Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/06/2017 10 V i 06 000 see Meeting Location: Municipal Center City of Apple 7100 147th Street West Valley Apple Valley, Minnesota 55124 TELECOMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MARCH 6, 2017 - 7:00 P.M. 1. Called Meeting to Order 2. Approved Agenda 3. Audience - No one requested to speak 4. Approved Minutes of September 12, 2016 Regular Meeting 5. Regular Agenda Items: A. Introduced New Members David Cherner and Mark Moore B. Elected Officers C. Introduced New Cable Coordinator Tim Klausler D. Reviewed 1 st Quarter Complaint Log E. Reviewed 1 st Quarter Activities Report F. Heard Charter Franchise Update G. Approved Meeting Calendar H. Approved 2016 Accomplishments 6. Informational Items A. No FCC Rulemaking and Other Franchise Issues B. No E-Commerce and Business Development Issues C. No Other Staff and Committee Updates 7. Adjourn NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING: Monday June 5, 2017 7:00 p.m. (Regular) 1u of0 Meeting Location: Municipal Center City of Apple 7100 147th Street West Valley Apple Valley, Minnesota 55124 TELECOMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING TENTATIVE AGENDA MARCH 6, 2017 - 7:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of Agenda 3. Audience - 10 Minutes Total Time Limit - For Items NOT on this Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes of September 12, 2016 Regular Meeting 5. Regular Agenda Items: A. Introduction of New Members David Cherner and Mark Moore B. Election of Officers C. Introduction of New Cable Coordinator Tim Klausler D. 1 st Quarter Complaint Log E. 1 st Quarter Activities Report F. Charter Franchise Update G. Approve Meeting Calendar 6. Informational Items A. FCC Rulemaking and Other Franchise Issues B. E-Commerce and Business Development Issues C. Other Staff and Committee Updates 7. Adjourn NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING: Monday June 5, 2017 7:00 p.m. (Regular) Telecommunications Advisory Committee City of Apple Valley September 12, 2016 7:00 P.M. Municipal Center Minutes 1. Call to Order Chair Westbrook called the meeting to order at 7:13 p.m. Members Present: Jerry Brown, John Magnusson, Dale Rodell, David Westbrook Members Absent: Rollin Bible Others Present: Charles Grawe, Jane Bremer, Jack Phillips 2. Approval of Agenda MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, second by Mr. Magnusson, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion passed 4— 0. 3. Audience Items There were no audience items. 4. Approval of Minutes of June 6, 2016 Regular Meeting MOTION: Mr. Rodell moved, second by Mr. Brown, to approve the minutes of June 6, 2016 as presented. Motion passed 4—0. 5A. 3rd Quarter Complaints Mr. Grawe reported that the City received two complaints during the period. 5B. 3rd Quarter Activities Report Mr. Grawe provided a brief update on activities. 5C. Consider Frontier Franchise Proposal Mr. Grawe provided a brief summary of the key components to the proposed franchise negotiated by the Cable Commission's attorney. The proposed system would use Frontier's existing telephone system infrastructure to provide video service. Mr.Phillips briefly described the service and expressed his company's desire to provide the service in Apple Valley. Ms. Bremer raised several concerns about the franchise proposal. She said she does not believe the original application was complete and was lacking certain financial information. She expressed concern for a level playing field and noted that Charter had proposed an up-front PEG payment,which is a commitment to a specific dollar amount. She felt the PEG contributions should be split between the cable providers. She said she was unsure how the two companies would provide service to government buildings. She expressed concern over the reference to qualified living units in defining a build out and lack of a construction plan. There was discussion about the proposal. MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, second by Mr. Rodell, to recommend approval of the cable franchise application,passage of the proposed franchise ordinance, and to publication the ordinance summary. Motion passed 4—0. 5D. Charter Franchise Update Mr. Grawe said he anticipated that the Charter renewal will begin to move forward quickly once the Frontier franchise is in place. 5E. Committee Composition Concept Mr. Grawe proposed that it may be beneficial for the Committee to be structured with five members,rather than six, as it would eliminate the possibility of tie votes and would reduce the quorum. The group consensus was that such a change by the City Council would be agreeable. Mr. Magnusson noted he would be resigning and moving out-of- state in mid-October. 6A. FCC Rulemaking and Other Franchise Issues Mr. Grawe reported no new issues. 6B. E-Commerce and Business Development Issues Mr. Grawe reported no new e-commerce issues. 6C. Other Staff and Committee Updates There were no other items. 7. Adjourn MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, second by Mr. Magnusson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed 4 - 0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. 4'4Ps City of Apple Valley MEMO Administration TO: Mayor, City Council, and City Administrator FROM: Telecommunications Advisory Committee DATE: March 6, 2017 SUBJECT: 2016 ACCOMPLISHMENTS The Telecommunications Advisory Committee held three meetings in 2016. The members of the Committee in 2016 were: Rollin Bible, Jerry Brown, John Magnusson, Dale Rodell, Scott Hugstad- Vaa, and David Westbrook. David Westbrook served as Chair and Jerry Brown served as Secretary. During the summer, Mr. Hugstad-Vaa passed and members Westbrook and Magnusson resigned. The City Council restructured the Committee to include five members for the future. Major accomplishments and/or undertakings by the Telecommunications Advisory Committee during 2016 include: • Year Four of Cable Franchise Renewal Process: The City continued work with the renewal of the franchise agreement with Charter Communications. The existing agreement took effect in 1999 and has a term of 15 years. Typically, the franchise renewal process takes three years. However, this process has been extended and the franchise was extended through the end of 2015. The City used the legal services of