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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008/08/13 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - Regular 1 UNOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF August 13, 2008 ST. LOUIS PARK COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Bruce Browning, David Dyer, Dale Hartman, Mike Mulligan and Rolf Peterson MEMBERS ABSENT: Rick Dworsky and Toby Keeler STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator; John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator OTHERS PRESENT: Arlen Mattern, Time Warner Cable Public Affairs Administrator 1. Call to Order Chair Browning called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Browning, Dyer, Hartman, Mulligan and Peterson. 3. Approval of Minutes for May 15, 2008 It was moved by Commissioner Dyer, seconded by Commissioner Hartman, to approve the minutes of May 15, 2008, without changes. The motion passed 2-0-3, Commissioners Peterson, Browning and Mulligan abstained. 4. Adoption of Agenda Commissioner Dyer requested 6E be added regarding the City’s relationship with Comcast. The agenda was approved as amended. 5. Public Comment - None 6. New Business A. Review draft mid year report Mr. Dunlap indicated he took the bullet points from the work plan and added descriptions. He was open to suggestions from the Commission for a written report to the City Council for their August 25th Study Session. B. Update on WiFi hot spots Subcommittee 2 Mr. McHugh reported that Commissioners Dworsky, Dyer and Mulligan were sent a summary of the staff brainstorming meeting. Since the community wide WiFi effort is not going forward, this would be an interim project that would benefit the community. Mr. McHugh wrote a proposal for WiFi hot spots in City Hall, all meeting rooms, the Rec Center, and a third scenario for community locations such as Lenox Community Center or the Wolfe Park Pavilion. There are budgetary concerns and this project is coming in late in the process. It may be possible to do the Recreation Center and City Hall in 2008, but further discussion needed to take place about other sites. Because of the planning for the change in the municipal phone system going on now that affects all city buildings, they had to reschedule the meeting. They will schedule a meeting and invite interested commissioners. C. Digital TV transition publicity Mr. Dunlap stated he hosted one of the seminars which was well attended, and has noticed many public service announcements and outreach efforts to publicize the transition on February 17, 2009 to digital broadcasting. Those people not hooked up to a cable provider or a satellite will need to get a digital tuner to continue to receive television signals. Mr. McHugh distributed and reviewed a hand out available in City Hall about the transition. DTV tuner coupons worth $40 coupons are available on-line at dtv.gov, or by calling 888- 388-2009, and expire after 90-days. Chair Browning noted it was a remarkable difference going from analog to digital. People with more of an issue would be those in the fringe areas who may get some interference. Reviews for converter boxes are available on-line and they are not all the same. D. Elect new vice chair Chair Browning called for a nomination for Vice Chair. It was moved by Commissioner Dyer, seconded by Commissioner Mulligan, to nominate Rolf Peterson as Vice Chair. Chair Browning called two more times for a nomination for Vice Chair. There being no other nominations, the motion passed 5-0. E. City’s Relationship with Comcast Commissioner Dyer said he added this item based on complaints the City had received about Comcast. Is there anything by law Comcast is required to provide for the City? Mr. Dunlap replied the City’s franchise includes a list of requirements. For example, they are required to have a letter of credit that the City would draw on in case there were 3 violations of the franchise and those sorts of obligations. If they request a specific piece of information from Comcast, there is a part of the franchise that says they will provide information that the City requests. The document is very general and has been shortened dramatically from the previous franchise. Commissioner Dyer asked if there was a basic service that Comcast would provide for residents? Mr. Dunlap replied one example of the obligations Comcast provides is that they provide free cable service to approximately 20 buildings in the City, including City Hall, Fire Stations and public schools. Commissioner Dyer indicated he was questioning if there was a starting point established there for service provided and is there a set cost that must be held to? Mr. Dunlap replied not exactly, the franchise doesn’t talk about the levels of service provided. Federal law requires basic cable service which is in turn regulated by the City. Comcast is also required to provide information prior to rate changes. Commissioner Dyer asked if Comcast had an exclusive relationship with the City and if there is anything restricting another cable provider from offering the same sort of service? Mr. Dunlap said that it is not an exclusive franchise, that the reason there is no competition is it would be expensive to build another cable system. The City receives 5% of the gross revenues Comcast makes in St. Louis Park for their video service as a franchise fee for the use of the right of way. Commissioners discussed other possible options in the future. Commissioner Dyer asked about changing channels to different tiers? Mr. Mattern replied there are two reasons they do that: to match what is in St. Paul, and to add more programming and by moving channels off analog and to digital, which opens approximately six digital spots. Digital seems to be the way of the future. Chair Browning noted there is still free television and with the conversion to digital, people will receive more channels than they would have with analog broadcasting. Mr. Dunlap noted that most Comcast services are deregulated. They are in competition with other providers and try to be sensitive to the customers needs. They are introducing many more high definition channels for the customers who have that service. The City gets complaints about customer service or losing channels, and staff uses the opportunity to talk to customers about other products available, like basic and family tiers, which are the cheaper services. 