covers both support and capital. He described the zoned security areas now in place, and that after 4:30 p.m. use would present security issues and must be a registered Community Education use. Mr. McHugh distributed the April 21 email discussion draft of “Community Access to equipment funded by the Telecommunications Commission.” Mr. Marble said that eligible adults must supervise use, that students cannot. Commissioner Jacobson said liability was a concern and then suggested Educational Access guidelines be drafted. Mr. Marble said he, Charlie Fiss, Reg Dunlap and John McHugh could meet to do this. Commissioner Peterson said he was a member of the Community Education Advisory Council, and that fee hikes were coming. Mr. Fiss said there were 450 iMacs in the Senior High School and a lab of 25 run iMovie for student instruction and use. Mr. Marble stated that the funds for 2003 will apply to both the “live meeting room” installation and equipment racks/furniture for the studio control room. He said that the image and operation quality of live school board meetings is a problem they will address by adding lighting and having Mr. Fiss cover the board meeting of Tuesday, May 27 to show TWC’s employees the standard expected. It was moved by Commissioner Peterson, seconded by Commissioner Browning to approve the $35k operation grant for 2003-2004 Educational Access. Discussion followed. Commissioner Jacobson asked about channel14 summer programming and Mr. Fiss described “end of the year” specials. Mr. Marble described how Beth Johnson of the District Communications Department planned to produce programming (such as NWEA test summaries) to supplement the newspaper features, and better reach parents at home. Mr. Fiss described how SCALA is no longer used as the channel display, replaced by MS PowerPoint which mean that many teachers and staff can submit slides for channel display. Mr. Marble and Commissioner Peterson agreed that only 15-18% of city HHs have school-age children. The motion passed 6-0. E. Bylaws Reviewed Mr. Dunlap described this was underway, for all commissions, with more detail to come from the City Clerk. F. Cable TV Coverage for Telecommunications Commission or other Commissions Mr. Dunlap said that there had been some discussion about televising Board of Zoning Appeals monthly meetings. Commissioner Browning asked if any Commissioners wanted to be on TV, and nobody affirmed so. G. Reschedule Telecommunications Commission meeting from August to July 17 or 24 All agreed that July 24 was best. Mr. McHugh said the annual filings of TWC would be a discussion item. H. Grants from Telecommunications Commission for specific programs Chair Huiras asked that this be added to the Telecommunications Commission work plan. 7. Reports Commissioner Overend commented on attending Time Warner Cable’s Youth Service Awards with her nominee who was in the top ten. Commissioner Jacobson asked about student interns at the Senior High School. Mr. Marble said there are two “school to work experience project” positions supervised by Elaine May. Mr. Fiss said he had performed a three-day signal audit with Time Warner tech Mark Viness, and was happy about the much improved signals. 8. Communications from the Chair: None Chair Huiras asked staff to ask Time Warner about the noticeable subscriber drop from the last 3 years. 9. Communications from City Staff Mr. Dunlap described how the institutional network would soon extend to the Veterans Amphitheater in Wolfe Park. Mr. McHugh said the Business Telecommunications need survey was underway, and should be done by the next Telecommunications Commission meeting. 10. Adjournment It was moved by Commissioner Jacobson,, seconded by Commissioner Browning, to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 p.m. The motion passed 6-0. Minutes prepared by: Respectfully submitted by: John McHugh Reg Dunlap Recording Secretary Civic TV Coordinator