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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/07/2005 � � Telecommunications Advisory Committee City of Apple Valley March 7, 2005 7:00 P.M. Municipal Center Minutes 1. Call to Order Chair David Westbrook called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Rollin Bible, Jerry Brown, Scott Hugstad-Vaa, Dale Rodell, David Westbrook Members Absent: John Magnusson Others Present: Charles Grawe, Mark Moore, Tucker Carlson 2. Approval of A eg nda Mr. Westbrook asked for changes to the agenda and there were none offered. MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, second by Mr. Rodell, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion passed unanimously. 3. A�nroval Minutes of December 6, 2004 MOTION: Mr. Hugstad-Vaa moved, second by Mr. Brown, to approve the minutes of December 6, 2004. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Uudate on Charter / Comcast Interconnect and Restoration of Channel6 Mr. Carlson said that the interconnection between the Charter, Comcast, and ultimately Time Warner systems is complete. He said he understands that the Cities of Burnsville and Eagan are providing a switch for the transfer of a signal. He said that an issue has emerged involving the acquisition of the Channel6 signal. He said that he is currently working on a contract to acquire that signal. Mr. Carlson reminded the Committee that Charter had been receiving the signal via microwave under a contract through 1996. Eventually, that microwave signal was discontinued and Charter was not able to receive the signaL Mr. Moore asked if the ISD 196 signal was addressed in the interconnect project. Mr. Carlson said the bandwidth for the signal could be an issue. He said an engineering firm employed by the Bradley Guzzetta law firm is working with Charter's technicians to determine the appropriate load sharing. Mr. Grawe noted that the joint fiber optic project between the City and the School District might eliminate the need to have the � � interconnect to transfer the signal. Mr. Carlson explained that Charter does not want to provide dark �bers for future use to the cities as new technological advancements make more efficient use of fiber strands. 5. Update on RFP for Audit Services with the Cities of Lakeville Farmin on and Rosemount Mr. Moore reported that the audit review is ongoing. He noted that the auditor is currently reviewing a second group of materials. He said the auditor has received cooperation from the Charter staff. Mr. Carlson clarified that many of the requested documents are located in the St. Louis of�ce and need to be shipped to this area for the auditor to review. 6. 2004 Annual Re�ort Mr. Grawe briefly reviewed the 2004 Annual Report. Mr. Carlson distributed the Attachment C, Charter Communications Annual Report. Mr. Carlson said the report is intended for the public record and to disregard the statement "not for public disclosure" printed on the top of the document. He said he rounded certain numbers and removed information that was not intended for the public in an earlier draft. Mr. Westbrook requested clarification on the subscriber numbers that appeared to increase in Mr. Carlson's report, while PEG fee revenues, which are based on a flat rate per subscriber, decreased during the same period of time. Mr. Grawe noted that subscriber counts for the report are representative of a snapshot in time and the actual counts are subject to seasonal fluctuations. Mr. Carlson said he would attempt to clarify the reason for the difference between the subscriber counts in the report and the PEG revenues. Mr. Grawe noted that the City received a proposal to audit review the PEG revenues at the same time the audit review was done for the franchise fees, but that the cost had been quite significant and that option was not chosen. MOTION: Mr. Bible moved, second by Mr. Brown, to forward the 2004 Annual report to the City Council, subject to final confirmation of the PEG revenue and subscriber count numbers provided in the report. Mr. Grawe said he would send the clarifications on the numbers to the Committee members so that they have an opportunity to respond if the clarifications met their expectations. Motion passed unanimously. 7. ls` Ouarter Complaint Log Mr. Moore noted one complaint was received during the time period. Mr. Carlson ' explained that FOX Sports was able to provide some games in High Definition (HD) format, but does not have a separate HD channel. He also noted that FOX, NBC, and CBS are available on the system in HD format. Charter has been negotiating with ABC and recently reached an agreement with T'NT. � • 8. l Ouarter Coordinator's Re�ort Mr. Moore briefly discussed events in the first quarter. He noted an increase in programming for the State elected officials. He explained that this programming needs to be informational in nature and not campaigning. He said he is looking at migrating the State and County government programming onto Channe122. Mr. Moore said that new software used to capture video can be converted into other digital formats. Mr. Bible suggested posting the City's cablecast meetings on the web site as well. 9. E-Commerce and Business Development Issues Mr. Grawe noted that several articles on wireless networks and the pros and cons of government provision of wireless service were included in the packet for the Committee's information. Mr. Westbrook asked if any over-builders appeared interested in coming to Apple Valley. Mr. Grawe said he was not aware of any over-builders, but that as cable television providers are now interested in providing telephony, he expects that the telephone providers may also be interested in providing video. There was a brief discussion about the status of telecommunications legislation. 10. Other Mr. Carlson said that video on demand is expected to enter Beta testing in the next few weeks with an anticipated launch date of May lst 11. Adjourn MOTION: Mr. Rodell moved, second by Mr. Brown to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.