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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015/08/12 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF August 12, 2015 ST. LOUIS PARK COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Maren Anderson, Bruce Browning, Dale Hartman, Cindy Hoffman and Toby Keeler MEMBERS ABSENT: Rolf Peterson and Andrew Reinhardt STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator; John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator; Clint Pires, Chief Information Officer; and, Jacqueline Larson, Communications and Marketing Manager OTHERS PRESENT: Karly Werner, Comcast Cable 1. Call to Order Chair Browning called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Anderson, Browning, Hartman, Hoffman and Keeler. 3. Approval of Minutes for May 13, 2015 It was moved by Commissioner Keeler, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve the minutes of May 13, 2015, without changes. The motion passed 5-0. 4. Adoption of Agenda It was moved by Commissioner Keeler, seconded by Commissioner Hoffman, to approve the agenda as presented. The motion passed 5-0. 5. Public Comment - None 6. Reports and Discussion A. CenturyLink Franchise Process Commissioner Anderson reported they had received a marked up copy of the Century Link franchise agreement. The City’s negotiating team includes: Moss & Barnett Attorney Brian Grogan, Commissioners Keeler, Browning and Anderson, and staff John McHugh, Reg Dunlap and Jacque Larson. The City Attorney will be copied on all information about legal questions or strategy. They had a full negotiating team meeting to discuss strategy. There was a meeting with CenturyLink on August 17th and they plan to meet every two weeks. The next meeting is October 14th. B. Fiber Optic Study Update, i.e., fiber network linkage progress, etc. Clint Pires reported in 2012 the City Council identified specific goals and priorities for St. Louis Park to become an increasingly technologically connected community. In 2012 a fiber policy study lead to two policy questions: 1) What else might be done with existing City-school owned fiber optic network beyond existing institutional uses, 2) Should the City provide requirements or incentives to include fiber optic facilities in new construction or significant remodels? The project goals that came out of those questions were: 1) Options for maximizing the benefits of existing infrastructure; 2) Options for expanding existing City infrastructure, and 3) Options for City actions that could facilitate private construction of infrastructure. Summary and major findings: • City has successfully met most internal communications needs • Fiber represents the emerging standard for broadband and most scalable and capable of broadband technologies • Availability of consumer broadband products has increased since St. Louis Park last evaluated broadband access in 2006 • St. Louis Park consumers do not have access to state of the art fiber networks Summary and update of 2012 recommended strategies: • Lease access to existing fiber and conduit to enable private investment • Incrementally expand City fiber − Build fiber between Park Nicollet facilities (hospital/clinic and Melrose Institute). The city is partnering with Hennepin County and able to access conduit in that area and then explore partnership with Park Nicollet. − Build to Park and Rec and Public Works facilities (park structures, automated security systems) − Build to City’s third water tower – Purchase fiber and have access to all water towers. The water meter replacement program is underway, and the new meters will have antennae’s to transmit readings wirelessly and can also do leak detection. − Build to St. Louis Park library - collaboration with Hennepin County to make use of excess capacity in our system in exchange for building out added fiber. − Build over time to key economic development targets (i.e. West End) − Continue installing conduit during capital improvement projects − Complete fiber rings where possible during the course of routine fiber and conduit installations (create redundancy) Summary and update of 2012 study recommended strategies: • Proceed with caution regarding expansive strategies to enable broadband in St. Louis Park • Evaluate a fiber model similar to the alley assessment model • Require conduit and fiber installation for new construction • Expediting local processes and waive fees to facilitate private sector infrastructure. He displayed a list of some of the projects going on from 2014 and 2015, including Highway Louisiana, along Highway 7 and 100, Parkland water tower (connecting dispatch to the 800 MHz system), investment in disaster recovery, working with Hennepin County projects (including SW LRT), park projects, etc. Chair Browning asked if somebody cuts a fiber, who pays for the repair? Mr. Pires replied the contractor is generally responsible and there is protocol for locating utilities and if it is properly located, they are responsible. They are also responsible if it is not property located. The City has a company on-call