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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016/05/11 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 11, 2016 ST. LOUIS PARK COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Maren Anderson, Bruce Browning, Dale Hartman, Toby Keeler and Rolf Peterson MEMBERS ABSENT: Cindy Hoffman and Andrew Reinhardt STAFF PRESENT: Jacqueline Larson, Communications and Marketing Manager, Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator, and John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator OTHERS PRESENT: None 1. Call to Order Chair Peterson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Anderson, Browning, Hartman, Keeler and Peterson. 3. Approval of Minutes for February 24, 2016 It was moved by Commissioner Browning, seconded by Commissioner Keeler, to approve the minutes of February 24, 2016, without changes. The motion passed 5-0. 4. Adoption of Agenda It was moved by Commissioner Browning, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve the agenda as presented. The motion passed 5-0. 5. Public Comment - None 6. New Business A. City Council strategic goals and role for Telecommunications Advisory Commission Ms. Larson said that the Commission discussed the need for strategic direction at the last meeting, and at that time she mentioned that the City Council had set strategic priorities and goals for the next several years. The executive summary from the Council report on October 19 listed all the goals, and the one that pertains to the Commission is making St. Louis Park a technology connected community. There is a work plan for that goal put together by the City’s Chief Information Officer, Clint Pires, which Ms. Larson reviewed to identify progress made and which ones could benefit from Commission participation and assistance. Starting with Researching Strategic Options, this goal could use Commission assistance since it’s a big idea. Ms. Larson said that she knows Commissioners exchange ideas so please let staff know if you see ideas that we should be pursuing. Goal number two is supporting public and private schools and community education initiatives, which is another goal where the Commission could help. Goal number three is encouraging private market consumer choices, and CenturyLink is now available in the community, and thanks to the work of the Commissioners who participated in that process. Ms. Larson said that U.S. Internet is leasing some of the City’s fiber to build a network to serve all of St. Louis Park in the next 4 to 5 years, which is something the City Council has been hoping for a number of years. Ms. Larson said goal number four is integrating new private carrier technology, and CIO Pires has been very involved with small cell and distributed antenna systems. The City’s Engineering, Community Development and Operations Departments have all worked together to position those throughout the City. Chair Peterson asked for an explanation about mini cell and micro cells, and Commissioner Browning said they were to expand coverage and improve speed. Ms. Larson said that one City goal is to deploy these antennas in an aesthetically pleasing manner, so for example, in the West End they were deployed on poles between the banners, so they were hidden. Ms. Larson said goal number five is to support or build broadband infrastructure and target private development opportunities. This is most easily done on public projects like the pavement management program and Connect the Park, where the City is installing new trails and sidewalks and broadband capacity at the same time. There have been collaborations with private developments as well, at West End, Central Park West, the Millennium, and Marriot AC. In addition the City has added Wi-Fi in the parks for users and for security measures, and this year Aquila and Oak Hill will add that capacity. Ms. Larson said goal number six is to support community technology applications for enhanced livability of all age groups, and CIO Pires described this as the Holy Grail. She said we’d like the Commission’s help on this to use broadband to improve quality of life, so there could be a survey or some other way to pursue this. Ms. Larson said goal number seven is to maximize speed of broadband deployment. CIO Pires is working with Arvig as the first company to lease public broadband capacity. Ms. Larson said goal number eight is to enhance private development broadband readiness. She said that even without a City ordinance requirement, broadband agreements have been reached with five new developments to offer one gigabit service to each unit in those projects, including Arlington Row, the Shoreham, the West End, Central Park West, and 4900 Excelsior, the site of the old Bally’s building. Commissioner Browning said that he is very interested in a survey of the community since it’s been a while since that’s been done. Ms. Larson suggested a couple of ways to do surveys that would be helpful but not scientific samples: using Survey Monkey or Next Door, which are online tools. Commissioner Browning asked about focus groups, and if they had been used. Mr. Dunlap said that the fiber study in 2012 used them and that several commissioners were involved. Chair Peterson said that he likes using online tools, but also wants to explore reaching others, like with a telephone survey the way Decision Resources used to do for the School District. Commissioner Browning said many folks don’t like telemarketers, even if it’s for a good cause. Mr. McHugh said that the City has initiatives that may also help reach the un-wired, like Coffee with a Cop, and Coffee with the Mayor. Chair Peterson asked if there has been a meeting between Mr. Pires and the School District yet, and said he’d love to participate because of his close ties with community ed. B. Comcast Quarter 1 compiled complaint log Mr. Dunlap said that Comcast representatives have attended the last several Commission meetings and talked about hiring 400 more telephone reps to improve customer service. He showed a chart listing 2014 and 2015 complaints in various categories, 2015 and 2016 first quarter complaints, and a projected