Minutes Cable TV Reg C 11 10 04
MINUTES OF CABLE TV REGULATORY COMMISSION MEETING
NOVEMBER 10, 2004
CITY HALL ANNEX CONFERENCE ROOM # 2
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Charles Ellis, Chairman, Ron Tigges, Walt Webster
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Michael Pratt. One seat remains vacant on the Commission.
OTHERS PRESENT:
Merrill Crawford, Cable Franchise Administrator
Mr. Ellis called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m.
1.
Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Mr. Webster, seconded by Mr. Tigges, the agenda was
approved as distributed.
2.
Approval of the Minutes of the July 14, 2004 Meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Webster, seconded by Mr. Tigges, the Minutes of the July
14,2004 meeting were approved as distributed.
3.
Public Comment.
Mr. Crawford reported on a telephone call earlier in the afternoon from a senior
citizen cable subscriber complaining about the deterioration of the closed
captioning signal on some channels within the past month. Lacking specific detail,
Mr. Crawford would be checking with Mediacom technicians and would be
monitoring closed captioning himself for a period of time, particularly to see
whether the migration of the broadcast stations from antenna to direct fiber import
seemed to have made any change in the accuracy of the closed caption signal.
Mr. Ellis mentioned citizen comments he has received regarding the unavailability
of Chicago team sports on the FOX Sports Channel, due to contractual changes.
4.
Status of Telecom Projects in Dubuque.
Mr. Crawford reported that the City's street and conduit projects continue.
5.
Franchise Renewal.
Mr. Crawford reported on the franchise fee payment analysis for calendar years
2002 and 2003 by Scott Lewis and Associates. He discussed the detailed
categories of underpayment found by Mr. Lewis and the indication that Mediacom
intended to pay not only the $10,551 of underpayments from so-called "typical"
categories, but also an amount (perhaps the estimated amount) for the disputed
categories of launch fees and marketing support for new programming. Another
disputed category, franchise fees on cable modem service revenues, would not be
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forthcoming, unless the issue was resolved in the Supreme Court in favor of the
City's interpretation that cable modem service is a cable service to which franchise
fees are applicable.
Mr. Crawford told Commissioners that negotiations had continued between
Mediacom and City representatives and that while progress seems to have been
made in some details, time was rapidly running out and there would not be an
additional temporary franchise extension. Therefore, the City's attorneys have
been instructed to proceed with the writing of the Request for Renewal Proposal
(RFRP) which is the formal franchise renewal process, with the goal of placing it on
the City Council agenda in December.
6.
Mediacom General Manager's Report.
A Mediacom representative was not in attendance.
7.
Cable Franchise Administrator Report.
Mr. Crawford distributed copies of a letter to Kathy McMullen regarding a statement
printed on cable modem service subscribers' bills claiming that the cable franchise
agreement with the City requires 5% of that bill to be paid to the City. He
discussed the statement as it pertained not only to cable modem service
subscribers, but also to cable subscribers and those who take both cable service
and cable modem service. In all three cases but for various reasons, the
statement is not correct. He distributed copies of an article from MultiChannel
News titled Mediacom Posts Solid Second Quarler and an article from
MultiChannel News titled GOP In Control of Telecom Law Overhaul, and another
from MultiChannel News titled NCTA: No High Courl Hearing for Cities which
pertained to the efforts to convince the United States Supreme Court to hear the
cable modem service argument. He distributed copies of memos he had sent to
City Manager Michael Van Milligen regarding the FCC's threat to preempt local
emergency alert systems and the efforts of the telecommunications and cable
industries to preempt VOIP regulation at State and local levels, an article from USA
Todav titled AT & T Dials Up VOIP Service With Cable Deals, an article from
MultiChannel News titled Cable Broadband VOIP Covered by CALEA, yet another
article from MultiChannel News titled FCC Includes Cable in Vonage Ruling.
8.
Future Agenda Items.
There were no additional items to be placed to the agenda.
9.
Adjournment.
Upon a motion by Mr. Tigges, seconded by Mr. Webster, the meeting was
adjourned at 6:09 p.m.
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