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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 28, 1992 Work SessionNOTICE OF OFFIC?AL _W~.TING ************************** Notice is hereby given fh-t an official meeting is to be held in the City of Columbia Heights as follows: Neeting of: MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Date of Neeting: TUESDAY, JULY 28, 1992 Time of Neeting: 6:00 PM Location of Meeting: CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS 590 40TH AVENUE N.E. Purpose of Neeting: WORK SESSION: 1) Review Proposed Sale of Cable TV Company with Attorney Tom Creighton 2) Adjournment THE MINUTES OF THE CABLE COMMUNICATION COMMISSION MEETING OF THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1992 The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. by Chairperson Dave Szurek. ROLL CALL: Commission Members: Dave Szurek, Reuben Ruen, Henke and Dennis Stroik. Ken Council Representative: Bruce Nawrocki (arrived at 8:25) City Representative: Cable TV Representative: Linda Magee Kathi Donnelly Cohen and Kevin Griffin Cable Attorney: Tom Creighton Motion by Dennis, seconded by Dave Szurek to approve the minutes from the meeting of June 18, 1992. All ayes. OLD BUSINESS mo Channel Check Channnel # 7 had a grainy picture and Channel #57 was loud. Kathi noted that CNN and CS?AN have been repaired and are back on the automatic audio control system. Correspondence Log and Complaint Follow Up. There were no complaints received during the last month. Kathi distribut- ed a sur~nary of the correspondence-that she received during the month of June. Kathi took a complaint received from Russ Paulson regarding lack of cable reception on his main floor television. Kathi was to check on the previous service calls and determine the problem. Reuben stated he was somewhat dissatisfied when they switched from a free preview of a Pay Channel back to regular service last week. He had been in the middle of a movie when the change took place. He felt these changes could be made at a more opportune time. Kevin said they have many systems to change and they take some time, so some systems get an extra hour or so of programming, which is what happened in this instance. CABLE COMMUNICATION COMMISSION MINUTES PAGE 2 JULY 16, 1992 Co Do Response to Questions Raised Goncerning 1991 Annual Report Kevin Griffin responded to the unanswered question regarding "Why were rates raised in 1991 when expenses went down and revenues were up?" He said the decision to raise rates is based on a number of factors. One being what the market will bear and the other being inflationary factors, expenses, and contractual obligations. However, it is difficult to establish an exact difference between Revenues and Expenses for our system alone. Revenues stated in the report are actual monies received, however, expenses are allocated. The expenses for our system are figured at the same ratio as the system as a whole. When adjustments are made to the expenses, they are made at a similar ratio for each system, and therefore, may reflect incorrect figures for reporting purposes. Actually, the worth of our system was overstated due to adjustments made to the expenses, when in fact, our overall operating expenses were up for 1991. Kevin would like to go over the entire report with Linda to see what information can be made system specific, and what can't. Linda w~nts to establish some type of report that will be consistent and compare figures accurately. It was noted that none of the other systems re~uire a detailed annual report such as the one we receive. Status of Inventory of Equipment at the Studio Dave Szurek and Larry Krugen made a comparison of the cities list with what is actually at the studio. Some of the equipment has been moved, some has been replaced (i.e. 3/4" equipment with 1/2" equipment), and some w~s recorded incorrectly to begin with (on the list provided at the time of franchise renewal). Kevin Griffin stated the list provided by Larry on July 10 no~ is correct. Dave Szurek stated the only thing he is concerned about is the lack of a portable switcher. It has been placed in the Editing Suite and is no longer portable. He feels this piece of equipment is some- thing that should be provided to maintain portability to equipment used in telecasting live. Some things like microphones, headsets, and Black and White Receivers are also missing that were once there. These items haven't been replaced as they may not be needed as they once were. Tom suggested we hire an independent to evaluate the equipment at the studio and determine if it is an operable studio as is, or if we need other equipment which we could negotiate for as the original list is inaccurate. Eo Other Old Business Linda reported to the Commission that the Police Department has been conducting a monthly testing of the Emergency Broadcast System all along. It