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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 16, 2003THE MINUTES OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION rnnr,r 1' i~vlvl THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2003 The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Dennis Stroik, Chairperson. R(1T T (~'AT T • ('nmrniccinn Mamharc Council Representative City Representatives Legal Counsel: Comcast Representative APPROVAL OF MINUTES Tlannic Qtrnilr Ranhan Rnan Tlan Qzz~aa Kan Nanlra .~„ ..., ~~,,.,..,.,....~.,.., ... w.. ,~...,.,, ~>.,.. ~..,...~,,, Bob Buboltz, and Dave Mahoney. Brad Peterson arrived about 7:20 pm Bruce Nawrocki was present prior to meeting. He was excused to attend interviews with potential Commission members. Linda Magee Steve Guzzetta Kathi Donnelly-Cohen Motion by Dan Swee, second by Dennis Stroilz, to appf~ohe t1~e miyautes froi7z the meeting of July 17, 2003. All ayes. OLD BUSINESS A. Channel Check Volume levels continue to vary greatly. Channe122 was very low. Channel 62 was slow to sync in. "No data available" was shown on all chamlels. Kathi Domlelly-Cohen stated that we had a bad box or needed to have the present one re-programmed. She told Linda to call Bruce in the Service Dept. and he would handle it. B. Correspondence Log and Follow Up on Complaints Michael & Joyce Hurley-1119 42 %z Ave NE-Had problems with cable and Internet service. It was found that some parts had been improperly installed, and some bad jumpers were found inside the residence. Different techs were sent out Sept 24 who corrected the problems. They are now happy with their service again. Joanne Student-called Dennis Stroik and said she recently had solicitors at her door trying to sell Comcast Programming Packages. She didn't like their approach. Kathi stated these solicitors have been pulled from this area and will no longer be contacting residents in this manner. Moreover, Kathi will. put a "do not contact" on her account. C. Other Old Business Linda reported that after the last meeting, per the direction of the commission, she sent Bryan Olson a letter stating what the Commission's recommendation was regarding his grant request, along with another copy of the grant guidelines. Mr. Olson came in and got a copy of the minutes and then sent a letter saying he would be withdrawing his proposal due to the fact that his history video does not meet the criteria, and seemingly no provision can be made to deal with a "for profit" vendor. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES ~nm~r~r,r> > ~ ~nn~ Vl.l lJDlill 1.U, LVVJ PAGE 2 NEW BUSINESS O Fran~hica NPPC fnr Ind (l..ortAr 7nn2 t ~. 11N11V111~1V 1 VVJ 1V1 V ~ULtl tVl LVV/ Franchise fees in the amount of $34,429.26 were received in July for 2°d Quarter. B. Rate Regulation Options A copy of a memo dated April 9, 2003, from Creighton, Bradley, and Guzzetta LLC was enclosed in the agenda packets regarding review of FCC Fonns 1240 and 1205 filed by Comcast in February 2003. The forms submitted establish proposed rates for the period of June 1,2003 to May 31, 2004. To prevent the rates from taking effect, action would need to have been taken within 90 days of the date of the rate filing. As no action was taken within the 90 days, the rates became effective but the City has 12 months to review and act on those forms. If no action is taken within the 12 month period, the City cannot at a later date order a refund or reduction with respect to the current rate filing. Comcast is not charging the maximum permitted rate it calculates for basic cable service, and no increase in rates charged has occurred since July 2002. The memo went on to outline the four options the City has citing the benefits and drawbacks to each option. Option A is to do nothing, but we risk losing the right to use the current rate information in future rate proceedings. Option B is to decertify which would eliminate the need for Comcast to file rate forms supporting its increases and since there is currently no competition in this area, monopoly pricing could occur. With Option C, the City could choose to not perform a review at this time, but to issue a rate order preserving our rights. This may preserve our rights to look at the data and calculations used in the current forms when taking action on future reviews. Option D is to perform a full blown rate review which we did with AT & T two years ago. A1dlough, this would be hard to complete within the 12 month review period and. would. be costly. Legal Counsel and staff are recommending the City pursue Option C whereby we do not perform a review at this time, but