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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017/12/13 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF DECEMBER 13, 2017 ST. LOUIS PARK CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Maren Anderson, Bruce Browning, Cindy Hoffman, Abe Levine, Nathan Munson and Rolf Peterson MEMBERS ABSENT: David Dyer STAFF PRESENT: Clint Pires, Chief Information Officer, Jacqueline Larson, Communications and Marketing Manager, Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator and John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator OTHERS PRESENT: Karly Werner, Comcast Director of External Affairs 1. Call to order Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Anderson, Browning, Hoffman, Levine, Munson and Peterson. 3. Approval of Minutes for October 25, 2017. Several corrections were identified. It was moved by Commissioner Peterson, seconded by Commissioner Levine, to approve the minutes as amended. The motion passed 6-0. 4. Adoption of Agenda It was moved by Commissioner Hoffman, seconded by Commissioner Levine, to approve the agenda. The motion passed 6-0. 5. Public Comment - None 6. Reports & Discussion A. Chief Information Officer update on USI buildout in 2017 and City initiatives Clint Pires reviewed fiber infrastructure projects added in the City in 2017, including conduit along Texas, Xenwood and Utica Avenues, and in the Sorenson neighborhood near Highway 7. Fiber loops were completed near the West End and the Municipal Service Center, which relates to disaster recovery. A leg of fiber and conduit was extended to the Shelard Park area, and fiber was extended along Minnetonka Boulevard to service a sanitary sewer lift station. About eight miles of fiber was added in 2017 which brings the total fiber network to over fifty miles. Wi-Fi was added to the Recreation Outdoor Center (ROC), and improved at the Veterans Amphitheater. The wireless water meter project was completed as well. The free Wi-Fi hot spots are an expected amenity and also support the City’s commitment to racial equity. Most of the major parks now have free City Wi-Fi. Looking ahead to 2018, fiber upgrades will be made in the Elmwood neighborhood, along Wooddale Avenue and Monterey Drive, Water Treatment Plant 4 by Susan Lindgren and to Westwood Hills Nature Center. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) will be a big project for 2018, which is the hardware and software for lift stations, water towers and all utilities operations. Utilities is doing upgrades to hardware at 33 sites around town, so we’re taking advantage of our fiber infrastructure to replace the VHF radio alerts that are currently the way the system warns staff about problems. The fiber system is more reliable and redundant than the radio alerts. Turning to U.S. Internet (USI), they activated their first households in St. Louis Park in June at Era on Excelsior, formerly Meadowbrook Manor. Also served are Village in the Park and apartment complexes south of Wayzata Boulevard. The City has requested USI provide service first to low income areas, and USI met that commitment. Businesses areas served by USI are the Wayzata Boulevard corridor, Park Glen Road, the Parkdales, West End and the Interchange Tower. In 2018, USI intends to start serving single family homes in the Sorenson neighborhood, as well as apartments at Louisiana Court, Village Garden, Via, formerly PLACE, and other areas to be announced. In summary, 2017 was very productive with fiber to the premise happening but will take years to complete. Fiber and wireless will continue to co-exist and complement each other, and 5G is coming, too. Major City Council directives are being achieved to make St. Louis Park a Technology Connected Community, and to advance racial equity. Commissioner Browning saw a TPT program about internet security where they hacked into water tower operation software. He asked about cyber security for the City. Mr. Pires said security training is mandatory and annual. The City has made a lot of efforts, but it’s important to test and find where there are vulnerabilities to address. Most security threats are not technological, but human failures. It’s a never-ending battle to face the thousands of attempted intrusions per day. Commissioner Levine asked, if you could be king, what would you like from this group? Mr. Pires said finding ways to make St. Louis Park a Technology Connected City include some of the City’s current activities, without calling us a smart city. He said the City is well positioned to be ready for the Internet of Things (IOT) because of the fiber infrastructure, so for the Commission to envision what a smart city looks like would be time well spent. The next step is to find out how technology can help improve quality of life. It would be helpful if the Commission can brainstorm those topics and develop some concepts to report to City Council. Commissioner Peterson asked when USI might start in the Sorenson neighborhood, and what their pricing structure was like? Mr. Pires said plans probably weren’t finalized yet, and that pricing would be similar to what they have offered elsewhere and post on their web site. Commissioner Munson asked if there were any projects that you’d like to do that didn’t make the list? Mr. Pires said sure, that the SCADA project alone was a huge project to complete and limits time spent on other projects. He said that he’d like to do more with smart cities and improving quality of life, and getting people acclimated to technologies, which are harder than putting fiber in the ground. 6. Reports & Discussion B. Update from Comcast on TPT channels Karly Werner, Comcast Director of External Affairs, said that Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) changed the signal they provide to Comcast from standard definition (SD) to high definition (HD), so that’s what Comcast has to provide based on their contract with TPT. She said Comcast has worked with them locally and they are finding a technical fix so we can provide both signals again in early 2018, after some equipment is purchased and installed. Mr. Dunlap said a big concern was that 30 days notice was not provided to customers that a channel would no longer be available, which was different than usual. Comcast usually is very specific about changes to the channel lineup, that channel x is moving to channel y position. Ms. Werner said Comcast provides 30 days notice when it’s in our control. That was not the case here, and the law is clear that obligation doesn’t apply when it’s not possible. Mr. McHugh asked if that means the TPT change happened within a window of 30 days? Ms. Werner said that’s right, that’s my understanding. Mr. McHugh said it would have been in Comcast’s best interests to tell TPT about the federal law requirement of 30 days notice, rather than saying that it’s out of my control. Commissioner Hoffman said that usually would be listed in the contract. Ms. Werner said that it was a nationally