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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/04/2019 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 TENTATIVE AGENDA MARCH 4, 2019 - 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 December 3, 2018 Regular Meeting 5. Regular Agenda Items: A. 1 st Quarter Complaint Log B. 1 st Quarter Activities Report C. Approve Annual Report D. Election of Officers 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 3, 2019 7:00 p.m. (Regular) Telecommunications Advisory Committee City of Apple Valley December 3, 2018 7:00 P.M. Municipal Center Minutes 1. Call to Order Chair Brown called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Barry Berg, Jerry Brown, Dale Rodell, Carson Tumquist Members Absent: David Cherner Others Present: Charles Grawe 2. Approval of A eg nda MOTION: Mr. Tumquist moved, second by Mr. Berg, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion passed 4—0. 3. Audience Items There were no audience items. 4. Approval of Minutes of September 10, 2018 Regular Meeting MOTION: Mr. Turnquist moved, second by Mr. Berg, to approve the minutes of September 10, 2018 as presented. Motion passed 3 —0. (Mr. Rodell abstained) 5A. 4'Quarter Complaint Logs Mr. Grawe reviewed the complaints during the period. 5B. 4'Quarter Activities Report Mr. Grawe provided a brief update on activities. 5C. Committee Roles and Responsibilities The Committee had a brief discussion on the role of the Committee and its members in monitoring the cable service. 5D. City Fiber and Dakota County Broadband Initiative Update Mr. Grawe gave a brief update on fiber projects,including the connection of four of the City's water towers. 5E. Approve 2019 Meeting Schedule MOTION: Mr. Rodell moved, second by Mr. Berg, to approve March 4, June 3, September 9, and December 2 as the 2019 Meeting Schedule. Motion passed 4—0. 6A. FCC Rulemaking and Other Franchise Issues Mr. Grawe mentioned that the FCC ruling allows cable providers to count the value of in-kind services against the franchise fee. Compared with many other PEG providers, Apple Valley receives very little in-kind services, so it is unclear if the provider will pursue this issue or not. Mr. Grawe also mentioned that the City received notice from Frontier of its intent to seek renewal of its five-year franchise agreement. 6B. E-Commerce and Business Development Issues Mr. Grawe reported no new e-commerce issues. 6C. Other Staff and Committee Updates Mr. Berg mentioned that the FCC is recovering certain radio frequencies,including one used to send the atomic clock time data. Certain electronics depend on receiving this data. He recommended making staff aware of the issue so they can check City equipment. 7. Adjourn MOTION: Mr. Turnquist moved, second by Mr. Berg, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed 4 - 0. The meeting was adjourned at 7:29 p.m. bio 04,00 00*00 6004 004, City of Apple MEMO Administration TO: Mayor, City Council, and City Administrator FROM: Telecommunications Advisory Committee DATE: March 4, 2019 SUBJECT: 2018 ACCOMPLISHMENTS The Telecommunications Advisory Committee held three meetings in 2018. The members of the Committee in 2018 were Barry Berg, Jerry Brown, David Cherner, Dale Rodell, and Carson Turnquist. Jerry Brown served as Chair and David Cherner served as Secretary. Major accomplishments and/or undertakings by the Telecommunications Advisory Committee during 2018 include: • Completion of Charter Cable Franchise Renewal Process: The City completed the renewal of the franchise agreement with Charter Communications. The previous agreement took effect in 1999 and has a term of 15 years. Typically, the franchise renewal process takes three years. However, this process was extended. The City used the legal services of Mr. Bob Vose of the firm Kennedy and Graven. The City worked jointly in the renewal process with the Cities of Farmington and Rosemount. While each city has its own franchise ordinance, the language is virtually identical in each, allowing for more efficient joint administration of the three franchises and cohesive partnership in the cable commission. • 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. Frontier shared maps of its progress in the winter of 2018. • Participation in Joint Powers Cable Commission: The City of Apple Valley 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 2019. • 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 2018 $159,432.46 $15,014.00 Second Quarter 2018 $157,993.24 $14,645.00 Third Quarter 2018 $165,542.00 $17,070.25 Fourth Quarter 2018 $170,435.41 $21,393.00* Total $653,403.11 $68,122.25 *Frontier had not submitted fourth quarter PEG fees at time of draft. The franchise fee for 2018 totaled $653,403.11, up slightly from $651,474.38 in 2017. Quarter Franchise Fees PEG Fees First Quarter 2017 $162,150.99 $15,429.50 Second Quarter 2017 $163,594.68 $15,375.50 Third Quarter 2017 $163,611.28 $15,233.00 Fourth Quarter 2017 $162,117.43 $15,186.00 Total $651,474.38 $61,224.00 Pursuant to the franchise agreements, the Cable Company is obligated to collect a PEG fee for the City. Per the previous franchise agreement, the City's PEG fee was $.50 per subscriber. This was increased to $.75 per subscriber under the new franchise and collections began around July. The City received PEG fees for $68,122.25 for 2018. The PEG fee revenue for 2017 was $61,224.00, as shown above. The PEG fee revenues increased because of the $.25 per subscriber,per month increase in the fee. The PEG fee revenues are used to finance the City's capital needs and can't be used for non-capital operational expenses under the new franchise. • Capital Equipment Planning and Acquisition: The cable commission created a mini- head-end in the Apple Valley Municipal Center. The signals for all three-government channels are sent from the control rooms to the Municipal Center server room. From there, the signals are sent to each of the cable providers. In addition, the channels are now narrowcast. In other words, each city sees its own meetings on the same channel number and is unable to see meetings of the other cities. • Cablecast of Public Meetings: Cablecasting of City Council and Planning Commission meetings continued in 2018. In addition, City of Farmington and Rosemount City Council and Planning Commission meetings and Dakota County Board meetings were also televised. • Government Access Programming: The Commission now operates three separate Government Access Channels on Charter channel number 180 and continues to provide government access for the joint powers commission established by the Cities of Apple Valley, Farmington, and Rosemount. Programming and bulletin board materials can be unique or shared by the member cities. In 2017, cable commission staff switched video formats from the traditional 30-minute shows to short 2 to 3 minute segments better designed for cross promotion on websites and social media. Public reaction to the shorter video format has been positive and City staff finds production of the shorter segments to be more manageable within their schedules. There were 54 segments produced for Apple Valley in 2018. The City also used City and Commission staff to produce a video of the State of the City address. The City continued to cablecast 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 2018, the three cities used two full-time and one part-time staff members to accomplish these duties. The staff created 107 video segments for the three cities. The Telecommunications Advisory Committee welcomes direction from the City Council as well as any recommendations, questions, or concerns.