7. Unfinished Business A. Review franchise fee audit contract Mr. Dunlap stated there is a draft contract in the packets from Scott Lewis and Associates, a CPA firm that has been hired in the past for audits. The Commission 4 directed staff to research this and come up with a City Council proposal whether or not to go forward with the franchise fee audit (making sure the right amount of money is coming to the City from Comcast). They worked with other communities to question a number of different auditors. It is easier for Comcast to be audited by multiple cities at the same time for the same period of time. They had gotten an RFP that the City would be contracting individually, but if there other cities are involved, there would be a price break. Staff doesn’t expect to find gigantic differences, but doing the audit is part of the City’s due diligence. The last franchise fee review was about the time that Time Warner and Comcast transferred the system and there were some discrepancies at that time. The next step is for the City Manager to decide whether he wants to sign off on the contract or bring it before City Council at the September 2nd meeting. B. Update on fiber optic ordinance Mr. Dunlap reported the City Council requested staff put $50,000 in the budget for 2009 to do a fiber optic ordinance study. There are no details at this point, other than this will allow them to find out if and how they should go forward. This will be to test whether St. Louis Park would be a good site to do fiber to the home project. The details will be worked out in the next few months so they can get started early in 2009. 8. Reports A. Complaints Chair Browning applauded Comcast having an escalation team and they seemed to be able to deal with problematic situations in an efficient manner, but was concerned about the CSR’s and their training. It seemed they were not as well educated about the options offered, and several complaints were related to that. The front line people should be able to help customers in a reasonable fashion. Chair Browning said he had a less than desirable experience and lost his Email service, spent 15 minutes on hold and gave up. Mr. Mattern apologized about the wait. He noted it was better to contact the local customer service number, rather than the toll free 800 number. Commissioner Mulligan asked if there was a wide-spread outage, do they have an automated message? Mr. Mattern replied yes, to tell where the outage is taking place and what product might be affected. Commissioner Dyer asked about the hand written complaint in the packet, and how that was handled? Mr. Dunlap replied it was an anonymous letter, so he wasn’t able to respond. He understood sometimes customers needed to vent and this was one of them. Chair Browning thanked Mr. Dunlap for helping customers with the complaints. 9. Communication from the Chair Chair Browning stated anyone with questions about the conversion to digital television could contact John McHugh at St. Louis Park. 10. Communications from City Staff 5 Mr. Dunlap introduced new Commissioner Mike Mulligan. Mr. Dunlap stated that many people were getting a brochure about channel one being built in this area and it would be activated next week. If they have a digital converter provided by Comcast, there is a lot of free video on demand programming, which is a benefit of having a converter. Mr. Mattern further elaborated about channel one. Chair Browning asked if there was a deal with a major motion picture supplier to be able to provide videos? Mr. Mattern was unsure about that, but said there would be thousands of movies available. Mr. Dunlap noted that Commissioner Bob Jacobson became ill earlier this year and passed away. The Commission would miss Bob and his experience on the Commission. Mr. McHugh distributed the local programming report for Channels 16 and 15 for the year. He also distributed a handout on what to expect regarding the digital transition. Many homes depend on free over the air broadcast who would consider subscribing to basic cable or their family tier. Comcast doesn’t mention basic cable TV on their website when a local consumer selects “see all products.” Mr. McHugh asked how the Commission can encourage Comcast to promote all their levels of service? He would like Commissioners to look at this and see if it was something they would like to advocate for. Chair Browning noted, from a business perspective, they wanted to sell what made a greater profit, but the people that might only be interested in that service would still be business and may introduce them to possibly moving to a higher tier. Mr. Mattern noted this was a corporate decision and they didn’t have a lot of control over it. Secondly, the products they are presenting on the web site are the most popular products they provide. He didn’t believe it would change. Commissioners further discussed the issue and information on the Comcast web site. Mr. Mattern stated he could pass on the discussion to the marketing department. 11. Adjournment Commissioner Peterson made a motion, Commission Hartman seconded to adjourn. The motion passed. Respectfully submitted by: Amy L. Stegora-Peterson Recording Secretary