negotiated contract, and there was a breakdown between what was going on nationally and the best interest’s locally. We reached out to TPT locally and we worked it out, and that’s good news. Commissioner Hoffman asked if a placeholder could be put in the channel position like when there is technical difficulty, that says the contract doesn’t exist for example, rather than ghosting the customer. Ms. Werner said they did not ghost their customers. TPT made the choice to move to HD, so we didn’t have the signal. Commissioner Hoffman said it seems like there’s an obligation to let the customer know the reason why a channel’s gone, even if it isn’t your fault. Commissioner Levine said it would be in Comcast’s self-interest so you don’t get a thousand support calls. Mr. McHugh asked if other Comcast areas also lost channels, and Ms. Werner said there were, including Oregon, Washington and California. Commissioner Munson asked if they were working with TPT to prepare any communications for customers about the resumption of those channels. Ms. Werner said there will be a bill message letting people know that TPT channels are back on the SD tier, in addition to the new HD tier, so they will be on both. Mr. Dunlap said that this addressed the questions he had, and was glad the Commission got to ask follow up questions and that Karly was here to answer those questions. Commissioner Levine asked if she could talk about the gig service. Ms. Werner said sure, and that the engineers are busy implementing it and that’s why they couldn’t be here to talk about it tonight but we’ll set that up early next year. It is a great upgrade to the network to allow gig speeds to every house that we serve, and will be available by the end of the first quarter next year. Commissioner Levine asked if it was a gig upload and download? Ms. Werner said no, it’s not symmetrical, but that she could get the upload information. It is currently available in St. Louis Park and all cities have been notified when it will be available. She said that Mr. Pires mentioned racial equity, and that the Internet Essentials program addresses that with $9.95 internet access for families with a child in the school lunch program. Comcast also provides digital literacy training as well. Commissioner Browning asked about the price, and Ms. Werner said the common price for the stand-alone gig product was $109.99, plus a gig-enabled modem rental or you can buy your own modem. She said you’ll hear more about it soon, when it’s available all over the metro area. Mr. Pires said that net neutrality was likely to be overturned, and asked what Comcast would do if it was. Ms. Werner said that Comcast has released statements on this, and Comcast supports net neutrality principals and has never engaged in throttling, discrimination or paid prioritization before the Title 2 rules were in place, and if those rules are removed, they won’t change their practice in any way. 6. Reports & Discussion C. Consider franchise fee review for Comcast: 2015-2017 Mr. Dunlap said he surveyed other metro area franchise officers, as directed by the Commission, to find out if any are considering franchise fee reviews for those years. He had one response which was a maybe. At the last Commission meeting, the staff recommendation was hung up after the TPT issue came up. He repeated the staff recommendation to waive the franchise fee review for 2015 and reconsider it again late next year. The Commission’s previous intent was to complete one more review for three years, before the end of the franchise in 2021. Chair Anderson asked if Commissioners were in agreement, and they were. Mr. Dunlap said that since no action was being taken, a motion was not required. 6. Reports & Discussion D. Review Comcast compiled complaint log Mr. Dunlap showed a slide of the Comcast complaints for the year through December 7. The total complaint calls dropped from 85 last year and a high of 102 in 2013 to 69 this year. The bad news is that technical services complaints have jumped again, from 10 last year to 22 this year, and billing from 26 last year to 33. Most complaint categories have gone down, including telephone customer service complaints. Mr. McHugh said that generally Comcast customer service was good, and if it wasn’t, our phone would never stop ringing. 6. Reports & Discussion E. Review CenturyLink fourth quarterly meeting memo & complaint log Mr. Dunlap said that Chair Anderson and Mr. McHugh were also able to attend the meeting with CenturyLink. Prism TV customers have dropped in St. Louis Park and in other metro cities. Their explanation was they’ve been in the market for a year and the special offers are ending, and they are having a hard time retaining customers at the retail price. In other markets where CenturyLink actively advertises Prism TV, they gain three customers for each one they lose, but they haven’t been advertising Prism TV here. 6. Reports & Discussion F. Draft Annual Report for 2017 Mr. Dunlap said he would use the updated 2017 Work Plan with summaries to prepare the annual report, after further direction from the City Manager’s office. He will keep the Commission posted if there is a joint meeting with the Council like last year. 6. Reports & Discussion G. Set meetings for 2018 Mr. Dunlap said the Commission has traditional met on the second or fourth Wednesday of the month to avoid Planning Commission meetings. He has prepared a draft work plan of items for five meetings next year, including a small cells topic raised by Commissioner Browning for a meeting in May. The meetings were set for March 14, May 9, July 25, October 10 and December 12. Commissioner Levine said that he had met a high level Sprint contact who lived in Eagan, and would follow up with him to talk about 5G. There are conflicts between cable companies and wireless companies regarding paying for use of the right of way that complicates things. 6. Reports & Discussion H. Draft Work Plan for 2018 Mr. Pires said that Verizon had mounted three sets of equipment on Park Place Boulevard, but no other companies had come forward with a specific proposal at this point. The conversation when the legislation was proposed was a push to be ready for the Super Bowl and there’s not much time left. Commissioner Levine said he was looking forward to the smart cities conversation. 6. Reports & Discussion I. Elect Chair & Vice Chair, effective next meeting Abe Levine was elected Chair, and Nathan Munson was elected Vice Chair. 7. Communications from the Chair, Commissioners and City staff Chair Anderson thanked the City staff for doing excellent work for the Commission and for being flexible. Mr. McHugh passed out the latest TV15 program production list, and said he was soon going to edit the Holiday Train video from Sunday. Ms. Larson said about 5,000 people attended and over $34,000 and 5,500 pounds of food were raised for STEP. 8. Adjournment . Chair Anderson adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Reg Dunlap Civic TV Coordinator