SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY CABLE TV & TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES

Transcription

1 Time & Location SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY CABLE TV & TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES The meeting of the Spotsylvania Cable TV Commission was convened in the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisor s Room, in the Holbert Building, located at 9104 Courthouse Road, Spotsylvania, at 7:00 p.m. There were enough members present to form a quorum. Meeting Participants Commission Members: Don Shelby, Chair, Courtland District Bert Brittain, Vice Chair, Lee Hill District Herbert Pritchett, Chancellor District Michael Fahey, Livingston District Brad Miller, Battlefield District James Eastwood, Berkeley District Joseph McBride, Salem District County & Community Representatives: Brian Scott County Information Technology Representative Chris Hinzman School Board Information Technology Representative Chris Glover CRRL Information Technology Representative Jacque Hirsch GCC Information Technology Representative Cable TV Franchise Companies: Ed Riley, Cox Communications Nancy Sweetman, Adelphia Communications Citizen Absent Absent I. Announcements From The Chair. Mr. Shelby called the meeting to order. A. Approval of February Minutes - Motion was made by Bert Brittain and seconded by Herbert Pritchett to approve the February 2003 minutes. Motion was passed 6-0 in favor. B. Don Shelby welcomed Mr. Joseph McBride as a new Commission member, representing the Salem District. C Annual Report Mr. Shelby noted that the Annual Report was presented to the Board of Supervisors at their last meeting and the Commission has been tasked with reviewing applications for Cellular towers. The Board also approved the PEG Channel policy.

2 Cable Commission Minutes Page 2 D. Commission By-Laws Brian Scott noted that the draft has been compiled from the Board of Supervisor s By-Laws. Herb Pritchett made a motion for all members to review the By-Laws and vote on them at the next meeting. The motion was seconded by Bert Brittain. Brian Scott noted that there is one Special Use Tower Permit on the agenda at this time. Depending upon what the turn-around time is of the parties and how the Cable Commission fits into their process, he noted that the amount of meetings of the Cable Commission might have to be increased. Some of the parties involved in the process is the Technical Review Committee (TRC), consisting of county staff, a consulting firm, Mid-Atlantic, and a policy group, to include Board of Supervisor Bob Hagan, where both groups review it based on our policy and how it is written. Mr. Scott also noted that a member of the Cable Commission could participate in the group, which he believes would help when we have to take something to the Board. It was requested that Mr. Scott present the Cable Commission s views to the policy group. II. Public Comments. Mr. Duane Beachum, General Manager of Teen U.S.A. Enterprises, advised that he would be opening the teen/night club in Thornburg on Route 1. The club is in the process of getting hooked up to Adelphia cable to obtain Internet access, multiple cable TV connections and video teleconferencing. He is upset with Adelphia s lack of customer service and cost of connecting. Mr. Fahey suggested that Adelphia and the customer sit down and work out a reasonable agreement. It was agreed that this matter would be tabled and that Adelphia and the customer are requested to come back with a report on how it turns out. III. Reports from Cable TV Franchise Companies. A. Cox Communications Mr. Riley distributed and discussed customer service statistics through March He noted that some of the formulas did not work out on the new spreadsheet and will let Mr. Scott know which ones he had a problem with. Mr. Riley noted that on April 1 they launched a Digital Video Recording (DVR) service, which allows the customer to record information without a VCR. It does not have a large take-rate on it yet, but not a lot of technical issues either. They will be doing a software upgrade to make it a little more reliable. Mr. Riley also noted a rate increase of $5.00, which will take effect May 15 th. The rate will go from $34.95 to $39.95 per month. Mr. Scott requested Mr. Riley to send him a copy of the rate increase. Lastly, Mr. Riley noted that they made their franchise payment last week.

