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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 16, 2000THE MINUTES OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION FROM THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2000 The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by Dennis Stroik, Chairperson. ROLL CALL: Commission Members: Council Representative: City Representative: Cable TV Representative: Legal Counsel: Dennis Stroik, Ken Henke, Dan Swee, Bradley Peterson, Ruth Graham, and Reuben Ruen Julienne Wyckoff Jean Kuehn Kathi Donnelly-Cohen Steve Guzzetta Also in attendance were Jay Gustafson and Nathan Schmidt, residents of Columbia Heights. INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBER Bradley Peterson was introduced. He has been appointed to the Telecommunications Commission with a term expiring April 1, 2002. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Ken Henke, seconded by Ruth Graham, to approve the minutes from the meeting of February 17, 2000. All ayes. OLD BUSINESS A. Channel Check Everything checked out ok. B. Correspondence Log and Complaint Follow Up. 1. No formal complaints were received, but Dennis Stroik reported that D.J. Murzyn at 1300 Lincoln Terrace objects to the process one must go through when needing service. He felt he had to go through too many people to get a problem resolved. Kathi will follow up on this. 2. Dan Swee had received a complaint from Allen Askegard at 4334 McLeod regarding the phone service offered by Cable. It took five installers to hook up the service, the line was full of static and inoperable 80% of the time. He has since canceled the service and returned to US West 3. Ken Henke indicated one of his renters had a similar problem, but it was resolved in one day. Merger Update Brochure for February 2000 The brochure was enclosed in the agenda packet for the commissioners to review. Kathi Donnelly-Cohen indicated the merger should be complete by the beginning of the 2nd quarter. Other Old Business There was no other old business. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES MEETING OF MARCH 16, 2000 PAGE 2 NEW BUSINESS A. Presentation on Metricom's Ricochet System and Use of Right of Way Agreement, Bob Buell Mr. Buell, of Buell Consulting, presented information about Metricom's 14 year history in Los Gatos, CA. Metricom is requesting ;;right of way" access in our city for the purpose of installing radio transmitters capable of serving as a wireless Internet Service Provider. This is not for cell phone service. Agreements are being negotiated with 75 cities in the 7 county metropolitan area with the hope of building their transmission area in the fourth quarter of 2000. The units to be installed on the poles or wires were displayed (they are slightly larger than a shoe box). The attachment for the individual computers are the size of a thin paperback novel. All transmitter units are white, and must be white, so as to reflect the sun's heat and avoid frying the internal components. Questions from members with Mr. Buell's responses: -What would be the operation speed. The system would provide a speed of 128K. - How many transmitters would be needed in Columbia Heights? On average 7 units per square mile are required for full coverage. -What frequency is used? 900 Megahertz range, but since the signal is packeted and pulsed the interference is minimal. Buell explained the frequency is unlicensed, but not unregulated. He stated that the equipment is FCC approved. -What assurance would amateur radio operators have that the interference would not be a problem? Buell did not think it had been a problem in the areas currently served by Metricom. -What is the reliability factor of this system- downtime or busy factor? Buell stated that system had experienced very little down time and was very reliable. -Who would do the repairs should individual transmitter or dozens of them be damaged? Metricom has an office in Edina and would subcontract with NSP or others to install and repair equipment. Mr. Buell explained that radios are usually replaced, not repaired. The radios are monitored nationwide on an hourly basis, so Metricom knows within an hour if a radio goes down. Mr. Buell stated that he personally has no experience with the system and he has never used it, or even seen it in operation. He thought it may have been used at the Minneapolis Airport for a time, but did not know the current status. The specific agreement proposed by Metricom was discussed at length. Buell stressed that Metricom wanted/needed the agreements with all of the 75 cities to be the same, and he felt it was a very generous offer since the inconvenience and maintenance required of the city would be minimal, if not zero. He stated that the city would receive an initial fee for the installation, plus up to $1,000 to cover legal fees, with an ongoing annual payment of 1% of the gross receipts of the subscribers within the city. Buell said that the contract offered was in complete agreement with Right of Way rules as defined by the PUC