is done on the first Wednesday of the month at 1 pm. CABLE COMMUNICATION COMMISSION MINUTES PAGE 3 JULY 16, 1992 NEW BUSINESS A. Recommendation to the city Council Regarding Transfer of Ownership Linda stated that although we had.planned to make our recommendation to the City Council for the July 27th meeting, they will be unable to decide on it until August 10, 1992. The issue that is still unresolved is the fact that the franchise requires Automatic Volume Control on all channels, and according to the Technical Audit of the system, Automatic Volume Control is not currently on the over the air broadcast channels or access channels. There is to be a work session with the City Council and the Cable Attorney to decide how they ~ant to proceed. Tom sun~arized the Resolution to be considered regarding the Transfer of Ownership and the process that needs to be followed. He suggested the Commission make a recommendation to the City Council pending an agreement can be reached about the unresolved issues of the Automatic Volume Control and the Equipment Inventory at the Studio. He pointed out that the Commission is only a recommending body to the City Council. Bruce Nawrocki stated that he intends to vote no on the resolution and on the Transfer itself because questions raised about the Value of our System have not been adequately answered. He went on to say the consumer has paid more than is justified by expenses and services they receive. He is concerned about rates being raised constantly at a rate greater than expenses are increased. He feels this is a reasonable factor for refusing to approve the transfer. Tom Creighton agreed with Bruce's statement, however, he had to advise the City that you cannot deny Transfer of Ownership based on this as it would be an implication of rate regulation, and you cannot legally regulate rates. He also reported that the other Commissions have all recommended approval to their City Councils. Kevin Griffin pointed out the new owners have not increased the debt load more than necessary. They have kept it to a minimum so interest expenses will not be increased. Bruce asked what the price per subscriber was when Hauser bought the system as compared to now. Tom stated that Hauser acquired the system for $1200 per subscriber and is selling it for $2100 per subscriber, after doubling the subscriber base. This does not accurately reflect how much the figure was inflated due to expenses, money he put in the system, etc. All the books would need to be audited for all the years to establish the real ~-alue per subscriber for the system. There was some discussion concerning the Automatic Volume Control. Kevin Griffin suggested an alternative solution be made concerning this issue because the Franchise language was not meant to state Automatic Audio Control on all channels. He said it would create more problems with signals on the over the air broadcast channels. CABLE COMMUNICATION COMMISSIONMINUTES PAGE 4 JULY 16, 1992 Motion by Dennis, seconded by Ken to reconmlend the Resolution for Approval of the Transfer of ~a~ership be forwarded to the City Council subject to coming to a resolution of the Access Studio Equipment and Automatic Volume Control issues. Dennis Stroik, Reuben Ruen, Ken Henke, Dave Szurek--Ayes. Bruce Nawrocki-Nay. Motion carries. Linda stated that notices will be sent out when the date of the work session is set to discuss this issue if any of the Commission members wish to be present. Other New Business Ken He~¢e asked what programming will be going on where Christian Science Monitor ~as? Ken'suggested putting the Learning Channel on full time in that spot. Kevin said he would look into it and that it had been suggested before. He said they may eventually combine the Learning Channel and Discovery. REPORTS A. Report of the Cable Commissoners There was nothing new to report. B. Report of North Central Kathi reviewed the enclosed reports. A question was raised regarding the number of homes marketable--where did this large increase come from? Kathi reported that the Starlite Motel ~-as recently added to the system. Kathi brought information on the triple cast coverage of the Olympics being offered by Cable TV. She passed out a list showing the costs, line up, and schedule of events. C. Report of the Cable Attorney There is a bill that will go to the floor of the house on July 23rd. It is different from S12 so it will end up back in the Committee before being acted on. Bills coming out of the House tend to be more consumer friendly. Tom also reported the FCC lifted regulations about Broadcasting Companies owning Cable Systems& telephone companies can now supply video signals. D. Report of the Assistant to the City Manager There w~s nothing new to report. Motion by Bruce, seconded by Dermis to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 pm. Respectfully submitted, Shelley~ns~~on Secretary