3 Cable Commission Minutes Page 3 B. Adelphia Communications Mr. Shelby noted that we would be adding a line in the spreadsheet of the number of homes past. Ms. Sweetman noted that they have almost completed the upgrade on the modem service. It should be finished by the end of the month, at the latest, opening the pipeline for additional reliability. One of the biggest questions we have run across is concerning HD TV and hopefully by September they should be able to offer the HD TV converters in our system. It would be a subscription service and do not have any cost estimates at this time. Generally, the converters are more expensive than digital. Mr. Eastwood asked about the information on Route 738 and Ms. Sweetman will speak with Lisa and get back to him. IV. Reports/Questions from Commission Members Mr. Brittain (Lee Hill) asked whether a summary of the cable channels was available to be sent out. Ms. Sweetman advised that it is usually sent out in January of each year, and an additional one was also sent out last August when there were some significant changes. Mr. Pritchett noted that the service in Royal Oaks was better for a little while, but then got worse. Ms. Sweetman had noticed it also and will check into that for him. Mr. Brittain stated that when he put in a service call for his cable modem, he was told that it would be about 10 days before someone could come out to look at it. Mr. Brittain advised that this was not an acceptable answer. He believes that since he complained enough, they came out that same day and fixed it. Ms. Sweetman advised that since they have a 24/7 dispatch center now, that generic answer should not be given out in the future. She stated that under the new service, when a repair call comes in, and once they receive certain codes, they communicate with the customer on a local level. The customer is called back the next day and a technician is dispatched most times that same day. Ms. Sweetman noted that a new troubleshooting number would be put on the new bills coming out in a few months, along with the local numbers, and the power link number, which will also be changed to allow quicker access. Mr. McBride (Salem) noted a concern brought to him that Jackie Keith still gets the titles at the bottom of the screen. He questioned if there is a way to block the very suggestive titles or have it just say Adult Programming. Ms. Sweetman said when you block that channel you do not get that at the bottom of the screen. If it is the channel guide, there

4 Cable Commission Minutes Page 4 is no way of blocking it. She will check into it and speak with her marketing department and get back to him. Mr. Fahey (Livingston) complained of the premier channel volume dropping. He believes it is either the content and how it is being filtered through the head-end, or the reception from the provider is coming in at one volume and the promos are coming in at another. Whatever it is, it needs to be fixed. Mr. Sweetman will check on it and get back with him. Mr. Fahey notified all that he has taken a financial position with the cable company, which may cause some future conflicts as a member of the Commission. He may either have to excuse himself from certain votes or resign from the Commission. Mr. Fahey noted that he has spoken with Chris Hinzman regarding the PEG Channels and getting the connections made at the Spotsylvania County Vocational Center. The Center has an editing suite for producing TV programs and a fiber-optic cable connection within the building. We just need to run the cable through the building to put it on line. Mr. Fahey will send Mr. Scott an on who to contact at the Vocational Center to set up a possible site visit for all. Mr. Fahey also stated that he has not yet received the information needed to research the PEG channel contracting, so we will probably miss the deadline to get it out. Because of his upcoming hectic travel schedule, he will either need help, or have someone else take it over. He noted that we need to move forward on drafting the policies, which are the stated information on what can and can t be done, and the basic operating procedures, which are how you implement the policies being drafted. Mr. Riley and Ms. Sweetman will try to get a copy of the City of Fredericksburg s PEG policy, along with any others they can find. Mr. Scott noted that the Regional Library has done talks on a couple of productions and he will get the schedule of playback for Ms. Sweetman. A channel guide was suggested to be done. Brian has a list of groups that were at the recent VATOA conference. He will the groups at the meeting to see what he can find, along with Leesburg and Caroline Counties. It was noted that Fairfax and Newport News also have policies that are Cox property. Ms. Sweetman will check with the cable provider lobby group to see what she can find. V. Reports/Questions from Community & County Representatives. Ms. Jacque Hirsch noted that Germanna College is doing on-line registration for the students. It was excellent the first day and has gone down hill since then. We are hopeful that by next registration we will have the problems ironed out. We are also trying to resolve the security risk of one student seeing another student s information and have an automatic kick-out time. They have also kicked off a state-wide purchasing system on line and all vendors have to register with them.

