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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 15, 2001THE MINUTES OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION FROM THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15,2001 The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Linda Magee due to the absence of Dennis Stroik. ROLL CALL: Commission Members: Bradley Peterson, Reuben Ruen, Ken Henke, Dan Swee, and Bob Buboltz Council Representative: Bruce Nawrocki City Representative: Linda Magee AT & T Broadband Rep: Kathi Donnelly-Cohen Legal Counsel: Stephen Guzzetta Linda welcomed Bruce Nawrocki back to the Commission as the newly elected council liaison. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Bob Buboltz, seconded by Bradley Peterson, to approve the minutes from the meeting of November 16, 2000. All ayes. OLD BUSINESS A. Channel Check There were vertical line rolls through the picture on Library Channel 19. Programming has also been intermittently disrupted according to the commission members. Reuben felt it was an amplifier problem somewhere along the line. Kathi will have this checked out. B. Correspondence Log and Complaint Follow Up. # 140-Yund-A service tech was at the wrong address and mistakenly disconnected Mr. Yund's satellite service. His service was restored the following day and an apology was given. # 141-Levoir-Confused over bill. He was contacted, the billing was explained, he dropped premium package, and was given a $55 credit for confusion. # 142-Hurley-Complained that she was treated rudely by customer service supervisor. She claims she was given the run around regarding the reason for an outage in her neighborhood. Her service has been restored and the problem is resolved. # 143-LaPlant-Complained that service to neighbor's house is just above her garage and a more direct pole should have been used. The service was moved to other pole. # 144-Johnson-Complained that he was unable to get through to customer service about reception problems. He was sent a letter explaining that a fiber optic line had inadvertently been cut that provided service to our area. Due to the large number of people affected, customer service lines were overloaded. C. Franchise Fee Analysis Report Steve reminded commission members that we started the audit on franchise fees approximately one year ago. Maplewood was used for the test market area for a one year period. There was an underpayment of $8,000 due to various reasons. AT & T disagrees with the findings and has asked for information used in the audit. They are in the process of preparing a response based on the information they received. A meeting will be called when the response is received and the various commissions/cities can decide on the action they wish to take at that time. He will keep the city informed regarding the status of this issue. TELECOMMUNICATIONS MEETING MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 15, 2001 PAGE 2 Other Old Business There was no other old business. NEW BUSINESS A. Addition of Two Channels Effective January 5, 2001. Notice was received in December that two channels were being added to the digital basic package. National Geographic and Style will be added at no additional cost. B. Price Increase Effective February 1,2001 Notice was received January 2nd regarding price increases effective February 1,2001. A copy of this notice was enclosed in the agenda packet. Since the city can only regulate price increases to the basic service tier, no action on this item can be taken. Kathi stated that another price increase will probably be implemented July 1st. This increase will affect the Basic 1 tier and the commission will need to go through the approval process for that increase. C. Notice of Semi-Annual Proof of Performance Testing Scheduled for February Written notice was received that Proof of Performance Testing will be taking place in February. The testing process could cause some short interruptions of service on a few channels, but most subscribers will be unaware of it. D. Franchise Fees Received for 4th Quarter, 2000 The franchise fee payment of $32,412.76 for 4th quarter 2000 was received. Franchise fees are being paid on high speed internet service at this time. However, pending the outcome of litigation regarding this issue, this practice could change. Everest Connection Corporation's Suspension of Franchising Discussions due to Possible Merger with Seren Innovations. Linda reminded everyone that in November, the council found Everest Connection Corp. legally, technically, and financially qualified to hold a franchise within our city and Wide Open West's application was put on temporary hold as requested. Since that time, Everest Connection Corp. has also put their request on hold as they are in negotiations for a possible merger with Seren Innovations. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 15, 2001 PAGE 3 REPORTS MACTA 2001 Legislative Recommendations Steve Guzzetta explained that Senator Kelly has submitted an administrative bill that does not meet with all of MACTA's goals and they are trying to decide whether to submit their own bill or try to amend Senator Kelly's. In MACTA's proposed bill, companies providing cable television services would have to apply to the MN Public Utilities Commission for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, just as telephone companies currently do. The MPUC would then take over the responsibility for examining a new entrant's legal, technical, and financial qualifications to build a system and conduct business in the state. The state would also be responsible for transfers of ownership and rate regulation. Other New Business Ken Henke reported that EMW1N is now available in the Twin Cities from some companies providing this digital service. EMW1N is a continuous weather service channel. Kathi responded that AT & T Broadband does not have any agreement for broadcasting this service at this time. Reuben stated that he had not received the e-mail addresses of the other commission members that he requested. Ken said he had received them and that he would forward them to Reuben. Reuben also reported that Metricom is in financial trouble according to an article he read recently. And he also shared that he now has AT & T telephone service and he is happy with the service thus far. Dan Swee asked about adding NASA programming to our line up. Kathi stated they would be happy to use one of our access channels to provide NASA programming. This is something the commission members will need to discuss and decide if they wish to move forward with that action. She stated that NASA could be programmed on Channel 15 Public Access, Channel 16 Government Access, Channel 18 Educational Access, or Channel 19 Library Access if they felt it appropriate. Channel 14 is now used as leased access space, and is not available for the NASA feed. Report of Commissioners Educational-Nothing to report Government- Nothing to report Library-Nothing to report Public-Nothing to report Report of AT & T Broadband- Kathi reviewed the channel line up, new charges, the telephone service reports, and the new digital packages being offered. She also reported that there have been a number of lay offs at AT & T in managerial positions, marketing department positions, and the local origination department has been eliminated. We are the only city to still have local origination support as part of our franchise requirements. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 15, 2001 PAGE 4 Report of the Cable Attorney Steve reported that Michael Powell has been named the new FCC Chair. He believes in market forces and competition. He dislikes regulation and takes a narrow view of the power the FCC should have over services provided in the telecommunications field. He also stated that Ness and Roth are leaving, so President Bush will need to appoint two new people to the commission. He further stated, that City Signal is taking on the Right of Way policies in Ohio. This is a case that may be decided by the FCC. And the open access issue is still being deliberated by the FCC. So far no action has been taken regarding this issue. He will keep the commission members informed of any action taken on these issues. Report of the Assistant to the City Manager Linda had nothing further to report. Motion by Ken Henke, seconded by Bob Buboltz, to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 pm. All ayes. Respectfully submitted, Shelley Hanson Secretary