HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 21, 2004THE MINUTES OF THE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2004
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Dennis Stroik, Chairperson.
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Excused Members:
Council Representative:
City Representatives:
Comcast Representative:
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
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Mahoney arrived at 7:14 pm.
Ken Henke, Bob Buboltz, and Brad Peterson
Bruce Nawrockiabsent (Excused).
Linda Magee
Kathi Donnelly-Cohen
Motion by Dave Mahoney, second by Reuben Ruen, to approve the minutes from the meeting of May 20,
2004. All ayes.
OLD BUSINESS
A. Channel Check
Commission members reported to Kathi Donnelly Cohen that the History Channel has a
herringbone pattern that flickers through the picture at regular intervals. She will report the
interference to the technical staff. There also was another discussion regarding the varying volume
levels and the fact that even though they vary, they are still within the acceptable range.
B. Correspondence Log and Follow Up on Complaints
Kathi Donnelly-Cohen reviewed the complaint received from Mr. Ordway who had trouble with
his reception and the TV Guide portion of service over several days. Mr. Ordway's account was
credited for those days. She then reviewed a complaint from Mr. Piersak who complained about
his reception, too many commercials, and the fact that stock quotes aren't scrolling after 4 pm as
he wants. When the service representative contacted him he stated his reception was actually ok
and he was told that the stations control the programming and when stock quotes are reported, not
Comcast.
C. Notice of Bill Inserts
Notice of bill inserts was received. Privacy notices were inserted in July, Equipment
Compatibility notices were sent in September, and Complaint Notices will go in the November
bills. These are all inserted annually as required.
D. FCC Fee Notice
Effective with bills in October, the FCC fee will be reduced to $.OS from the current $.06. The fee
will remain at $.OS for two months and then in December the fee will return to $.06. This fee is
imposed on cable operators to support the functions of the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC).
TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES
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OCTOBER 21, 2004
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Notice was received regarding changes in the programming for Digital Subscribers. Two new
channels were being added, and FLIX, formerly a premium service is moving to the Digital Classic
tier. A Digital Sports Tier will. be added in October. And three types of ON DEMAND
programming will soon be available.
F. Other Old Business
Dennis said he was approached last Saturday by some Comcast employees that were working in
his neighborhood. They told him they were checking on lines and equipment for the new
upgrades and they tried to talk him into upgrading his service to digital. As they are not supposed
to be going door to door soliciting business, Kathi will check on this.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Franchise Fee for 2"d Quarter 2004
We received the 2"d Quarter franchise fee payment and a copy was enclosed in the agenda
packets.
B. Franchise Renewal
Linda Magee reported that the Council passed the Resolution to commence the renewal.
process as recommended by the Commission at the last meeting. Comcast was sent a notice of
this. She stated she will be meeting next week with the City Manager, Cable Attorney, Dick
Nielsen and Tom Robinson. (via phone) to discuss the parameters of the technical audit.
C. MALTA Fall Conference
The Annual Fall MALTA Conference is being held October 28-29, 2004 at the Holiday Inn
West in St. Louis Park. A reminder notice to send in registrations was enclosed in the agenda
packets for those wishing to attend. No one has signed up, but Reuben was interested in several
of the topics, but thought it was too pricey. Videotapes of the conference are not available.
Kathi will be attending and will try to get some information for him.
D. Other New Business
1. Dan Swee has a video card in his computer. When he types in his zip code to get the
channel line up, ours does not appear. ATI gets their information from somewhere, and he
should contact them. It is not a Comcast related problem. Dan questioned the reasoning
for different cities having different channel line ups. One of the reasons, the lineups are
different is due to the varying number of access channels in each system.
2. Linda Magee informed the members that a Holiday Dinner will be held for all. the Boards
and Commissions at Murzyn Hall on Wednesday, December 8, 2004. Social hour will be
at 6:00 pm and dinner at 6:30 pm. Invitations will be sent.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES
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OCTOBER 21, 2004
3. A Candidates forum will be held Tuesday, October 26`h at 7 pm in the Council Chambers
for those running for Mayor and City Council positions. A time keeper is needed for this
event. Anyone who could help is to contact Jean Kuehn.
REPORTS
A. Report of Commissioners
Education-Nothing to report
Library-Nothing to report
Public-Nothing to report
Government-Nothing to report
B. Report of Comcast-
The reports for March 2004-Sept. 2004 were reviewed. Kathi reported that members will
start receiving a written report of newsworthy items including changes in programming,
technology, and other items of interest regarding Comcast's products and services.
C. Report of the Cable Attorney
Nothing to report.
D. Report of the Assistant to the City Manager
Nothing further to report.
Motion by Dan Swee, seconded by Reuben Ruen, to adjourn the meeting at 7: 45 pm. All ayes.
Respectfully submitted,
Shelley Hanson
Secretary