5 Cable Commission Minutes Page 5 Ms. Hirsch also mentioned that they do on-line instruction through the blackboard system. The college has also recently bided on a Title 3 grant to expand the college hours to 24/7 and will start building video conferencing. A ground-breaking will be on April 25 th for the 2 nd building at Fredericksburg Campus focusing on the workforce. Mr. Scott stated that the Board of Supervisors has approved the FY 04 budget, wherein keeping the current tax rate of $1.01, and approving a 12% decrease in IS funding, with no new employees being added to the IS Department. VI. Old Business A. A motion was approved to accept the Intention To Serve Letter, which is to be sent out to a member who has not been active to determine their position. Mr. Brittain asked that the word predecessor be changed to successor. B. Mr. Scott distributed to the Adelphia and Cox representatives a County map that the County has put together, and from an industrial development standpoint, we would like to know where fiber backbone is available in the county. C. Adelphia/VACO Bankruptcy Update Mr. Scott stated that he has nothing new to report on this and that there are no problems with the franchise fees. Mr. Fahey also noted that they have fired all of the executive staff and have brought in new staff and are moving their headquarters from Pennsylvania to Denver. VII. New Business A. Mission Statement Mr. Fahey noted that there was a mission statement adopted in the County Ordinance noting the purpose of the Commission. He will search his records and send it to Mr. Scott to find out what is going on with it. This matter was tabled until the next meeting, once all can review it. Mr. Brittain noted that you need special new software to open up the links to see it on the web site now. Mr. Scott will have the Webmaster check it out from home. B. Tower Applications on Special Use Permits (SUP s) Mr. Scott advised that this SUP was just approved this past Tuesday at the Board Meeting and his goal is to get all of these to the Cable Commission as soon as possible once approved. He will find out what the process is, the time frame between submission and planning commission review. We need to make sure we have a policy and define a policy on what we have done. We are revising the Telecommunication Facility Replacement Policy and trying to tighten it up and make it a little better. Mr. Scott also noted that a Board member would like us to identify where there is a need and where all the towers should go in the county. He stated that this is a

6 Cable Commission Minutes Page 6 one-year trial to show how we can be an asset to the Board of Supervisors and how we can be viewed as a telecommunication commission, not just cable. Mr. Fahey suggested obtaining a coverage map outlining the optimum coverage for the county. It would put the county into grids, identify the existing tower locations and where the coverage is, and would help identify any future spots, etc. We will need to look at different frequencies and services, as well as the physical implementation. Mr. Scott advised that we already have a map of all the cell towers in the county and the vendors are noted on the towers. Mr. Fahey noted that the Board needs us to take the responsibility of doing some advance thinking and feels we would have to hire consultants to do it. Mr. Scott stated that we need to prove our value of expertise before we can ask the Board for any money for consultants. Mr. Fahey noted that we could work with the economic development authority to see what businesses would make use of cellular facilities, if we had them, and could find this out through some type of survey. We need to think ahead of the curve, not after it happens. Mr. Pritchett stated that we also need to know what the companies needs are to make a correct decision. It was agreed to use the current SUP as an example and figure out what the Commission can do on the next one. After discussion of the current SUP, Mr. Shelby noted that the Commission is to try and look at the big picture of what type of tower it is and how many towers should be put up, looking out for the county s interest. For example, we are to advise the Board whether someone is overbuilding or whether the tower should be down the road a little bit. Mr. Scott also added that the Consultant is not very proactive in looking at the big picture now and we just need to determine whether the plans do or do not meet the policy. The 911 director is looking at the towers also in the county s perspective. VIII. Next Meeting Date. The next meeting of the Spotsylvania Cable TV & Telecommunications Commission is scheduled for Thursday, June 12, 2003, at 7:00 p.m. in the Board of Supervisor s Room located in the Holbert Building, at 9104 Courthouse Road, Spotsylvania, VA. Mr. Shelby made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Mr. Brittain seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Karen Karkos