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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 17, 2003THE MINUTES OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION FRvivi THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2003 The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Dennis Stroik, Chairperson. R(1T T ("AT T (''nmmiccinn Marnharc• Excused-Absent Members Unexcused Absence Council. Representative City Representative: Legal Counsel: Comcast Representative: APPROVAL OF MINUTES Tlannic Ctrnilr Ranhan Reran Tlan C~z~aa anr3 Tlava Mahoney. Ken Henke Brad Peterson and Bob Buboltz Bruce Nawrocki Linda Magee and Jean Kuehn Steve Guzzetta David Nyberg, Corp Affairs Manager Motion by Dennis Stroik, second by Dan Swee, to approve the Jninutes from the meeting of May 1 S, 2003. All ayes. OLD BUSINESS A. Channel Check Everything was ok. B. Correspondence Log and Follow Up on Complaints Don Wiegand--1.606 W. Innsbruck Pkwy NE-He was unhappy with the Comcast telemarketer regarding incorrect information he was given for a special package offer. The situation was resolved by Comcast giving him aone-month credit to his account and checking to make sure that he is pleased with the new digital package he is receiving. C. New Digital Packages A letter was received May 20, 2003 regarding the new digital packages being offered to new customers. Current customers will be able to keep their existing packages, but will eventually be transitioned to a common channel lineup and packaging. D. Other Old Business Commission members commended Jean Kuehn and Steven Antus on the Jamboree coverage and the narration of the parade which has been broadcast on our Access Channel. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 17, 2003 nnrr. ~ rt~~i; t. NEW BUSINESS A. Annual Report Chairperson Stroik asked for any comments on the Annual Report. This report is considered to be a standard report that meets the minimum requirement of our franchise. It is sure to be a topic of discussion in the negotiations of the renewal of the franchise. Motion by Dave Mahoney, seconded by Dennis Stroik to accept the Annual Report. All Ayes. MOTION PASSED. B. New Channel Guide and Pricing Sheet Enclosed in the agenda packets was the new channel guide and pricing sheets that became effective July 1, 2003, for both the analog service and the digital service line up. C. Franchise Fees A letter was received July 1, 2003 regarding the review of the itemizing of franchise fees which is done to avoid over or under collecting fees from cable service customers. The franchise fees were adjusted effective July 1, 2003, from 5.49% to 6.05% to reflect payment amounts per government regulations. Commission members questioned the percentage amount as they thought the previous fee had been set at 5%. Steve Guzzetta explained to the members that the City did receive 5% of the gross revenues and that Comcast can now also pass through revenues received from Advertising and the Home Shopping Channel. The wording on the notice to subscribers caused some concern, therefore, there was a meeting with representatives of the cable company and Steve Guzzetta to establish. acceptable wording to reduce the amount of confusion regarding the amount of franchise fees collected. It was also decided to discontinue using a specific % amount and that fees will be reviewed annually. The revised wording will be placed on bills starting with the next billing cycle. D. Annual Privacy Notice A copy of the bill. insert of the Annual Privacy Notice was enclosed in the agenda packets. These were sent out beginning with the July 5 billing cycle. E. Grant Request from Bryan Olson Bryan Olson from Real Life Video proposed the making of a video production that focuses on the history of the City of Columbia Heights. He plans to produce a 60 to 90 minute video and enclosed an estimate of what he feels the costs would be to produce such a video. He is requesting a grant of $18,445. lELECO1V11V11J1V1CAlIOlVJ CV1V11V11JJ1O1V 1V11 Vl lJ1EJ JULY 17, 2003 PAGE 3 Ken. Henke who could not be present at the meeting, sent his comments to Jean regarding this rannact Tian xxTac not in favor of m-antincr tha ramiact for fiinrlc ac ha faalc it is a ~nmmPmial ...y~....,~. ~~.,.~ ...~~ ..~,.... ,.~..,~ .,~ ~,,u.,..~.b ...., ~.,.1....,.,. ~.,. ~..~...., .,., .~.. ,......, .,..., ....,.,.....~.....,.». company looking for funds to do a project possibly resulting in a profit for them, which. is not allowed under the current guidelines. He also raised the following issues: 1. Not a Columbia Heights Resident 2. Grants are not meant for wages, they are meant for supplies. 