total for 2016. The most common complaint was about billing, with 9 in quarter one which projects to 36 for 2016, comparable to last year’s 38. The total complaints so far are 27, which projects to 108 for the year, which would be an improvement over 130 received in 2014 and 126 received in 2015. Mr. Dunlap prepared a list of options, which included monitoring, requesting call center records for St. Louis Park, providing notice to Comcast that the City intends to enforce FCC customer service standards, or directing staff to review other cities to see if they have customer service ordinances. Commissioner Browning said that he reviewed the redesigned Comcast bill which may help with problems with billing. The bills look easier to read and have more explanation. Chair Peterson agreed, said we should continue to monitor, and an ordinance seems to be a bit drastic. Commissioner Browning said the call records for St. Louis Park would be useful, and that he agreed with Chair Peterson that an ordinance should be a last resort. Mr. McHugh said that he thought that Comcast could break out the call records by FCC ID number, which is listed on the bill. He said it would be good to know what other communities are doing, but that he doesn’t feel we need to enact a customer service ordinance. Chair Peterson agreed that a summary would be useful. Mr. McHugh said the Comcast Escalation Team that handles the complaints that come to City staff is a great customer service asset. Commissioner Anderson asked if we had any information about CenturyLink customer service yet, and whether or not the City has received any complaints about them yet? Mr. Dunlap said that several complaints had been received about them. Commissioner Keeler said that 97 complaint calls for Comcast out of 13,000 customers was a rate of point seven percent. C. Comcast price increase June 1 for select TV & internet services Mr. Dunlap said that as a result of competition, the City no longer has authority over the Basic cable rates. As a result the increase in the Broadcast TV fee from $1.50 to $4.50 per month is a $3 increase for all Basic cable customers. Most customers will also have to pay an additional $2 for the Regional Sports fee, so that’s a $5 increase between those two fees. It was a surprise to see how much some of the installation and service call fees increased. For example, the hourly service charge to add another outlet increased from $34.50 to $70 which is significant. The bottom line is that customers that need any service should ask what it will cost in advance, since those fees have changed. The bit of good news is that the price of premium channels is dropping, from $19.99 to $15 for HBO and $10 for the others. Mr. Dunlap said that the new price information is now listed on the City’s web site and demonstrated how to find it, at parktv.org and select, cable TV information. Commissioner Keeler said that rate regulation went away as a result of the FCC ruling on Effective Competition last fall. Mr. McHugh said that a handful of communities did meet the 15% threshold for small dish effective competition, including Shakopee. D. Comcast HD enhancements and set-top box exchanges Mr. Dunlap said that this was discussed in detail at the last meeting, and the deadline was coming soon so he put it on the agenda. For customers with an old Comcast converter box, they may see a message that says, please call this number or your channels may go away. Some of these boxes need to be replaced because they use the older MPEG2 compression system which Comcast is replacing with MPEG4. He said if customers see that message they should act soon or they’ll lose some channels, and that they can bring the box to the Excelsior Boulevard office to get a new one. That office is open seven days per week. Commissioner Browning said that the swap does not include an extra fee, and asked how it was going. Mr. Dunlap said that Ms. Hensing said at the February meeting that each affected customer would be notified up to five times. E. Review staff report on CenturyLink first quarter (establish baseline of possible Prism customers, set the standard for 15% additional buildout) Mr. Dunlap said that 30% of St. Louis Park living units can receive CenturyLink’s Prism TV service, and 74% can receive internet speeds fast enough to receive TV service after CenturyLink does some additional work. CenturyLink has nine times as many customers as they did at the beginning of the quarter so they are beginning to have some market success. Also, they have data to prove that they are not just cherry picking in the most expensive neighborhoods, that a significant portion of their households served earn less than the median income in the City. Mr. Dunlap said the encoders have been installed to allow ParkTV channels to be seen in CenturyLink households. By late July or early August, new equipment will be installed in the control room to allow three ParkTV channels to be seen in HD glory, which will be very nice for the high school sports when they return in the fall. Chair Peterson said that two neighborhoods in St. Louis Park are capable of fiber to the home, and he looked to see if there were any houses for sale in those neighborhoods because it was a dream of his to have fiber to the home. The areas are by Westwood and South Oak Hill. F. Complaint logs Commissioner Browning said that the CenturyLink complaints are very similar to the Comcast complaints. 7. Communication from the Chair, Commissioners and City Staff Chair Peterson said that tonight is the last meeting for three Commissioners. Dale Hartman has served since 1999, and has been a valuable resource for City staff on things electrical or electronic. Toby Keeler has been a Commissioner since 2008, and has been one of the most active Commissioners, including serving as a MACTA Board member. Also Andrew Reinhardt, who was appointed in 2014 and was vice-chair last year. Chair Peterson thanked all three Commissioners on behalf of the City for their service. 8. Adjournment Commissioner Browning made a motion, Commission Keeler seconded to adjourn at 7:55. The motion passed. Respectfully submitted by: Reg Dunlap Civic TV Coordinator