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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017/10/25 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 25, 2017 ST. LOUIS PARK WESTWOOD ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Maren Anderson, David Dyer, Cindy Hoffman, Abe Levine, Nathan Munson and Rolf Peterson MEMBERS ABSENT: Bruce Browning STAFF PRESENT: Jacqueline Larson, Communications and Marketing Manager, Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator and John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator OTHERS PRESENT: No Comcast or CenturyLink representatives or public 1. Call to order Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Anderson, Dyer, Hoffman, Levine, Munson and Peterson. 3. Approval of Minutes for May 10, 2017. It was moved by Commissioner Peterson, seconded by Commissioner Levine, to approve the minutes. The motion passed 6-0. 4. Adoption of Agenda It was moved by Commissioner Hoffman, seconded by Commissioner Dyer, to approve the agenda. The motion passed 6-0. 5. Public Comment - None 6. Reports & Discussion A. Consider franchise fee review for Comcast: 2015-2017 Mr. Dunlap summarized past practice for auditing. There is an obligation for due diligence, balanced by the fact that the audit doesn’t recover the cost of doing the audit. The Commission consensus, after significant discussion in 2013, was to conduct two audits of three year terms over the last eight years of the franchise, and an audit was conducted for 2011-2013. Staff’s recommendation is to consider waiving an audit for 2015 and next year, address whether to audit 2016, 2017 and 2018. The franchise ends in 2021, so we could consider auditing the last three years of the franchise which means 2018, 2019 and 2020. For tonight, since there is a three year look-back, we’re considering whether to audit 2015. Commissioner Levine asked if there was any reason to believe there would be any discrepancies since last year when we discussed this? Mr. Dunlap said he’d seen no headlines in trade press about Comcast audits that have made significant discoveries. Mr. McHugh asked if we had all been satisfied that Comcast has been transparent with everything that they do? He said Comcast sent a letter September 21 about upgrading to high definition (HD) TPT Weather and TPT Minnesota. The letter says it would only impact customers viewing in standard definition (SD). It does not say that customers who receive SD channels will no longer receive these channels. This kind of transparency is typical of the way they do business. It’s a cost of doing business for this Commission and the City to see if we have any misplaced concerns. We don’t know what we don’t know, but we know about some of the things they do. Commissioner Hoffman said it seems like Comcast sends a canned letter to everyone on the west side of the river, and asked if we can enforce having them being more clear on their letters? Mr. McHugh said they have to give proper notice if they are taking a channel away from a customer. Commissioner Peterson said that notice was typically in the bills, correct? And how many people see it in their bills. Mr. McHugh said that’s what we should get from them—show us the document sent to customers for notice. It also includes channel 204, TPT Kids, but the letter doesn’t say anything about that. He said to consider their business practices and what we might find, and if we don’t find anything, we certainly did our best. Chair Anderson asked if the audits focused on franchise fees? Mr. McHugh said that’s right, but this is a pattern of doing business. Is their reporting on channels as thorough as their reporting on finances? Commissioner Peterson said that over three years the City collected franchise fees of $1.8 million, and the last audit was $8,500. Would the next audit cost about the same? Mr. Dunlap said it varies a bit because sometimes we partner with other cities. Chair Anderson asked if we knew if other cities were looking to do an audit over these years? Mr. Dunlap said he hadn’t done that research, but that could be done before the December meeting when we have to decide. Commissioner Levine said the only way he would support this is if we could tie the audit to their disingenuous document on TPT channels. Because you played footsie with that letter, we don’t trust you. Make it clear there is a punishment that goes with being shady. Chair Anderson asked if there was enough funds in the budget to cover the audit? Mr. Dunlap said yes. Commissioner Levine said, forget the audit for a moment. What do we want to happen as a result of that letter? Do we want them to make a public announcement? What behavior do we want from them? And perhaps we make it a news item that we did the audit because of their things like that, and let the public know that we don’t trust them, and we hope this prevents this from happening again. Chair Anderson said that the public threat is more impactful than the audit itself, since they’re only paying $12,000 that’s minor to them. Mr. McHugh said the first thing to do is confirm the 30 day notice is still in effect. Chair Anderson asked if we get calls about things like this? Mr. Dunlap said he received one complaint about this. Mr. Dunlap summarized some points to follow up in a letter to Comcast: we’re disappointed in the notice letter which wasn’t clear that customers would lose the TPT channels; and we’re considering punitive action, including a franchise fee audit. Chair Anderson suggested adding that the City will look for partners to conduct an audit. There was Commission consensus approving this course of action. Commissioner Peterson said that’s what we should do, and that he’s not totally against doing an audit now but he would like to do it closer to the end of the franchise. Chair Anderson asked if in a future franchise we could require them to pay for the audits? Mr. Dunlap said we could propose that language. Mr. McHugh said that if all our ducks are in a row and they should have provided notice, then the Commission can recommend to Council to find them not in compliance with the franchise and federal law, which is a much bigger deal than an audit. Commissioner Dyer said that there’s a bigger communication issue than this one letter. There are many complaints in the log about people surprised by bill increases. Commissioner Munson agreed and said it was not transparent communication. Mr. Dunlap said he would add a request to provide us the notice provided to customers, because that could defuse the issue. Commissioner Munson said that lack of transparency hinders the City’s ability to help people who call City Hall with questions about what’s happened. We can’t provide the kind of service we’d like to, if the information hasn’t been provided to us, and it prevents us from helping you. B. Review Comcast compiled complaint log The complaint log includes 41 complaints in five months. Commissioner Dyer said there were a lot of complaints about costs going up, and Mr. Dunlap said the log begins in May and Comcast had a price increase June 1. Most years there are a handful of complaints about their price increases but the last two years there were 20 to 30 directly related to the price increase for regional sports channels and the broadcast TV fees. Commissioner Dyer commended staff for the way most complaints are quickly resolved, and Mr. Dunlap pointed out that both Ms. Larson and Mr. McHugh handle complaints as well. C. Discuss the City Council strategic goal: Using broadband to improve quality of life Several smart city articles were included in the packet, recommended by Commissioners Levine and Hoffman. The first topic addressed was a St. Paul library innovation on checking out mobile hot spots to allow internet access. Commissioner Dyer suggested that the Rec Center could check them out, for example. There was a broad discussion about the Wi-Fi the City provides, improving access to underserved people, the School District referendum and other topics. Ms. Larson said that PC’s for People is a nonprofit could help with the digital divide, and they provide support services as well. Staff had brought a proposal to the Council that was tabled because of concerns about repurposing hard drives, for example. The Commission supported the concept of using PC’s for People if security concerns could be worked out. Commissioner Peterson said he would contact the School District to find out if they have studies or information about underserved communities, ranging from youth to seniors. He said all communication from the District to students and parents is electronic, there are no notes in backpacks anymore. Commissioner Levine said he liked the article about what Jerusalem is doing with camera networks, security and parking, and had used their public Wi-Fi on the beach to read email and conduct business. He said this could be revisited when Chief Information Officer Clint Pires is available or as part of the smart city subcommittee. Commissioner Levine said that the 5G background was affected by the third rail of politics. He simply wanted an engineering background explanation, and tried repeatedly to line up that guest. D. Review CenturyLink second and third quarterly meetings & complaint log Mr. Dunlap said that CenturyLink has been widely advertising their “price for life.” Commissioner Levine said their service was not as fast or widespread as Comcast’s. 7. Communications from the Chair, Commissioners and City staff 8. Adjournment Chair Anderson adjourned the meeting at 8:11 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Reg Dunlap Civic TV Coordinator