preserve our rights for future reviews. The rate orders for Option C can be prepared inexpensively, based on last year's experience. This must be done by February 2004. Linda informed the members if this option is recommended, it will be addressed at a Public Hearing which will be scheduled at the November 10, 2003 City Council meeting. Motion by Ken Henke, seconded by Bob Buboltz, to recommend the City Council not hold a formal review of the rates as filed on Forms 1205 and 1240 in February 2003, and to issue an order to preserve our rights for future filings. All ayes. MOTION PASSED. C. Joint Boards and Commissions Recognition Dinner A Joint Holiday Dinner will be held for members and one guest of the various Boards and Commissions in recognition of their volunteer service to the City of Columbia Heights. This dinner will be held at Murzyn Hall. on Wednesday, December 10, 2003. Social hour will be at 5:30 and Dinner at 6:30 pm. Invitations will be sent within the next few weeks. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES OCTOBER 16, 2003 ~~~~ 1 C1V I~ J it Other Naw RiiCinecc A copy of a letter sent out by Comcast to subscribers who still have analog service was discussed. There was some confusion over the prices quoted on the letter and flyer for digital service. Kathi clarified the digital service tiers and packages that were being offered. REPORTS A. Report of Commissioners Education-Nothing to report Library-Nothing to report Public-Nothing to report Government-Nothing to report Liaison positions will be re-assigned as follows: Channel 15-Public Access-Reuben Ruen Channel 16-Government Access-Ken Henke Channel 18-Educational Access-Dan Swee Channel 1.9-Library Access-Bob Buboltz B. Report of Comcast- The phone statistics and detailed outage reports for second quarter were enclosed in the agenda packets along with the Programming produced for Community Television for July through. September. The detailed outage reports for August and September were passed out at the meeting. Kathi reported on HDTV (High Definition TV), VOD (Video on Demand), DVR (Digital Video Recorder) and IVR (Voice Recognition} services. She also said that hi speed Inteznet subscribers are increasing as forecast. C. Report of the Cable Attorley Steve Guzzetta briefly reviewed the process that will take place for the Renewal of the Franchise. The process will. probably begin officially in November of 2003 as the Franchise expires in November 2006. Steve explained the City could initiate a Formal Renewal Proceeding or pursue an Infornlal Renewal Process which is usually less expensive and happens when an agreement can be successfully negotiated without any formal litigation. During this process the City will do a needs assessment, look at past performance, hold public hearings, and compile a list of requirements that need to be fulfilled. He said it is a long process as the agreement is usually fora 10-15 year period, so it is important to renew a franchise on terms and conditions that will meet the community's cable-related needs during the entire time. The grant of a franchise confers a valuable right to Comcast giving them use of the right of ways for private profit. City officials should ensure the taxpayers are adequately compensated. Other items that could be negotiated are an Institutional Network and financial support for government access so the City can communicate with its residents in a video format, including during emergencies. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES MEETING OF OCTOBER 16, 2003 PAGE Y Under the formal renewal process the only four criteria upon which denial may be based are: that Comcast hasn't complied with material terms of the existing franchise, that they have not provided quality signal and customer service, that they don't have the legal, financial., or technical ability to provide the service, or if their proposal does not account for the cost of meeting future needs and interests. As a point of information it was noted that by 2006, the FCC has ordered that all broadcast channels must discontinue using analog technology. This will have an impact on the City as our equipment and programming technology will also have to be upgraded. Guzzetta stated that it is important the City budget accordingly for the legal costs that will be incurred as well as the impact of the equipment upgrades that will be needed. D. Report of the Assistant to the City Manager Nothing further to report. Motion by Kera Henke, seconded by Dennis Stroik, to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 pm. All ayes. Respectfully submitted, Shelley Hanson Secretary