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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 20, 2007THE MINUTES OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION FROM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2007 Tlne meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Dennis Stroik, Chairperson. ROLL CALL: iviembers Present: Excused Members Council Representative: City Representative: Legal Cowzsel: Comcast Representative: APPROVAL OF MINUTES a+..,,;t. v„t,a,-~ i~ot+;,~,- TI A„ ~-TP„L-a T7p~;hPn RiiPn and e'1'.Lrll.s iJ Ll ~tiL, i~.v v~..i~ i ~i~i~.i, s.~vu ~~..~~,.~~..~, a , ._.. Bob Buboltz (arrived at 7:05} Dan Swee annd Brad Peterson Bruce Nawrocki Linda Magee Steve Guzzetta Katlni Doruielly Cohen Motr.'on by Henke, seconded by Peltier^, to appJ°ove the minutes of February 12, 2007 with the cor7^ection of the spelling ofKathi .Donnelly Cohen's name. All ayes. Motion by Peltier, seconded byRuen, to apps°ove the minutes ofAp~^il 19, 2007 as p~^esented. All ayes. _('" t7 BUSINESS x. Channel Check Dennis noted the following variations from leis home connection as weIi as City HaII's. Cha~unel 16 is loud, Channel 3 is very loud, annd Chanvnel 15 is quiet. He noted that Channel 19 (Library Access) looks and sounds much better. B. Correspondence Log annd Follow Up on Complaints Staff had not received any new complaints. C. Status of Franchise Renewal Magee reported that we continue to operate under the old franchise agreement on a month-to-month basis until a new franchise agreement can be finalized. Nawrocki questioned whether it is legal to da so, and Guzzetta stated that it is. Magee went onto explaun that the City is having an equipment and teclunology needs assessment done prior to meeting with Comcast. It was also noted that Comcast had signed another Lease with Mr. Herringer for the use of the local cable studio till next June. D. Other Old Business No other old business. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMIvIISSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 20, 2007 PAGE 2 NEW BUSINESS A. Receipt of Annual Report The Annual Report was briefly reviewed since we didn't have a quorum at the April meeting. Motion Uy Bubolt? seconded by Henke, to accept the Annual Repo~~t as presented. All ayes. B. Receipt of 1st and 2nd Quarter franchise Fees A copy of the franchise fees received from lst Quarter and 2nd Quarter were included in the agenda packets. C. Corrected Notice to Customers Regarding ML$ Extra hnungs Service After the notice was sent in March regarding the MLB Extra Innings package, an agreement was reached between our vendor and Major Baseball League allowing Comcast customers to order the MLB Extra Innings, out of market, package of games. Customers were alerted tluough messages on their cable box and/or designated message chaiuiel. They could either purchase the service if they lead digital service, or Comcast honored the previous coupon offer to purchase the 2007 regular season, out of market game, on the computer. D. Notice Regarding the Gospel Music Channel replacing the Black Family Channel on Channe1293 Notice was received in May that The Gospel Music channel would be replacing the Black Family chaiulel carried on Channel 293 as part of the Digital Classic Tier. Peltier reported that he noticed this is not on Channel 293 as the notice indicated. He said it is not listed on the guide either. He will call it in and report this, at Kathi's request. E. Notice of Increased Upload Speed Comcast has added PowerBoast technology to increase the upload speed for intenlet services. F. Relocation of Payment Center The Payment Center relocated from Roseville to Little Canada ill July 2007. Kathi will bring a list of all tlse payment centers to the next meeting. G. Notice of A & E and National Geographic being added to HD line up Effective June 18, 2007, A & E HD and National Geographic HD were added on channels 199 and 200. A subscription to Digital Classic is required to receive these channels. Kat1u stated that there will be a big increase in the number of HD channels by the 2nd quarter of 2008. TELECOMNIUMCATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2007 PAGE 3 H. Notice of NFL Network being added to the Sports Entertaimnent Package NFL Network will be added to the Sports Entertainment Pack on Channel 275. It will no longer be Offered oz1 Other levels of sei°vice, including 1JZgitai Preferred. This will not affect the full schedule of games that are carried on CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN. I. Notice of HGTV being added to HD Line Up. HGTV HD was added as part of the High Defznition line up on chazulel 198 starting in July. J. MACTA Connections Newsletter Copies of the newsletter were sent to members. K. Emergency Alert System Test Dan Swee had sent an e-rilail regarding the EAS test in Juz1e. He noticed audio levels were distorted and that the message was missing from the public access chaalzlels. Kathi forwarded this onto Scott Melter at Comcast. They asked Dail for further izlforllatioil on specific dates or times, but he has not responded to their request. She stated that since the system is tested several