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Home My WebLink About2003/12/04 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF DECEMBER 4, 2003 AT 7:00 P.M. ST. LOUIS PARK CITY HALL, WESTWOOD ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Bruce Browning, Dale Hartman, Ken Huiras, Bob Jacobson, Mary Jean Overend, Rolf Peterson Rick Dworsky arrived at 7:05 p.m. STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator; John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator; and Linda Samson, Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: Arlen Mattern, Time Warner Cable Public Affairs Administrator 1. Call to Order Chair Huiras called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Browning, Hartman, Huiras, Jacobson, Overend, and Peterson. City Staff Reg Dunlap and John McHugh, and Recording Secretary Linda Samson. 3. Approval of Minutes for October 23, 2003 It was moved by Commissioner Browning, seconded by Commissioner Jacobson, to approve the minutes of October 23, 2003 without changes. The motion passed 6-0. 4. Adoption of Agenda Chair Huiras requested that the following be added to Item 5, Old Business: 5B Victory Sports Update; 5C By-laws Review; 5D EAS Test Update. It was moved by Commissioner Browning, seconded by Commissioner Jacobson, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed 6-0. 5. Old Business 5A Renewal Update John McHugh said the meeting with the attorney has been postponed for a short time. Mr. McHugh said Staff has received some model franchise language, and comments were received from Time Warner Cable (“TWC”) on business points that had been exchanged earlier. Mr. McHugh commented that the Commission will need to hold a public hearing as part of the renewal proceeding at their first 2004 meeting. One of the issues being discussed is making any renewal “technology future-proof” so that the City won’t be on the tail end of technology upgrades as it was this time around. If TWC is reluctant to include upgrade provisions similar to those proposed by staff, a 10-year renewal is more likely than the 15-year term TWC wants. 5B Victory Sports Update Chair Huiras said he would like to see Victory Sports on the channel line up, that it would be a competitive advantage over satellite programmers. Mr. Mattern said TWC would like to put this expensive sports channel on a digital tier because not all subscribers want this kind of programming. Mr. Huiras asked how much Victory Sports and Fox Sports cost, since Fox was involved in the same sort of negotiations a year ago. Mr. Mattern said that Fox Sports cost $1.75 per customer and Victory proposed $2.20 per customer. 5C By-Laws Review Reg Dunlap said he has not received an update from City Clerk Cindy Reichert. 5D EAS Test Update Chair Huiras said he checked his digital tier during the Emergency Alert System (“EAS”) testing, however, there was no voice message or picture—nothing. Chair Huiras reported that on the lower analog tier, channel 11, the screen went blank and he heard the announcement perfectly well. Mr. Dunlap said he received an email from TWC’s Network Operations Manager Bernie Doffing and was informed that emergency messages will not be heard on the digital tier. In an email dated November 5, 2003, Mr. Doffing indicated he will provide details on how to utilize the federal EAS which would allow emergency messages to be heard on the digital channels. Chair Huiras recommended requesting further information from Mr. Doffing on how to access and test, and for this item to appear on a future agenda. Mr. Dunlap requested that before TWC purchases a digital channels solution for St. Louis Park, if needed, to talk to the City cable office first; and Arlen Mattern agreed. 6. New Business 6A Time Warner information on new cable rates and/or changes in the channel line up Mr. McHugh distributed a list of TWC 2003 and 2004 cable rates. Mr. McHugh expressed two concerns about the prices and changes listed by TWC, i.e., he does not see listed non-addressable converters and Digital TV Cable Cards (see the attachment to the November 26, 2003 letter to Mr. Dunlap from Mr. Mattern) listed with all the other equipment choices and charges; and, are TWC channels 23 and 73 both leased access channels? Mr. Mattern replied that those channels are leased access, and they carry a variety of program sources. Commissioner Jacobson inquired about the accuracy of channel line ups, and Mr. Mattern said TWC does it’s best to make it accurate, but that it is a time consuming and very detailed task. Mr. Dunlap suggested placing the access fee at the top with the basic cable charge since it is part of the basic and standard cable fee, and suggested it be regrouped for the next publication. Commissioner Jacobson said he wants all services to be identified. 6B Work Plan for 2004 Commissioner Overend thinks a small group of people should work on the issue of requesting customers’ Social Security numbers. Commission Jacobson would like to publicize that St. Louis Park has public access. The Commission will plan to discuss it at the first meeting. The Commission will also discuss draft renewal and renewal hearing franchise. Commissioner Overend mentioned a large grant for the Jewish Community Center from Park Nicollet and the federal government. She would like to get the message out about various services and how best to do that. Other topics for the Commission work plan include the Pasadena Decision, the operations grant for School District 283, the TWC $100,000 equipment grant for local cable channels, due on January 1, 2004, and the City Cable TV office’s five-year budget plan. 6C Set Meetings for 2004 The meetings for 2004 are scheduled for: Thursday, February 12 March (meeting pending with the City Council at a Study Session) Thursday, May 6 Thursday, August 19 Thursday, October 21 Thursday, December 2 For the February 12th meeting, the Commission plans to discuss franchise renewal (a public hearing), issues and concerns regarding Social Security numbers, review by-laws, the Emergency Alert System, the Pasadena Decision, and elect officers for 2004. For May 6th, School District #283 grant and the Senior Summit. For August 19th, public access and the City Cable Office’s five-year budget. For October 21st and December 2nd, discuss the TWC franchise and new prices and services. 7. Reports 7A School District Quarterly Programming Report The Commissioners thought the report was well done. Commissioner Overend said that the voice level during School Board meetings is very low and can hardly be heard. Mr. McHugh noted and inquired about the absence of programming regarding the junior high and Aquila Elementary; and he asked where the two UPSs are. Mr. Dunlap said he would follow up with the School District on these comments. Commissioner Jacobson asked what can be done to get more people involved in public access and programming, and would like to have this placed on an agenda for future discussion. 8. Communications from the Chair Commissioner Peterson was recognized for his successful election to the School Board. 9. Communications from City Staff Mr. Dunlap asked Mr. Mattern about the recent software upgrade TWC had made; Mr. Mattern said the upgrades were to the billing system, not the cable service delivery systems. 10. Adjournment Chair Huiras adjourned the meeting at 9:10 p.m. Minutes prepared by: Respectfully submitted by: Linda Samson Reg Dunlap Recording Secretary Civic TV Coordinator