that can respond quickly. Chair Browning how can they disrupt fiber when it is all marked, are they not paying attention? Mr. Pires locates are standard and easy to do. It depends how cautious the contractor is. Most right of way work goes on without problems. Chair Browning asked if there was any fiber being moved or added when they were doing construction on the Minnetonka Bridge? Mr. Pires responded yes, they found out when the bridge was being constructed that a private company would be moving their fiber and they asked to collaborate with them and got a good price on getting a crossing and added extra conduits alongside theirs. Commissioner Keeler stated that the City had done a good job. C. City Council goals including St. Louis Park as a Technology Connected Community, a role for the TAC and a possible technology survey Mr. Pires stated each year the City Council has an annual workshop in January. The primary intent was to reach consensus on the goals and priorities for the next ten years. City Council came to goal agreement on five goals/priorities. On February 9th staff reviewed with and the City Council confirmed five goals/priorities were in keeping with City Council initial intent from the workshop. Staff indicated it would take about 90 days to develop specific strategies and two-year action plan to begin to address the Council’s goals/priorities. The five priorities and goals are intended to articulate and provide direction to staff on those things the Council feels will have the most powerful/positive impact on the St. Louis Park community by 2024. It allows staff to orient work plans and resources accordingly. These five priorities/goals will be reviewed annually to make sure they are still relevant, and course corrections would be made by the Council as necessary. Staff must continue to provide collaborative, high quality and responsive services to ensure that St. Louis Park is the most desirable place to live, work and do business. In 2015-2016: Redevelopment around the three SWLRT stations is maximized to the fullest extent possible; 2) St. Louis Park is a leader in environmental stewardship, sustainability and resiliency; 3) St. Louis Park has top ranked schools, a well maintained and diverse housing stock, and strong, vibrant neighborhood; 4) St. Louis Park has high quality community amenities and facilities; and, 5) St. Louis Park is a technology connected community. This is important to set them apart and better promote economic group and community development and improve overall quality of life. Some of the strategies include: researching strategic options; supporting school/community education initiatives; encouraging more private market consumer choices; integrating new private carrier technology infrastructure (e.g. mini cell towers) into community; support or build broadband public related infrastructure/target private development opportunities and support community technology applications for enhanced livability of all age groups from youth to seniors; maximize speed of broadband deployment; enhance private development broadband readiness (possible ordinance some day) There will be challenges such as resources, process, imagination and what are the possibilities. The next step will be the City Council adopting the priorities and then a roll out will take place. They are looking for participation and to develop specific plans to put in place. He suggested participants in Phase 1 include: TAC, the school district, and the chamber of commerce. Once they get some refinement and make it strategy-specific, then they can find the people who can build these things. It will be a ten-year plan. This reinforces what the commission has done with the fiber study. The City Council is putting a priority on technology. Chair Browning liked the city’s overview and how they fit together. Defining technology is a moving target and they are behind compared to Japan and some places in Europe. The standards are moving quickly. Fiber is large part of this, and they need to roll it out and make it affordable and they need to do this as a community. Mr. Pires replied it took a combination of players, both public and private. Ultimately everyone will deliver services over fiber and it’s not free. D. Franchise described “State of the Art” review due on the 10th anniversary of granting franchise January, 2016 Chair Browning indicated State of the Art (SOA) was hard to define. It is fiber and they weren’t there yet, but were getting there. An all-fiber network would be ideal. Mr. Dunlap stated this was a discussion item and advance notice on this topic. It wasn’t due until next year. Commissioner Keeler asked if the franchise called out specifically how this should be done? Mr. Dunlap replied the City would hold a public hearing for public comment and presenting evidence. As a result, the City and company may enter into good faith negotiations to amend the franchise as necessary to provide system improvements. This was to make sure St. Louis Park system didn’t fall behind other communities. This isn’t as much of an issue as it