times weel~ly it would be difficult to track what happened without more izlfozxilation. Notice of 24/7 Outage Reporting System A copy of a notice was enclosed in the packet explaizlislg the network surveillailce center that is ill operation around the clack to detect outages and problems for video, information and voice services. M. Notice of Big Ten Football Schedule and Update on Big Ten Coverage A notice was received regarding the schedule for Big Ten College Football games. More than 150 college games and the best Big Ten match ups will be telecast without the additional cost of the Big Ten Network. Comcast would like to carry BTN as part of the Sports Entertaiiullent Package, however an agreement to do so cazulot be reached. Comcast does not believe it should be a burden to all customers at the additional fee of $13 as FOX and the Big Ten Network would Like to see by adding it to the digital basic package. If an agreement is reached the city will be notified. Kat11i stated that begimling in 2008 the satellite service companies will be able to provide this service as ail "extra fee" service so she doesn't understand why they won't allow t11e same thing for cable service providers. N. Addition of NHL Network to Sport Entertainment Package The NHL Network will be added to the Sport Entertaizlnlent Package as of October 1, 2007. A subscription to the Sport Entertaizlment Package aild a digital converter box ar cable card will be required to receive this prograznining. O. Notice that Music Choice will be removed from the City Digital Converter According to the agreement with Music Choice, the service is iZOt allowed in coznrilercial establishments such as public areas or for integration into audio-visual or other programming produced by Local access studios. Therefore, as of September 25, 2007, the Music Choice service currently on the city converter will be discontinued. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 1~9NIITES 1~_F,E,TT1rrCI OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2007 PAGE 4 P. Other New $usiness Deznnis asked what the new deadline is far everything going to digital service. Ruen stated that he had heard that analog service is being extended another two years. Dennis then questioned whether there will be any analog service provided after that date. Kathi stated that Comcast will be required to provide service for a transitional period of time and that equipment maybe needed to do so. Dennis asked if aII inputs conung into Comcast are digital now and Katlu responded that yes, they are. This means if a subscriber has a digital converter box, they are receiving a digital signal, but if the cable is hooked directly to tine television, they may only be getting analog service depending on the TV being used. REPORTS A. Report of Connmissioners Education- Broadcast of the School Board Meetings has poor audio quality. Dennis said Comcast did what they can to improve things on their end and that the District IT person. is now trying to correct the problem on their end to irnlnrove the quality. Library- Nothing to report Public-Nothing to report Gavernment-Nothing to report B. Report of Comcast- The reports were included in tine agenda pacl~ets for the cor1lrnissioners to revie-~. Dennis asked for clarification of stats on the April report. Ruen asked a question regardung notices he receives to upgrade his phone service. He was told that he has to do this very soon as the type of service he has will be tenxniiated. Kathi explained he would receive a credit to offset tlne additional fee charged for a period of time. C. Report of Cable Attorney Guzzetta said nothing is happening presently at the legislative level. But he expects bills will be presented at the next session, such as the Broadband Bill and House #2351. He recently znet with Sheldon Johnson and they expect that some type of statewide franchising bill will be introduced. They discussed the Illinois Model Bill and thought it was the best one passed thus far, as fat as protecting city's rights are concen~ed. Guzzetta stated that the FCC was to address lnow the Order and Ruling would affect incumbent companies at its meeting scheduled for Septennber 11, 2007. However, this item was pulled from the agenda at the Iasi minute. Guzzetta said he will be watclnilg the outcome of this closely. He also reported on a recent ruling by a Connecticut Court. AT & T had pushed for legislation that would exempt them from needing a fanchise to provide service. Tlie court ruled that they do indeed need a franchise as they are providing IP service. Guzzetta expects this ruling to be appealed, but felt it was an importal~t step for leveling the playing field. Guzzetta said that John Stanek from Qwest stated that Qwest will be submitting fi anchise applications to various cities in the metro area. He suspects they will try in a larger city first, such as St Paul. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES PAGE 5 SEPTEMBER 20, 2007 D. Report of the Assistant to the City Manager Nothilig further to report. Motion by Henke, seconded by Buboltz, to adjou~~n the n2eeting at 7: 45B»~. ill ayes. Respectfully submitted, "' °lley Hanson .;retaiy