Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/01/2004 � • Telecommunications Advisory Committee City of Apple Valley March l, 2004 7:00 P.M. Municipal Center Minutes 1. Call to Order Chair David Westbrook called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Members Present: Jerry Brown, Scott Hugstad-Vaa, John Magnusson, David Westbrook Members Absent: Rollin Bible, Dale Rodell Others Present: Charles Grawe, Mark Moore, Denis LaComb, Beth Engel 2. A�proval of A�enda Mr. Westbrook asked far changes to the agenda and there were none offered. 3. Approval Minutes of December 15, 2003 MOTION: Mr. Magnusson moved, second by Mr. Brown, to approve the minutes of December 15, 2003. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Review 2003 Annual Re o�rt Mr. Grawe briefly highlighted some aspects of the Annual Report. He noted that the City received amende� franchise fees that affect franch�sz t�tal� far the past four years. With the amended fees, the 2003 revenues were down slightly from 2002 revenues. He reported that $18,223.19 remains unallocated in the capital grant account. He also noted that the PEG fees exceeding the amount needed to fund the joint powers budget are being anniimiilatPr� in a S�r��ratP arrpi,�nt, ivii. vrawe dis� �nc r�part 5ubmi��ed i�r Channei i2. rie aisa noted thai ic�gianai Channel6 remains off the system at this time, but the Cable Company is working to reacquire the channel signal through an interconnection with a neighboring system. Mr. Moore briefly highlighted the Cable Coordinator's section of the Report. He noted that the City continues to cablecast Apple Valley Today and Hook & Ladder. He mentioned that Mr. LaComb resigned from production of Police Beat, that the show is currently on hiatus, and staff is currently evaluating how this program might continue in the future. Other programming included the Mayor's State of the City Address, a police training video, and a program on e-commerce. Mr. Moore noted that the rate for basic • � service decreased slightly, but was accompanied by a corresponding increase in the rate for the expanded basic service. Mr. Moore concluded with a brief description of the upgrades to the Apple Valley system, the installation of the new video surveillance system far the liquor stores, and upgrades made in the other Commission cities. Mr. Westbrook asked why Mr. LaComb resigned from production of Police Beat. Mr. LaComb said he and the Police Department had different views on the direction of the program which made production of the program not cost efficient for the Department or him. Ms. Engel provided the Charter annual report verbally and indicated she would forward a written copy to the City in the near future. Charter installed 4J1 miles of new infrastructure and passed 733 new "homes". Of the new homes passed, 212 new ' customers were gained. Charter completed its exchange of non-docsis modems and launched its HDTV service. For 2004, she said that Charter is focusing on commercial service. A new sales representative far services for apartments and townhomes was added. Charter signed an agreement with ESPN for HDTV service which is expected to being in beta testing next week on Channel 773. Charter continues to work on a deal for an HDTV signal for CBS. Ms. Engel assured the Committee that she does not believe the cable companies are colluding in the Victory Sports impasse. She said the Company believes the $2 plus per subscriber fee is too much to ask for a new expanded basic tier channel. She said that consumer studies show that only about ten percent of customers want Twins programming so much that they would pay a high price for the channel. She said that the Company is investigating more a la carte options, especially for more expensive specialty channels. She noted that six percent of subscribers subscribe to the basic service tier. Ms. Engel said Charter is making an additional $.04 adjustment to the expanded basic tier rate to meet the national standard of $43.99 per month. She said that as Charter is negotiating contracts for HDTV signals, Charter is not pursuing additional channels at this time. She said Charter plans to introduce digital video recording devices later this year. She noted that subscriber numbers have been relatively flat, despite new construction. She said Charter is focusing on dish competition. She says she believes the average household has three TV's. She believes that dish pricing advertisements often quote the cost for onz TV, but that the pricing is much more competitive for cable fnr mnrP TV ChP algn nnt�r�l t}�at �ahl �rn�n�PS �i�;gtnm�r gi,w ag Y µrt �f thP h agP price, when dish providers charge extra for that service. Ms. Engel said that Charter is in negotiations with Comcast for an interconnect for business reasons outside of the Channel 6 issue. She said she hopes negotiations will conclude later this year. MOTION: Mr. Hugstad-Vaa moved, second by Mr. Brown, to forward the 2003 Annual Report to the City Council once it had been updated to reflect the correct franchise fee payments and the City had received the Charter Communications portion of the report, provided that it is substantially similar to the verbal report presented to the Committee. Motion passed unanimously. , � • 5. l st Quarter Complaint Log Mr. Moore said he received one complaint and it was regarding rates and cable modem service. He noted that he also received two complaints on modem service in which it was alleged that a Charter sales representative made a verbaT offer for a service package that did not exist. The customers realized the problem once they received the bill. From discussions with Charter staff, Mr. Moore said it appears that the sales representative had combined two service packagea that are not combined. Mr. Brown expressed displeasure with the response he received when he informed Charter that he had a broken converter. He was told that it would be ten days for a repair. He noted that the repair of that nature is supposed to be provided within 24 hours. Ms. Engel said he was given an improper response due to a computer problem and it will not occur in the future. Ms. Engel noted that Charter has implemented commercial business cable TV rates. Many businesses had been paying a residential rate and received a substantial rate increase for the commercial service. She said the new rate is in line with commercial rates charged by dish services. She said the rate adjustment was necessary to cover the costs of programming to the cable company. 6. Coordinator's Re�ort Mr. Moore briefly discussed events in the first quarter. 7. E-Commerce and Business Development Issues Ms. Engel said Ch�rter is �c�nsid�ring provic�ing t�l�nhony �ervic�� in this area, but probably three or four years in the future. 8. Other Mr. Moore noted that the web site has new information about cable television and franchising. n�:. ����re said ?: vvii�iiiU t� researc?: ?irea: e�?iting syste:::s. Mr. Moore said he has created a job description for a part-time position to assist him. Mr. Moore said he is preparing to attend a conference on digital technologies this spring. 9. Adj ourn MOTION: Mr. Magnusson moved, second by Mr. Brown to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:06 p.m.