JANUARY 12, 1998

City-County Building
Indianapolis, Indiana

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Carlton Curry, Chairman
Steve Nelson, Member
David Leonard, Member
Stuart Rhodes, Member
Charlie Hiltunen, Member

OTHERS PRESENT:

Chairman Curry brought the meeting to order at 2:30 P.M.

SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION

The first agenda item was the approval of minutes from the Cable Board’s December 15, 1997, meeting. Motion was made by Mr. Leonard, seconded by Mr. Hiltunun, to approve the minutes of the Board’s December 15, 1997 Board Meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

The next item on the agenda was the status of Comcast’s outstanding audit issues. Ms. Piety stated that she and Mr. Curry are still trying to work out an written agreement with Comcast.

Mr. Curry stated that Comcast has questions concerning the exact settlement terms agreed to.

The next item on the agenda was the Status Report-Comcast and Time Warner rate review. Ms. Piety stated the Cable Agency have received additional information for TimeWarner and Comcast. The information was forwarded on to Lou Karrison for review. Then Ms. Piety and Mr. Karrison will discuss what form the final rate orders will take.

Ms. Piety also advised the Board that as of December 31, 1997 the local cable rate regulations sunsetted. In order to do a final rate order Rick Maultra and Peggy Piety will have to review the new ordinance for adopting regulations so that the local cable rate regulations can be readopted. This process will involve a public hearing at the Board’s next meeting.

Ms. Piety also stated that the Cable Agency received from Time Warner an amended petition for re-consideration of a rate order the FCC had issued last May concerning Time Warner’s 1997 rates for expanded basic tier service. In its May 1997 order the FCC found that Time Warner’s use of expenses to perform true-up of its rates was improper. Time Warner can use only actual costs; therefore, the FCC reduced the true-up period from 12 to 9 months. Time Warner argued that it should have a full twelve month period to true-up its rates. Time Warner amended its petition to accept the FCC’s position and recalculated its 1996, 1997 and 1998 Forms 1240 using three months from each previous year to use a full 12 month true-up period.

Ms. Piety presented the Peg Grant Fund report. The cable franchise agreements that the City currently has with both operators require that in exchange for providing PEG Grant monies to the City for capital expenses, the City report back to the operator every year as to how that money is actually spent. Ms. Piety asked the Board to adopt the report as submitted so that it could be sent out to the operators.

Motion was made by Mr. Hiltunen, and seconded by Mr. Rhodes, to accept the report and distribute the PEG Grant Fund report to the operators. Motion carried unanimously.

The next item on the agenda was the Cable Agency Report. Mr. Maultra presented the Cable Agency report which highlighted the events that have taken place at the Cable Agency in the last month. The Cable Agency was asked by DCAM to provide research and information pertaining to utilizing a site management company to oversee cellular PCS tower lease of municipal properties. The Agency provided considerable support in this effort and provided documents and recent contracts to DCAM.

The Agency has reviewed the final draft of the City’s Wireless Communications Zoning Ordinance as prepared by DCAM and has submitted comments addressing camouflaging issues. Peggy Piety and Rick Maultra attended the IACT Telecommunications Task Force meeting and continued to discuss and have input on the telecommunication right of way model ordinance.

The Cable Agency staff met with customer service staff from Time Warner to meet new service manager and discuss customer complaint issues. Finally, the Cable Agency has worked with both cable operators in mediating a number of customer cable problems with a summary and breakdown of the problems. Comcast had 51 complaints for the month. Time Warner had a total of 39 cable complaints for the month.

Mr. Curry advised the Board that Rick Maultra has been very busy working with Maury Plambeck and others on the tower-siting issue which is not a direct matter under the Cable Franchise Board but certainly falls in Mr. Maultra’s responsibilities. Mr. Curry stated he appreciated the work Mr. Maultra has been doing.

The next item on the agenda was the Channel 16 Programming Report, presented by Mr. Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery highlighted some of the activities of Channel 16 for the month of December. In December there were 16 hours and 25 minutes of live meeting coverage. Tape Delay meetings totaled 3 hours and 35 minutes. Special and Events Production totaled of 11 hours and 10 minutes.

