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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/07/2011 � � Telecommunications Advisory Committee City of Apple Valley March 7, 2011 7:00 P.M. Municipal Center Minutes L Call to Order Chair Westbrook called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Rollin Bible, Jerry Brown, Scott Hugstad-Vaa, John Magnusson, Dale Rodell, David Westbrook Members Absent: Others Present: Jane Bremer, Brenda Osborne, Charles Grawe 2. A�proval of A e� nda Mr. Grawe requested the addition of the election of officers as the first agenda item. MOTION: Mr. Bible moved, second by Mr. Brown, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion passed 6 — 0. 3. Election of Officers MOTION: Mr. Rodell moved, second by Mr. Magnusson, to nominate Mr. Westbrook as chair, Mr. Bible as Vice-Chair, and Mr. Brown as Secretary. Motion passed 6— 0. 4. A�proval Minutes of December 6, 2010 MOTION: Mr. Rodell moved, second by Mr. Brown, to approve the minutes of December 6, 2010. Motion passed 5— 0. (Mr. Westbrook abstained) 5. A�prove Annual Report Mr. Grawe reviewed the report. The Committee requested an update on the Clearwire project status. MOTION: Mr. Bible moved, second by Mr. Brown, to approve the 2010 Annual Report and forward it to the City Council. Motion passed 6-0. 6. l Qua�ter Complaint Lo�s Mr. Grawe reviewed the complaints for the quarter. � � 7. 1 S ` Quarter Coordinator's Report Mr. Grawe briefly reviewed the staff activity. 8. Charter Communications Issues Mr. Brown expressed concern over the variation in audio levels between HD and no-HD channels. Other members noted the same problem. Ms. Bremer said she would investigate. Mr. Grawe noted that the franchise renewal process has historically started three years prior to the expiration of the franchise, which would be this year. However, more recent trends seem to be for shorter renewal processes. Ms. Bremer noted that technology is changing rapidly and many communities are opting for an eighteen month process. The Committee requested that City staff release a Request for Proposals (RFP) to various telecommunications attorneys. Mr. Bible asked about the change in controlling interest from Paul Allen. Ms. Bremer said that Mr. Allen is retaining stock ownership, but losing voting control. She noted that the new management has a number of long-time telecommunications leaders, including Jeffery Marcus. The Committee expressed an interest in more frequent updates regarding new HD offerings. 9. FCC Rulemaking and Other Franchise Issues Mr. Grawe cautioned that new Federal legislation requiring closed captioning for Internet video potentially could have significant cost implications to the City. 10. E-Commerce and Business Development Issues Mr. Grawe reported that a resident had expressed an interest in a City wide area network. The Committee briefly discussed several past private sector initiatives to provide wireless broadband services, including one by Frontier and one by Clearwire. The Committee noted that Charter and Frontier provide wired services to which residents can subscribe. The Committee also noted that Frontier withdrew its wireless proposal because it was not financially feasible. The consensus of the Committee was that they have not seen a business model for city-provided broadband services that would appear to make financial sense for the City and that the Committee would not recommend pursuing a broadband model until it makes fmancial sense. 11. Other Issues There were no other issues. 12. Adjourn MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, second by Mr. Rodell, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed 6- 0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:01 p.m.