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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCable TV - 1998 - 12_10MINUTES CABLE TV AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 10, 1998 — 7:00 P.M. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Don Wing Bill Kapka Eric Willard Doug Dreggors Carl Johnson (arrived late) Remy Tholen BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Sherry Delling STAFF PRESENT: Michael Stanger, Acting City Manager Ann Maas, Administrative Secretary Craig Gillis, Fire Marshall Debra Bradley, Police Captain OTHERS PRESENT: Ricky Allen, TCI General Manager CALL TO ORDER With a quorum of the committee present, the regular meeting of the Allen Cable TV and Telecommunications Advisory Committee was called to order by Chair Don Wing at 7 00 p m on Thursday, December 10, 1998, at the Municipal Annex Conference Room, One Butler Circle, Allen, Texas The following items were discussed: U. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE NOVEMBER 12, 1998, REGULAR MEETING. MOTION: Doug Dreggors made a motion to approve the minutes as written for the November 12, 1998 meeting. Eric Willard seconded. The Motion carried 5 for, and 0 against. None present. Ricky Allen reviewed the TCI complaint calls list for this month and gave the following updates 1. Mike Ganom, 727-6880 - billing cycle changed, his payment was due 5 days earlier than usual, but the bill was not prorated. Ricky advised that the billing has been changed to multi -cycle billing to help provide better customer service. 2. Laurie Kelley, 727-5849 — questioned TCI's ability to filter 3 of the new channels, MTV, Comedy Central and VHI. Mr Allen advised he talked with Ms. Kelley and TCI will increase the level of scrambling, as well as install traps for her to filter these channels without having to buy the digital package. Discussion took place during which Mr Allen advised that 74% of Allen households have cable TV Mr Allen then informed the Committee that he received a promotion and will no longer be the General Manager for this area; he will now be in charge of building a TCI call center in Farmers Branch Vince Thomae will now handle the Allen area and Ricky will introduce him at the nerd meeting IV. DISCUSS TELECOMMUNICATION PLAN Presentation by Ted Jones of Raytheon Mr. ]ones was unable to attend, but sent a video and information on the Halo Angel Technology, which was presented by Bill Kapka giving the following information Provides high-speed multi media link. Using dishes mounted on rooftops and a Halo airplane, which flies circles in a 75 miles radius over a city. Presently being tested in the LA and San Pablo area. Raytheon builds the Raydome on the bottom of the plane. After discussion Mr. Kapka advised that Mr. Jones would be available to come and answer any questions the Committee may have at a future date. Presentation by Fire and Police Departments Craig Gillis and Debra Bradley gave an overview of the methods the Fire and Police departments use for communication and provided the following information: Police and Fire have command posts set up in event of an emergency. Cable TV channel is good means for public information in the event of a disaster Audio and video preempts can be done over all channels. CTTAC Minutes December 10, 1998 Page 2 III. CITIZENS' COMMENTS None present. Ricky Allen reviewed the TCI complaint calls list for this month and gave the following updates 1. Mike Ganom, 727-6880 - billing cycle changed, his payment was due 5 days earlier than usual, but the bill was not prorated. Ricky advised that the billing has been changed to multi -cycle billing to help provide better customer service. 2. Laurie Kelley, 727-5849 — questioned TCI's ability to filter 3 of the new channels, MTV, Comedy Central and VHI. Mr Allen advised he talked with Ms. Kelley and TCI will increase the level of scrambling, as well as install traps for her to filter these channels without having to buy the digital package. Discussion took place during which Mr Allen advised that 74% of Allen households have cable TV Mr Allen then informed the Committee that he received a promotion and will no longer be the General Manager for this area; he will now be in charge of building a TCI call center in Farmers Branch Vince Thomae will now handle the Allen area and Ricky will introduce him at the nerd meeting IV. DISCUSS TELECOMMUNICATION PLAN Presentation by Ted Jones of Raytheon Mr. ]ones was unable to attend, but sent a video and information on the Halo Angel Technology, which was presented by Bill Kapka giving the following information Provides high-speed multi media link. Using dishes mounted on rooftops and a Halo airplane, which flies circles in a 75 miles radius over a city. Presently being tested in the LA and San Pablo area. Raytheon builds the Raydome on the bottom of the plane. After discussion Mr. Kapka advised that Mr. Jones would be available to come and answer any questions the Committee may have at a future date. Presentation by Fire and Police Departments Craig Gillis and Debra Bradley gave an overview of the methods the Fire and Police departments use for communication and provided the following information: Police and Fire have command posts set up in event of an emergency. Cable TV channel is good means for public information in the event of a disaster Audio and video preempts can be done over all channels. CTTAC Minutes December 10, 1998 Page 3 Tornadoes, hazardous waste spills on highways and gas leaks due to construction are the main source of disasters in our area. Flooding is not a problem in Allen. Evacuation plan for schools is by word of mouth. The City presently uses or will use AM radios and mobile data computers to communicate in the field. The City has a common radio channel all employees can use in the event of a disaster. Y2K issues are being addressed and all departments are in the process of checking with vendors for compliance. Deaf, blind and Alzheimer's patients will be registered with the City in the future. This is in the planning stages. Craig Gillis advised that the Police and Fire departments would be doing a mock disaster drill sometime in 1999 Eric Willard volunteered to participate if needed. After some discussion Ricky, Debbie and Craig left the meeting Policy Governance Ends Policy — 1.2 Healthy Environment This item was tabled until next month. V. OTHER BUSINESS A. TCI Compliance with Franchise Agreement. Settlement of Outstanding Rate Issues Michael Stanger advised the Committee about the TCI, Richardson rate case decision. The court finding was that TCI could not implement their rates once the City filed their rate order. After review by C2 Consulting, it was determined that the 1998 rates would yield little or no refund, and 1997 would yield a $21,000 refund. TCI requested a compromise and offered to settle for half. This would yield a refund of $10,600, which would save on court fees and would guarantee a refund of between $1.20 to $1.39 per subscriber. C2 Consulting advised that they find this settlement reasonable. B. Items of Interest to the Committee. Ten -digit Dialing Everyone was aware of this being implemented and no discussion took place. C. Calendar Next regular meeting Thursday, January 14, 1999, in the Municipal Annex Conference Room at 7'00 p.m. CTTAC Minutes December 10, 1998 Page 4 VL ADJOURN MOTION: Doug Dreggors moved to adjourn the meeting. Carl Johnson seconded. The motion carried with 6 for, and 0 against. This meeting was adjourned at 8:10 P.M. These minutes read and approved this 10 day of January, 1999 Don Wing, Chairman \ I 2Iti Eric !i Ord, ecretary