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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001/08/09 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING OF AUGUST 9, 2001 AT 7:00PM ST. LOUIS PARK CITY HALL WESTWOOD ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Rick Dworsky, Dale Hartman, Ken Huiras, Mary Jean Overend MEMBERS ABSENT: Bruce Browning, John Herbert, Bob Jacobson STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator, John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator OTHERS PRESENT: Arlen Mattern, Time Warner Cable’s Public Affairs Administrator 1. Call to order Chair Huiras called the meeting to order at 7:04pm. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Rick Dworsky, Dale Hartman and Ken Huiras, Time Warner Cable’s Public Affairs Administrator Arlen Mattern, and City staff Reg Dunlap and John McHugh. Commissioner Mary Jean Overend arrived later. 3. Approval of Minutes for July 20, 2000 Moved by Commissioner Overend, seconded by Commissioner Dworsky, and passed unanimously. 4. Adoption of Agenda 5. New Business A. Time Warner Annual Filings Reg Dunlap said that he and Mr. Mattern had discussed reporting the prices and policies of the current year, rather than a summary of the past year. Mr. Mattern had no objection, and said that it would actually be easier to compile current year information. Chair Huiras said that from the monthly reports, everything seems to be increasing, and asked if there were any projections for Roadrunner subscriptions for the year. Mr. Mattern said that it was expected that subscriptions would go down in June, July and August, and begin increasing again in September. Mr. Dunlap said that a Time Warner Business System monthly bill included with the filings did not have the franchise authority name or telephone number listed. Mr. Mattern said he would check on that. John McHugh asked for a summary of current telemarketing materials to be added to the monthly reports, for example, a recent free 30-day trial for digital cable. Mr. Mattern said he would check with the marketing department about that, and said he had sent that information last year. Mr. Dunlap said that he didn’t see anything in the financial information that would require an audit, but that the Finance Director Jean McGann had advised an audit every 5 years. This has been discussed in the past and we have budgeted for such an audit this year. Chair Huiras asked if there was anything in the franchise about audits. Mr. McHugh said it allows the audit, and the Finance Director recommends one periodically. Commissioner Dworsky said that he thinks an audit should be done in the next 5 months if that’s a reasonable time frame. Chair Huiras said that without a quorum at this point in the meeting, it had to be tabled for future discussion. B. Time Warner Complaints/Customer Service update Mr. Mattern said that Customer Service Manager Deb Squire could not attend tonight’s meeting as planned, but that she would attend the October meeting instead. Chair Huiras said that there seemed to be a lot of billing problems, and asked if that was the case or if it was just in the one’s that come to the Commission. Mr. Mattern said that there are billing problems all the time, that people frequently don’t understand their bill. Also, that many people take the free 30 day trial and after receiving their first bill, there is some sticker shock and they downgrade from Digital Supreme (about $80) to the Digital Experience (about $50). Chair Huiras asked if a messaging service was available on digital tiers yet, like to remind the customer that the 30-day free trial is almost over. Mr. Mattern said there was originally some talk about messaging capability when digital was introduced, that it isn’t available now, but that it would be a good idea. Commissioner Dworsky said he looked for cable TV information on the Roadrunner web site and couldn’t find any, which was a lost opportunity to show the digital packages and choices. Mr. Mattern said that he expected there to at least be a link there. Chair Huiras said the Time Warner needed a bundled price discount for Roadrunner and digital cable. Mr. Mattern said that it has been considered but nothing has happened yet. Chair Huiras asked that Ms. Squire bring a call center menu to the next meeting, because there had been complaints about that, too, and Mr. Mattern agreed to do so. Chair Huiras said there are still some complaints about cables that need to be buried or where they are left hanging, and asked if subcontractors were at fault or there were other explanations. Mr. Mattern said they had over 3,000 cables to bury and were slowed by a wet spring., but that he believes they are caught up now. Mr. McHugh asked whether there were extra high call levels as a result of the promotions. Mr. Mattern said yes, and that a new class of customer service reps was in training and should be on the phones in 2 or 3 weeks. He said it was hard to get enough high quality people for what we have to pay them. Mr. Dunlap said that the marketing and billing descriptions for digital cable don’t match, which causes confusion for the customer and asked what the company thinks about clarifying the billing descriptions. Chair Huiras confirmed that the math adds up but in a roundabout way. Mr. Mattern said that the company is required to provide a certain level of detail on the bill, but that perhaps this could be reviewed. C. Time Warner survey request Mr. Dunlap said that Mr. Mattern had requested that a survey done in