and the city really had very little authority in this area. Steve Guzzeta clarified that the PUC Right of Way regulations were specific to Telecommunication services and since Metricom is clearly an Internet Service Provider and not a cable or phone service, the rules Buell referred to were not applicable to Metricom. He also questioned how ;;generous" the offer really was, and named two cities out east that had received not the 1% being offered, but 3% and 5% respectively, and therefore, all the contracts are not identical. Buell was adamant that no changes in the contract language would be acceptable to Metricom. However, Guzzetta stated that he and other members of his office had been in direct contact with Max Thompson, Marketing Representative for Metricom, and Joe Condo, Regional in-house legal counsel for Metricom, and specific changes had been agreed to. Steve presented the city with a copy of the current changes accepted by Metricom, as well as a fax between the Spring Lake Park attorney, Jeff Carson and Bernick and Lifson, regarding similar contract language concerns. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES MEETING OF MARCH 16, 2000 PAGE 3 Steve advised the commission to give conditional approval, pending the final results of our attorney's efforts on the following issues: - abandonment language, performance bond, free subscriptions meaningless without modems, and a clarification of the scope of the authorization Motion by Ken Henke, seconded by Dan Swee, that the Telecommunications Commission recommends the City Council approve a right of way agreement with Metricom, as recommended by our legal counsel, once the details are worked out between Metricom and our legal counsel. All ayes. MediaOne's Notification to Customers to Convert from Old Packages to New Packages Letters sent to customers still subscribing to old packages were enclosed in the agenda packets. The subscribers were informed they will need to choose a current package as MediaOne is striving to make billing more consistent. Kathi indicated that in addition to the letters each person is being contacted by a customer service representative to help walk them though the necessary changes. 1999 Annual Report Receipt of the Annual Report was acknowledged, with no official acceptance until the subscriber survey results are received. Subscriber Survey A copy of the old survey was enclosed in the agenda packets along with a copy of the survey Kathi would like to do over the internet. The commission reviewed the survey and made suggestions for changes/improvements. Kathi understood that the internet method of doing survey was purely a ~trial" and dependent on the number of respondents for any future use of this media. The City Manager had agreed to extend the deadline to May 1. Kathi is now requesting a June 1 completion date be approved. Motion by Ken Henke, seconded by Ruth Graham to instruct Kathi to proceed with the subscriber survey and extend the deadline to June 1, 2000 for the Annual Report completion. Other New Business Dennis requested that the CSO's be used to deliver the Multi-Channel News to him since it is so expensive to mail. REPORTS Report of Commissioners No reports. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES MEETING OF MARCH 16, 2000 PAGE 4 Report of MediaOne- Kathi reviewed the reports that were included in the agenda packets as well as the information passed out at the meeting. Kathi stated that since the attorneys were still working on the legal details, she could provide copies of the monthly subscriber data to the commission, but it was not to be shared or discussed since the discussion would be part of the public record. "Wide Open West" is an overbuilder who are positioned to begin expanding into this market area. A franchise would be required for them to operate, as they offer essentially the same services as MediaOne. Cable theft was discovered on a major level in Eagan and arrests have been made. The Media One theft squad is actively checking suspected thefts, and generally uncover nine per week, through the 1-800 number and their own investigations. Report of the Cable Attorney The legislature has been active, and both Media One and the Commission's Cable Attorney have been lobbying at the state capital to prevent the PUC from allowing open access, sometimes referred to as forced access. The PUC glossed over the issue, for now. The franchise fee audit is in process. This will take several months to complete. WOW (Wide open West) is contemplating moving into this market area. They are currently active in Colorado, California, and Texas. When they begin an overbuild, it is with a speed according to market demand. Report of the Special Projects Coordinator The Website is being reviewed by division/department heads and we are still optimistic for the site to be up and running by the end of March, 2000. The site address will be ci.columbia-heights.mn.us Motion by Ruth Graham, seconded by Ken Henke, to adjourn the meeting at 9:12 pm. All ayes. Respectfully submitted, Jean Kuehn Secretary Pro-Tem