3. The proposal does not specify what the money would be used for, and that is a requirement in the grant guidelines. 4. The amount we can give out as a grant is limited, and that amount is only a small portion of the dollar figure requested. What are the other sources of funding? A discussion took place regarding the request. Dan Swee also felt it looked more like a bid and that the request included the billing for his time. Steve Guzzetta advised the commission that according to the guidelines, incomplete applications are not to be considered, and this is not a complete application. Also each organization requesting funds cannot be awarded more than $10,000. If it met all. the criteria necessary and was approved by the commission, the request would then be forwarded to the City Council for their approval. Jean stated. that she had given Mr. Olson a copy of the grant guidelines when he submitted the application enclosed in the agenda packets. Mr. Olson felt he had submitted everything he needed at that time to qualify it as a proper application. Bruce Nawrocki commented that he felt the project maybe of interest to the Columbia Heights Historical Society and they may want to have some input in a project of this sort. He would like to see what they think of the project. Motion by Dan Swee, seconded by Dave Mahoney to reject the request as it is not a proper application. Staff was directed to send Mr.Olson notification of the decision and to enclose another copy of the guidelines/criteria that must be met. All ayes. MOTION CARRIED. A. Election of Officers Dennis Stroik stated he was no longer interested in serving as the Chairperson of the Commission. However, the other commission members felt he does a good job and with the renewal. of the franchise coming soon, they felt he would be the best person to continue serving in this position. Motion by Dan Swee, seconded by Dave Mahoney to nominate Dennis Stroik for Chairperson. All Ayes. Motion by Dave Mahoney, seconded by Dan Swee to close nominations. Swee, Ruen, and Mahoney-aye. Stroik-abstain. Motion Passed. B. Annual Holiday Dinner It was the consensus of the Commission to go on record that due to the budget constraints of the City, that the Annual Holiday Dinner for members and their spouses, be discontinued. They would enjoy something low key such as ordering pizzas or subs for their December or January meeting, but thought they should be fiscally responsible and set precedence for other commission groups. TELCOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES rr Tr v i ~ ~nn~ J VL 1 1 /, GVVJ PAGE 4 C. Other New Business Jean shared a copy of a report of the June testing of the emergency warning systems on the digital systems. Time Warner, Comcast, and Charter all reported they had problems with the audio when the testing was done. They have since corrected the problem. Commission members would like to see NASA programming added to one of the reserved channels not being used currently, even if it is temporary. Channels 14 and 20 were mentioned as being two available at the present time. REPORTS A. Report of Commissioners Education-Nothing to report Library-Nothing to report Public-Nothing to report Government-New equipment has been ordered and will be installed soon for Channel 16 (Government Access) and Channel 19 (Library Access). The new computer and software will aid the programming and scheduling for the channels. Liaison positions will be assigned at the next meeting. B. Report of Comcast- The reports for April and May were included in the agenda packets. Dave Nyberg, Corporate Affairs Manager for Comcast, updated the Commission on the transition of the domain. change for their Hi-speed customers. He also stated Comcast is in the process of testing new technology for programming for high definition TV. They hope to offer this programming by the end of the summer. He reported that they have been in contact with local broadcasting channels to include them in the packages that will be offered. C. Report of the Cable Attorney Steve reported that Comcast is reviewing the way sales tax is figured to ensure it is being done correctly. D. Report of the Assistant to the City Manager Nothing further to report. Motion by Reuben Ruen, seconded by Dan Swee, to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 pm. All ayes. Respectfully submitted, Shelley Hanson ~' Secretary