Mr. Bob Vose of the firm Kennedy and Graven. The City is working jointly in the renewal process with the Cities of Farmington and Rosemount. While each city will have its own franchise ordinance, the language will be virtually identical in each, allowing for more efficient joint administration of the three franchises and cohesive partnership in the cable commission. The renewal process was marked by periods of progress and stagnation. In early 2016, significant progress was made and an agreement appeared imminent. However, when Frontier Communications applied for a competitive franchise, Charter placed negotiations on hold, where they remained through the end of the year. • Frontier Communications Competitive Franchise: Frontier Communications applied for a competitive cable franchise in 2016. While traditional cable service would require a competitor to"overbuild" the city with a new network, Frontier proposed to use new technology that allows them to provide cable service over their existing telephone system. The City approved a competitive franchise ordinance for a five year term. The City will need monitor Frontier's progress to ensure that the necessary technology upgrades are installed to offer the service to residents within the City. • Participation in State-wide Cable Administration Association: The Committee continued its participation in the Minnesota Association of Community Telecommunications Administrators (MALTA). The Committee also monitored events pertaining to municipal wireless and broadband service provision. • Participation in Joint Powers Cable Commission: The City of Apple Valley also participated in a joint powers agreement with the Cities of Farmington and Rosemount to provide for certain cable television services. The group approved an operating budget for 2017. • Review of Cable-related Complaints. The Committee reviewed cable complaints received by Commission staff. The number of complaints in recent years has been historically low and most pertain to unburied service drops or billing issues. • Franchise Fee and PEG Fee Review: Pursuant to both franchise agreements, the cable company is obligated to pay the City an annual franchise fee equivalent to 5% of their annual gross revenues. Under both agreements, the Cable Company is required to make quarterly franchise fee payments, rather than annual payments. The total quarterly payments were as follows: Quarter Franchise Fees PEG Fees First Quarter 2016 $161,974.73 $15,126.00 Second Quarter 2016 $164,121.99 $15,114.50 Third Quarter 2016 $163,962.49 $15,270.50 Fourth Quarter 2016 $182,532.65 $15,470.50 Total $672,591.86 $60,981.50 The franchise fee for 2016 totaled $672,591.86, up significantly from $642,256.07 in 2015. This rebound from the previous year seems to indicate that the cable company is generating more revenue from the cable system. Quarter Franchise Fees PEG Fees First Quarter 2015 $160,276.16 $15,432.00 Second Quarter 2015 $159,091.50 $15,255.50 Third Quarter 2015 $156,965.14 $15,105.50 Fourth Quarter 2015 $165,924.07 $15,174.00 Total $642,256.07 $60,967.00 Pursuant to the franchise agreements, the Cable Company is obligated to collect a PEG fee for the City. Per the franchise agreement, the City's PEG fee is $.50 per subscriber. The City received PEG fees in the amount of$60,981.50 for 2016. The PEG fee revenue for 2015 was $60,967.00, as shown above. This very slight increase in PEG fee revenues implies that cable subscribers are holding steady. The PEG fee revenues are used to finance the City's portion of the joint cable commission. With franchise fees increasing significantly, PEG fees holding steady, and development (and potential subscribers)increasing steadily, it appears that the cable company is likely continuing to lose some of its previous subscriber base, but has been able to generate more revenue from cable-related services to existing customers. • Capital Equipment Planning and Acquisition: The cable commission planned to upgrade its "field cameras", portable production studio, and editing equipment used for production of television shows in 2016. However, due to staffing issues, these purchases were postponed until 2017. • Cable-cast of Public Meetings: Cable-casting of City Council and Planning Commission meetings continued in 2016. In addition, City of Farmington and Rosemount City Council and Planning Commission meetings and Dakota County Board meetings were also televised. • Government Access Programming: With the addition of a new franchise holder, the PEG channels will not all have the some channel number in both systems, but will be kept in a common area of numbers. Government Access Channel 180 (formerly 16) continued to provide government access for the joint powers commission established by the Cities of Apple Valley, Farmington, and Rosemount. Programming and bulletin board materials were added for the other cities. In 2016, the City continued joint police program production with the Cities of Farmington and Rosemount. The City also used City and Commission staff to produce a video of the State of the City address. The City continued to cable-cast live Planning Commission and City Council meetings. These meetings were recable-cast periodically. • Public Access Television: Under the new franchise agreement, Charter Communications is no longer required to provide the same public access television opportunities provided in the past. In 2010, Charter transferred this responsibility to the Cities in the joint powers commission. The cities provided video bulletin board messages on the channel, but not program playback. • Joint Powers Commission Summary: Since its inception, the Commission has provided staffing and support services to the Cities of Apple Valley, Farmington, and Rosemount. During 2016, the three cities continued a joint program production model, in which the shows produced by the Commission staff would be targeted to the larger audience of all three cities, as opposed to Apple Valley-oriented shows. Expanding the scope to all three cities not only creates more program topic options, but also allows the staffing burden and program topics to be spread across the three city, reducing in-kind costs to Apple Valley. The Telecommunications Advisory Committee welcomes direction from the City Council as well as any recommendations, questions, or concerns.