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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998/07/16 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - Regular Minutes of the Cable TV Advisory Commission July 16, 1998 Page 1 APPROVED MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK CABLE TV ADVISORY COMMISSION JULY 16, 1998 − 6:30 P.M. ST. LOUIS PARK CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Bruce Browning, Ken Huiras, Robert Jacobson, and Anthony Raiber MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator; John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator; and Rebecca Belz, Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: Guest Mary Jean Overend 1. Call to Order: Chair Raiber called the meeting to order at 6: 40 p.m. 2. Roll Call: All Commissioners were present. 3. Approval of Minutes of June 18, 1998: Ken Huiras moved, seconded by Bruce Browning, to approve the minutes of the June 18, 1998 St. Louis Park Cable TV Advisory Commission as presented. The motion carried unanimously. 4. Adoption of Agenda: One item under Old Business was requested to be added, for an update regarding the information requested from the School District Funding Request. Mr. Dunlap provided the update by saying that the School District has not yet been asked for the additional information. An update regarding the vocational schools and their maintenance on audio visual equipment was requested. Course listings and degree program information from the college catalogs on the Internet had been routed to Commissioner Jacobson prior to tonight’s meeting. Commissioner Jacobson called the colleges for details, but most faculty were off for the summer and no further information could be obtained. Robert Jacobson moved, seconded by Ken Huiras to accept the agenda. The motion carried unanimously. 5. Old Business Minutes of the Cable TV Advisory Commission July 16, 1998 Page 2 6. New Business: A. Paragon Annual Filings: Mr. Dunlap noted the written response included in the packet to the questions addressed to Paragon Cable regarding the Annual Filings. Mr. Dunlap noted that Arlen Mattern of Paragon addressed all the questions raised. Mr. Dunlap and the Commission addressed a few responses and made clarification as needed. A question about the company’s marketing efforts, raised by Commissioner Huiras, will be referred to Mr. Mattern. Question was also raised regarding whether the City Attorney was or should be involved in the inquiry. Mr. Dunlap responded that separate specialized legal council was contracted for cable issues, and had not been contacted in this case. As an informational item, Mr. McHugh raised discussion regarding a copy of a flyer received by some St. Louis Park residents. He questioned the Commission whether they had received the flyer regarding upgrading the cable system to fiber optics. Mr. McHugh and Mr. Dunlap reported that St. Louis Park already has the technology and channel capability and wondered if the resident who brought the flyer in lived near a border to one of the cities cited in the flyer. High Definition TV was also briefly discussed and noted that cable people are generally against it. It was noted that the issue of requirements for the HDTV has not yet been resolved. The Complaint Log was addressed and Commission wondered if complaint number 4 regarding poor reception on a standard cable package had been addressed and resolved. Mr. McHugh reported speaking to the gentleman and referred him directly to Paragon for his concern. Mr. McHugh noted that Mr. Mattern is very responsive to customer concerns and Mr. McHugh has not heard back from the resident. It is assumed that the matter was resolved. Mr. Dunlap reported to the Commission that Mr. Mattern would provide a report regarding cable outages in the City due to the storms this year. B. Name Change to Telecommunications Commission: There was much discussion on this topic and what ramifications the change would bring to the Commission. It was identified by both staff and Commission that changing the name to “Telecommunications” would greatly broaden the scope of the responsibility of the Commission as well as the need for expertise to address new issues. Mr. Dunlap added that other communication technologies and issues were covered by other areas of City Government and could potentially pose relational challenges. Minutes of the Cable TV Advisory Commission July 16, 1998 Page 3 Though the Commission believed that changing the name at this time would not be in the best interest of the Commission, they agreed to hear a presentation from another group who has made the change to a telecommunication commission. This meeting will be scheduled for September 22, 1998 and the desired location was noted as the Burnsville/Eagan Telecommunications Commission. 7. Reports: Mr. Dunlap reported that the average programming hours per week for Civic Channel 35 were 105 hours per week from January to June, compared with 97 hours per week last year for the same period. 8. Communications from Chair: Chair Raiber welcomed Ms. Overend to the meeting and thanked her for attending. It was reported that Ms. Overend was a member of the Community Education Advisory Commission and was visiting for the evening. 9. Communications from City Staff: Mr. Dunlap noted that the City Council will receive a report from staff in August about the Commission’s recommendation for School District funding. 10. Adjournment: With no other business to come before the Commission, Robert Jacobson moved, seconded by Bruce Browning, to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Rebecca L. Belz Recording Secretary ATTEST: Reg Dunlap Civic TV Coordinator City of St. Louis Park