Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 21, 2001THE MII~,'LTTES OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION FROM TH~TRSD~>Y, JLTI`:E 21, 2001 The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Dennis Stroik, Chairperson. ROLL CALL: Commission Members: Dennis Stroik, Bradley Peterson, Reuben Ruen, Bob Buboltz, and David Mahoney Council Representative: Bruce Nawrocki -UNABLE TO ATTEND City Representative: Jean Kuehn AT & T Broadband Rcp: Kathi Donnelly-Cohen Legal Counsel: Stephen Guzzetta David Mahoney was introduced as a new member of the commission whose term will expire Apri12003 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Bob Buboltz, seconded byBrad Peterson, to approve the minutes from the meeting of<4ril 19, ?001. All ayes. OLD BUSINESS A. Channel Check Channels 31 & 55 had low volume and Channel 58 was slow to sink in. Kathi will check on this. B Correspondence Log and Complaint Follow Up. #147-Klimek-Complained about poor reception of 4-5-9 & 11. When she called for an appointment, she was told it would be two weeks before service could be done. She thought that was an excessive delay. Kathi Donnelly-Cohen said due to the CSG conversion, the service schedule looked full. The Cable Co. sent a tech out on April 30`'' to remedy the problem. #148-Meinhardt-He is being billed for a converter box and doesn't have one. His bill is to be corrected. #149-Egli-Neighbors temporary cable wire is laying on the ground in her yard. The line was moved out of her way until it can be installed permanently. #150-Solem-Complained about new price he is paying for digital package that he changed to after a telemarketer called him. Kathi sent him a letter explaining the packages and prices for digital service, so he could decide which one he wants. He disagreed with the letter and left Kathi several messages. She researched his account and found that he has changed his programming package three times in the last 2 months, and therefore his billing is very difficult to understand. He had an $82 balance on his account, which she credited in full. She sent him another letter and explained this, and again asked him to decide on the programming package he really wants. She will report back at the next meeting. Brad Peterson questioned the procedure when dispatching a service tech to a call and the fact they don't receive notification of cancellations. He had a call scheduled, called in the morning to cancel, and the service tech still came out. Kathi explained the procedure followed in routing and scheduling the service techs. It is hard to cancel calls, once printed, as there are many sub contracted techs doing work in addition to those on staff. C Franchise Fee Analysis Update Steve Guzzetta reported the Ramsey-Washington Commission will discuss this issue at their next meeting. Mr. Seykora from AT & T Broadband attended their June meeting and provided some additional information to the commission for their consideration. They will review the information and discuss it at their next meeting. TELECOMMUNICATIONS MEETING MINUTES OF JUNE 21, 2001 PAGE 2 D. 2000 Annual Report-Remaining Outstanding Items *The Guidelines for Community Television Channel 15 Equipment/F'acilities were re- submitted. *The attachments for Form 395 were provided. ~m - r__ -- s -~-~- _ 'i'--~•_ s - ' - -'' ' - ' 111G !lllallclal SldlGlClentS with vG11111:a11UI1 rJy an aC:coUYltant requlrea all aUUlt to Ue performed. This is being done and as soon as the new financial information is ready, it will be forwarded to the City. The acceptance of the Annual Report is tabled until all the items have been submitted. E. Other Old Business Kathi reported that they had made an offer to someone for the Access Studio position to replace Eddie Harris. The person at first accepted the position, then later declined the position due to another position he accepted in production. The position has been re- posted. NEW BUSINESS A. Receipt of the IS` Quarter Franchise Fees The ls` Quarter Franchise Fee payment of $31,655.30 was received and a copy of such was enclosed in the agenda packet. B. Notice of Rate Increase Effective June 1, 2001 for Road Runner Service. Notice was received May 1, 2001 regarding a price increase effective June 1, 2001 for two way Road Runner Service. The price for this service will be increased $6.00 resulting in a cost of $45.95/month. As a reminder, the price for Basic Service, equipment, and installation will also be increased effective July 1st. The City will need to review and approve the 1240 and 1205 rate filings. The review will be done in conjunction with other cities as has been done in the past. David Mahoney reported his Internet access was not accessible tonight. Kathi will check on the reason for this. C. Changes to AT & T Roadrunner Service A letter was received May 24`h regarding changes that will be made to the cable Internet services. As part of the FCC obligations with the merger, AT & T Broadband was required to sever its ties to RoadRunner. On June 3, 2001, At & T RoadRunner home page content will change from RoadRunner to Excite~Home. The new content will allow subscribers to customize their individual home page with the services they are most interested in. Effective June 3`d, the technical services were also consolidated for Internet support. Tier 1 and Tier 2 support for customers will move to Converges. D. Notice of Price Change for Converter Boxes Prices for converter boxes will be $3.80/month effective July 1, 2001. This amount is still lower than the maximum permitted rate of X6.62 calculated on FCC Form 1205. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES OF JI~NE 21, 2001 PAGE E. Review of Request from ISD #13 far Funding of Hardware and Software for Video Production Class Jean Kuehn had called Kathy Kelly to request her attendance at our meeting, but was L9.. L__ T.. ,. _. l '9. 9_ 1'~i__ _ J J 9~ Y]t__ LL11Q.U1C to reQ.l: 11101. JGdll WaJ Urlldnllilar Wltll sollle of U1C lteitls ~egl.lCSleU aljU W<)UlU 11KC more information before bringing this request before the City Manager and the Council. The commission members discussed the items being requested and thought the items looked like a package to upgrade their present equipment. They questioned whether these specific items were needed or if other alternatives would also work, and if price comparisons were obtained. The commission members concurred they would like to consider this request, but needed more information. Dennis will try and contact her and ask her to attend our next meeting. F. Other New Business Reuben Ruen questioned the duties of the Telecommunications Commission and felt the duties needed to be better defined. He had particular concerns due to the recent purchase of a wireless data system that is to be used by Parkview Villa and the Liquor Stores to incorporate them into our network. This item was authorized to be purchased without any input from the Telecommunications Commission. He thought that was a mistake. He was not upset that the Council purchased such a package, but that they did so uninformed. He has concerns regarding the fact this system operates without a license and maybe subject to future interference if someone decides to use the same frequency. He also questioned privacy/security of the data that maybe transmitted. A discussion took place on the best way to ensure that the Administrative Staff and City Council members are better informed before making these types of decisions. It was decided to have the commission members review the duties of the commission, make recommended changes, and then to discuss these changes with the city council and staff at a work session. REPORTS A. Report of Commissioners Educational-Nothing to report Government- Nothing to report Library-Nothing to report Public-Nothing to report B. Report of AT & T Broadband- The reports from May were enclosed in the agenda packets. New reports will be drafted due to the conversion to the new system. AT & T representatives are meeting with Tom Creighton to establish what information is wanted and useful to the various cities. C. Report of the Cable Attorney *Columbia Heights is in a coalition of cities to review the 1240 and 1205 forms for the rate increase that will take effect July 1, 2001. All forms and orders issued during the last 4-5 years will be reviewed during this process to ensure that they have been correctly submitted. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES OF JtTNE 21, 2001 PAGE 4 *Steve Guzzetta reported he has not had any further communications with Everest Corp. re aldiii~ their re'"ucst to "osi vile tiicir a~ iil:atiorl foT a francillse. He rlas advised all cities to terminate the application and to refund any remaining funds. Everest can then re- submit their request when, and if, they decide to proceed. *Steve Guzzetta updated commission members on a case that was decided in the Washington DC regarding the construction of a Tower for High Definition TV Transmission. The District ordered the construction to be stopped due to height and location issues. The courts ruled in favor of the District as the tower was for TV transmission, not personal wireless communications. Under federal law, government jurisdictions cannot prohibit the construction of towers used for personal wireless communication needs. However, construction of towers/antennas can be restricted by cities depending on the use of the tower. *Steve also reported that Section 253 of the Communications Act, which states that no one can prohibit any entity from providing cable services, was challenged in the state of Virginia. A private cable company filed the litigation because they felt a city shouldn't provide cable services in direct competition with a private company. The FCC ruled that cities are an entity and can provide cable services if they choose. *The federal law has upheld a City's right to manage the use of their right of ways and to charge a fair and reasonable fee to do so. D. Report of the Assistant to the City Manager There was nothing further to report. Motion by Brad Peterson, seconded by Bob Buboltz, to adjourn the meeting at 8:10 pm. All ayes. Respectfully submitted, Shelley Hansom Secretary