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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003/07/24 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF JULY 24, 2003 AT 7:00 P.M. TIME WARNER CABLE 3516 BELT LINE BLVD. MEMBERS PRESENT: Ken Huiras, Mary Jean Overend MEMBERS ABSENT: Bruce Browning, Dale Hartman, Bob Jacobson, and Rolf Peterson Rick Dworsky arrived at 8:40 p.m. STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator, John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator, and Linda Samson, Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: LuAnna Fogarty, Time Warner Cable Service Manager, Michael Holm, Marketing Manager Digital Products, Arlen Mattern, Time Warner Cable Public Affairs Administrator 1. Call to Order Chair Huiras called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Huiras and Overend; City Staff Reg Dunlap and John McHugh, and Recording Secretary Linda Samson. 3. Approval of Minutes for May 8, 2003 A quorum was not present to approve the minutes. 4. Adoption of Agenda A quorum was not present to approve the agenda. Mark Daniels of Time Warner Cable escorted the Commissioners and City Staff on a tour of “The Hub.” (Note: Item 6B preceded Item 5A) 6. New Business 6B. Customer Service Update Michael Holm discussed controllable versus uncontrollable service drops and disconnect reason code lists. Mr. Holm said Time Warner will address Spanish-speaking program demand, which is high. He said Time Warner had recently hired a Director of Training to educate technicians in the field about the packages of services. Mr. Holm also said Time Warner has a do-not-call list for former dish customers and also has a do-not-mail list. He said that Time Warner ocasionally calls current customers to market new products like video on demand (VOD) or digital video recorders (DVR). LuAnna Fogarty discussed business rules and their impact on how Time Warner conducts its business. She said that marketing Basic cable was very successful in the Fall of 2002 and in March of 2003. She said that Time Warner customers may now pay online, and distributed a handout showing the layout of the web site forms. Ms. Fogarty said that the way Time Warner tracks signal pirates is fascinating, and suggested that Joe Vines could attend a Telecommunications meeting and explain the process. Commissioner Overend voiced concern about the fraud issue, questioned Time Warner about using Social Security numbers, and wants to revisit this issue in the future. Ms. Fogarty said that businesses can refuse service if it’s not provided, and that you need the SSN to get credit reports and verify that you are billing the proper party. Commissioner Overend asked if customer service is getting better? Ms. Fogarty said that Time Warner does monthly monitoring of CSR’s; that they now have a Director of Training and have revamped training; that they have combined call centers for Road Runner and cable services after cross training CSR’s. Arlen Mattern said that complaints about CSR’s have dropped. Ms. Fogarty said that the billing department is doing great and that more representatives are taking calls. Commissioner Dworsky arrived at 8:40 p.m. He said that Time Warner should market its service packages on their own channel. 5. Old Business 5A. Channel 6 Update: Standstill Agreement Mr. McHugh briefly discussed a letter he sent to Bill Watson in regard to Channel 6. Mr. McHugh said City Staff is still waiting to hear from Time Warner regarding Channel 6. 5B. Business Survey Results Mr. McHugh said the information contained in the business survey results, provided to the Commission, will be sent to the City Council for a future study session when Bill Morris of Decision Resources, Inc., will makes a presentation. Mr. McHugh also provided a copy of the pages from the franchise that describe how renewal should proceed. 5C. Time Warner Cable Franchise Fees Audit Update Mr. Dunlap distributed a memorandum regarding the Time Warner audit report, and expects a final report for the Commission’s October meeting. 6. New Business 6A. Review Time Warner Annual Filings Mr. Dunlap sent the Time Warner Cable Annual filings on May 12, 2003. Mr. Dunlap said he calculated the average revenue per subscriber to be about $46.00 per month. 6B. Customer Service Update This item was discussed earlier. 6C. EAS Update Mr. Dunlap said the unit failed tests earlier this summer but Time Warner has ordered a replacement. 6D. Telecommunications Commission Policy Review It was discussed that the City Council determines policy, and that the Commission makes recommendations. 6E. January 23, 2003 Minutes Revised Due to lack of a quorum, this item will appear on the agenda for the next meeting. 6F. Sponsorship of Civic TV Channel Programming Commissioner Huiras requested that this item be placed on the agenda for the next meeting. Commissioner Dworsky expressed his interest in wanting to know more about sponsorships. 7. Reports: None 8. Communications from the Chair: None 9. Communications from City Staff Mr. Dunlap said one Telecommunications Commissioner may go to the convention in Denver in September, and that School Superintendent Barbara Pulliam sent a thank you note in regard to the school grant. 10. Adjournment Chair Huiras adjourned the meeting at 9:35 p.m. Minutes prepared by: Respectfully submitted by: Linda Samson Reg Dunlap Recording Secretary Civic TV Coordinator