had been in the past year’s with small cable companies. Commissioner Keeler asked if this was an option or requirement? Mr. Dunlap replied it was an option. In 2011 the commission opted not to review it at that time. Chair Browning said it would be good to discuss because technology is moving quickly. Comcast, CenturyLink and the providers have a good idea of what state of the art is. The closest thing to state of the art is fiber to home. Commissioner Keeler said he wasn’t sure they would get a lot of input from the public. He thought they would get a lot of complaints regarding customer service, etc., and that wasn’t the intent of the SOA hearing. Chair Browning thought it might be worthwhile to invite technology leaders, such as fiber manufacturers, to explain where they think its going and what their plans were. Mr. McHugh noted Comcast mentioned they were adding thousands of customer service agents in the future and he thought that might be area to examine, as in state of the art customer service. Commissioner Hoffman asked about voice recognition software used for customer service? Mr. McHugh replied when you call and speak to an automated system. Commissioner Hoffman referred to a colleagues experience with the customer service and reaching someone who didn’t speak English and using a system to translate. Chair Browning stated that other companies had the same problems and it was something to revisit. E. Complaints Chair Browning expressed concern about the word ingress because there were a number of outages with the cable system in the city and what fixed the problem was ingress. It meant there was a break in the cable system that allowed outside information to leak into the system and caused trouble. Once discovered, it was repaired. A lot of the complaints wind up being escalated and the escalation team does great job. It would be ideal to solve before that point. Commissioner Hoffman referred to the complaint where an individual tried to return a box after their brother had died in another state. They wouldn’t accept it in the other state and it should be linked by the bar code and there should be better connection. Ms. Werner didn’t know the specifics of the complaint, but would look into it. Mr. McHugh stated Comcast has UPS delivery and they should have told them where to ship it. Commissioner Hoffman noted the brother’s name was on the account and they said he could go to any office, but the local office said they couldn’t help. Does every state run differently? Ms. Werner would look into it. They don’t run differently, but are broken into divisions. 7. Communication from the Chair, Commissioners and City Staff Ms. Larson updated the commission on the web site redesign. A team in communications was working to roll out the new design by March 2016. They are looking at other web sites that they like and categories for the navigation. They used Survey Monkey to gather approximately 20 responses and were getting results at the end of August. Mr. Dunlap said he is preparing a City Council report for their August 24th Study Session regarding franchise fees and will send it to TAC members. Ms. Werner updated the commission on the Internet Essentials Program that was evolving and staying relevant. The program provides free Wi-Fi routers to subscribers so kids and parents could use the internet at the same time. They are doubling speeds without increasing the price and expanding auto enrollment. If a child is in a school that 50% get free/reduced lunch they are all eligible for the program. Comcast has connected 500,000 families nationwide. They are starting a senior citizen pilot program for Internet Essentials and will have digital literacy training courses. Cost is a huge barrier, but also relevancy because some people don’t know why the internet is relevant to their lives. In a customer survey, about Internet Essentials, 98% of families use the service for school and felt it had a positive impact on grades. They also felt it had impacts on finding a job. Comcast will be doing another speed increase at end of the month without an increased cost. Speeds will go from 25 to 50 megabits per second (MBS), 50 to 105 MBS and 105 to 150 MBS. They plan to have a 1 gig speed Internet available to every subscriber that can get service from Comcast, and will also be rolling out a 2 gig service by the end of next year. Chair Browning asked if they would need to reboot the cable modem to get the faster speeds? Ms. Werner said they will send a notice to customers that there would be an immediate increase in speeds, that a newer modem won’t need to be rebooted. However the 1 gig service will require new modems because it is an upgraded system. Commissioner Keeler asked for details about the senior program. Ms. Werner replied it would be starting in Palm Beach County, but hadn’t rolled out here yet. She would get back to the commission with the criteria. 8. Adjournment Commissioner Keeler made a motion, Commission Anderson seconded to adjourn at 8:08. The motion passed. Respectfully submitted by: Amy L. Stegora-Peterson Recording Secretary