Minneapolis be considered to meet the franchise-required survey (every 3 years, last done in 1998). The survey came in marked “confidential,” and so was not distributed in the packet and has been kept in Time Warner’s non-public file. Chair Huiras said that it has to be available for public review to meet the survey requirement, and Mr. McHugh said the survey did not ask about current programming and possible future programming offerings. Chair Huiras said that based on the ordinance, the City couldn’t accept it, but that he’d like to review the Minneapolis survey in depth to be sure. He asked if the Commission could get a copy of the survey to review, and what would happen if it were not accepted to meet the franchise requirement. Mr. Dunlap said any recommendation would have to be in writing so Time Warner could evaluate it or do the survey as specified in the franchise. Mr. Mattern said that he would have to talk with Kim Roden and Mark Hammerstrom about how to proceed on distributing copies of the survey. Chair Huiras suggested that the discussion be brought to the next meeting, and if Mr. Mattern receives approval, the survey could be distributed in advance of the meeting for study. Commissioner Overend said that she prefer to receive the monthly report information in a graphic display because it is easier to track trends. Mr. Mattern said he would see what he could do. D. MACTA Funding for 2001-2002 lobbying Mr. Dunlap said MACTA is still getting organized about how to proceed in the 2002 Session, but that a specific request for funding would be forthcoming. Commissioner Hartman said that some members were not in favor of new legislation, but that the Governor’s plan takes from the big communities to assist smaller communities. E. Cable TV coverage of Telecommunications Commission meetings Mr. Dunlap said that all Commissions need to discuss cable coverage, and that beginning August 1 the Planning Commission would be covered at the request of the public and the Commission. Chair Huiras said he had mixed feelings about it; Commissioner Overend agreed, and said that she preferred not to at this time, but that it could be revisited in 6 months. 6. Old Business A. School District funding for 2000 Chair Huiras asked what the status was of the second School District channel, and Mr. McHugh said Time Warner is reviewing it and they have 6 months to act. He also said the City has offered to pay for the signal generating equipment to put the channel on the cable system, and for an uninterruptable power supply to protect the character generator from brief electrical outages that the District has been subjected to. Chair Huiras asked if they needed to have 30 minutes available on the UPS. Commissioner Hartman said there is a lot of difference in cost for UPS’s, that a 6- hour backup would be ridiculous. Mr. McHugh suggested that he send a communication asking what equipment they have that is critical and what the load is for that equipment, and the Commission concurred. Commissioner Overend said that she’d like to see an internship program or something to motivate students to study communications and video. Chair Huiras said that Commissioner Overend had asked for a 3 year plan in writing, and said that what has been received is great compared to what has been received in the past, and asked if the Commission was satisfied enough with the District’s response (dated July 17, 2001) to make a decision. Commissioner Dworsky made a motion to recommend that the City Council allocate $40,000, $25,000 for a base grant and $15,000 for a capital grant as the School District requested. In the discussion that followed, Commissioner Hartman said this would keep the operations grant low and add the other equipment so it shows up and we can track it. Mr. McHugh said that at the Commission’s urging, the School District has fairly compensated the tech position to reduce turnover, and what appears to be proposed now is the same amount now plus a good equipment grant. He said in his opinion the Commission should follow through and recommend an increase in the base grant as well as offering the equipment grant, but to keep the two grants separate. Commissioner Hartman said that he liked keeping the grants separate, and Chair Huiras agreed. Mr. Dunlap said Tom Marble (School District Technology Officer) had said that two grants, with specified amounts for capital expenses, work very well in his opinion. Commissioner Dworsky amended his motion to reflect $35,000 for a base grant and $15,000 for an equipment grant for 2001. Commissioner Overend seconded; motion passed unanimously. 7. Reports 7. Communications from the Chair Chair Huiras asked if the School District had been advised that John Herbert had resigned; Mr. Dunlap said they had been notified. Chair Huiras asked about Telecommunications Commissioners whose terms would end at year’s end; Mr. Dunlap said Commissioners Huiras, Dworsky and Hartman. Chair Huiras also asked about an article about Metricom, a wireless Internet provider in St. Louis Park, filing bankruptcy. Mr. McHugh said they had discontinued their service as of yesterday. 9. Communications from City staff Mr. Dunlap asked if any of the Commissioners planned to attend the NATOA conference in Miami; none were interested. Mr. Dunlap asked if it would be acceptable for him to send schedules via email, rather than paper copies in the pre-meeting packet; the Commission approved. 10. Adjournment Moved by Commissioner Dworsky at 9:10pm. Respectfully submitted, Reg Dunlap Recording Secretary