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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 21, 2005THE MINUTES OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Fxll'1VI THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2005 The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Dennis Stroik, Chairperson. ROLL CALL: Commig.cinn Me.::bers: Excused Members Council Representative City Representatives Comcast Representative: APPROVAL OF MINUTES Dennis Stroik, Daii Swee, Dave iviahoney, and Reuben Ruen. Bob Buboltz, attending Charter Commission meeting Ken Henke and Brad Peterson Bruce Nawrocki Jean Kuehn Kathi Donnelly-Cohen Motion by Reuben, second by Dave, to approve the minictes fYOm the meeting of January 20, 2005. All aver. OLD BUSINESS A. Channel Check Everything checked out fine. Demlis reported that occasionally he is getting some horizontal lines moving through his TV screens at home. He is going to check it out further and call Kathi if he needs to schedule a service call. B. Correspondence Log and Follow Up on Complaints Mr. Modzin and Ms. Angela Klesk of 1316 43rd Ave submitted a complaint regarding overcharges to their account when they made some service changes. The account was credited and the problem was resolved. A resident from. 325 Summit St called to report an aerial cable drop that came loose and was laying on the ground. The cable was removed. Mr. Richard Lipa of 1220 Lincoln Terrace called to complain that HBO, Showtime, and other Pay per View channels are only offered on digital service, and that he had poor reception on Channels 4 & 5. His reception problems were cleared up when a bad sputter was replaced. Ms. Tammi Ericson Dielnn of 5125 St. Moritz Dr called to complain about her inability to have Universal Service hooked up in her new home in a timely manner. She felt that the service techs sent out to do the connection were not very knowledgeable, and after several visits were still unable to provide the service as promoted by Comcast and the City. Kathi explained that the contracted service tech was not familiar with Universal Service and how to hook it up. She said Tammi's antenna teat ran through the attic also needed to be hooked up so she could get local channels. Tlae training issue is being addressed by Comcast. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES MEETING OF APRIL 21, 2005 PAGE 2 C. Universal Service The discussion continued regarding the Universal Service Issue that was brought about by Ms. Ericson-Diehm's complaint. Jean Kuehn showed Kathi the insert that is being included in the utility bills regarding Universal Service. Kathi Donnelley-Cohen explained that Universal Service can be provided to one TV at no charge if it is a standard installation within 250 feet. If it is a custom installation that requires wires to be run through walls, etc., then there is an installation charge. She also stated there is a $5.00 fee for a converter box per month, if it is needed. She reminded the members that subscribers to this service do not generate any franchise fees for the city. She also said that Comcast is not sure how many actual Universal Subscribers there really are since many times people disconnect the service or move, and since no fee is charged, they have no way of tracking how many really use it. Bruce Nawrocki stated the intent was to provide a service to people whereby they could be informed on decisions made by local governing bodies, not to collect revenue. He questioned whether the service is any different than when Meredith. had the system. She stated it was the same and that only those systems that used to have Meredith have this service as it was a negotiated item of that contract. He further stated the larger concern is employees or contracted employees who aren't trained and are unable to provide the service as promised. Kathi Donnelley-Cohen. informed the members that a new position has been added to Comcast's staff to address issues such. as this. The Area Director of Fulfillment will ensure all employees and contracted employees are trained and that this situation has already been forwarded to her. Bruce then questioned Kathi on whether background checks are done on their employees and the contracted employees. He was questioning the allegation of a contracted employee who possibly assaulted a customer. Kathi responded that while this is still under investigation, the employee is on leave. Background checks are done prior to hiring an individual, as well as sporadic checks while employed, and nothing was found on this individual. She also said the companies they contract with also follow these stringent rules. ID badges are a requirement for all individuals and contracted companies are fined heavily if these procedures are not followed. The commission members suggested putting a notice on the statements or to insert a bill stuffer that tells subscribers that all workers should have ID and if it is not visible, ask for one in all instances. Reuben told Kathi that about a month ago, he was contacted by a Comcast employee on his apartment security phone about 7 pm, and was told that he would be doing some work in the building and checking out some of the wiring. After questioning the employee, Reuben found that it was only a pretense to get in and sell cable service. Dennis has reported this to Kathi in the past also. She stated that each time this is reported it is traced back to the same sub-contracting company. She will check out Reuben's complaint. TEL .Ff`Ql~~rr~1T Tr7Tr n •rrnr.T rn~ .~~ ~T~ ~~~~ T vi~t\.['~11V1V ~,v1v11vllJJiVN 1V11N U1t/'~ APRIL 21, 2005 PAGE 3 D. Other Old Business No other old business. NEW BUSINESS A. Franchise Fee for 4th Quarter 2004 We received the 4th Quarter franchise fee payment and a copy was enclosed in the agenda packets. B. 2004 Annual report A copy of the 2004 Annual Report was enclosed in the agenda packets. The Commissioners discussed a few items in the report. Our current franchise expires November 9, 2006. Motion by Dan Swee, seconded by Dennis Stroik, to accept the 2004 Annual Report. All Ayes. MOTION PASSED. C. Other New Business *Dan Swee raised another problem with Universal Service hookup. That being, even if a subscriber to Universal Service uses an AB switch there will still be problems getting the UHF channels such as 23, 29, and 4S. On a cable ready TV, depending on whether it is set up to run programming through an antenna or through cable, the local stations of 2, 4, S, 9, and 11 may work. And switching the AB switch would allow the public access channels to be viewed. However the UHF channels would only work if the set up through. the TV's menu is changed each time to pick up the UHF frequency. This will cause confusion for many subscribers and will probably generate complaints. Kathi said this service was set up 10 years ago and technology and TV's have changed a lot since then. She will bring this up to her technical staff to see how this should be addressed with the consumer. *Dan asked whether Outdoor Life was being taken. out of the Analog line-up. He said he read it in the paper recently that it was, but Kathi was unaware of it. *Dan stated that he thought the commission and the technical knowledge the members possess were under-utilized. He felt several issues should have been brought before the body for input, such as the Police Communications System, the pros and cons of a Wireless Broadband System similar to Chaska's, and some of the equipment used to broadcast programming on the Public Access Channels. Jean Kuehn said she would pass that statement along to the City Manager, but explained our IS staff is very knowledgeable and therefore, his expertise is relied on by management and staff. *Bruce Nawrocki invited the other members to attend the Southern Anoka County Consortium meeting on May 4 where the person from Chaska who was instrumental in setting up their Wireless Broadband System will be the guest speaker. TELECOMMUNICATION COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 21, 2005 PAGE 4 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 Jan-March 2005 were reviewed. Kathi told members that programming on one of the channels on the Latino Tier will be replaced with another Latino based option. C. Report of City Staff Nothing further to report. Motion by Brad, seconded by Dennis, to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 pm. All ayes. Respectfully submitted, Shelley Hanson Secretary