In the area of In-Kind Production, Channel 16 had 10 hours and 10 minutes of productions. This included 3 hours of Opportunity Knocks and 2 hours of Discover Indy Parks. In references to Series Programming, Channel 16 had 5 hours of production.

The total for the month of December for all productions was 55 hours and 48 minutes, which was a decrease from November. Interactive Information Usage totaled 1,200 calls for the month. City of Indianapolis Job Line was top on the list with 169. Also Channel 16 covered the Mayor’s State of the City address. Beginning on January 1, Channel 16 got a new look for its hourly promos that run at 59 minutes after the hour using the new Chyron Maxine to give an easier and clearer look.

In the area of In-Kind Production, Channel 16 did some things for the Fire Department, also On Duty shows regarding runaways for the Marion County Sheriff Department. The total dollar amount assessed for the month of December was $2980.00 for In Kind Services.

Mr. Montgomery also gave a comparison report on 1997 and 1996 activity summary. Channel 16 was up in numbers at 722 hours and 35 minutes of total production hours for 1997 versus 679 hours and 19 minutes for 1996. The average monthly production output breaks down to 60 hours and 13 minutes per month versus last year’s 56 hours and 36 minutes. Channel 16 covered 255 live meetings versus 237 a year ago. Tape delay meetings totaled 48 this past year versus 32 last year. Special events covered in 1997: total hours 138 versus 78 last year. Series episodes in 1997: Channel 16 produced 165 versus 251 in 1996. The number of dubs Channel produced last year for paying customers was 107 amounted to revenues of $1950.

Mr. Curry stated the summary comparison report should be held aside for the budget preparation.

Mr. Montgomery also gave information on things to look forward for in 1998, stating that the van purchase will be moving ahead for this year. Channel 16 has hired a Programming and Promotions Coordinator which is a part time position. Channel 16 has not yet received permission from IPS school board to carry their meetings on a tape delay basis. Channel 16 has prepared documents and some information for their consideration. Mr. Montgomery stated that Channel 16 is making a commitment to cover all IPS meetings.

Mr. Montgomery stated that Mr. Curry has mentioned digital evolution for Channel 16, and John Rodenbarger and Mr. Montgomery have had conversations about this matter. Next month Channel 16 will be prepared to submit a full report to the Board in regards to what Channel 16 suggest as a plan of action, not only for 1997, but the next few years. Channel 16 will recommend on how the PEG Grant fund can be utilized. Mr. Montgomery also stated the biggest In Kind client was the Indianapolis Fire department. Channel 16 has been supporting their training and their communications effort.

John Gammon, Public Information Officer, for the Fire Department told Mr. Montgomery that the Fire department is seeking to hire a freelance producer or staff producer to do their specific training and communications pieces. Channel 16 is looking to partner with them, so the new producer can use Channel 16 facility.

Mr. Hiltunen asked if Channel 16 will need to convert to digital to interface with the cable system in order to broadcast Channel 16. Mr. Montgomery stated no; there are converter boxes that subscribers can get which convert NTSC signals without going digital.

Mr. Curry stated that the FCC had indicated their goal is to go digital in 2002; however, recently the FCC is not sticking to that timetable. Mr. Curry stated that because the Board had a commitment to the cable operators to exercise judicious stewardship of the capital fund the Board should ask for a specific longer range plan from the Channel 16 operations group that would look at digital as a goal, that would maintain the capability to do digital and analog in the interim but when it had a choice to go with a more modern technology.

Mr. Curry stated by asking for that plan Channel 16 is then in a position to go to Comcast or TimeWarner with a plan they can comment on. Mr. Curry also stated that it is necessary to have this down on paper so that the Board possesses a vision and a goal and the operators know that goal.

The next item on the agenda was the Cable Operators’ Reports. Mark Apple presented Comcast’s report. Mr. Apple reported that Comcast begin the month of December with 11,457 customers and ended the month with 112,328 customers, but lost about 1000 of the pay units in the month of December. For the incoming calls Comcast had 65,972 calls; 64,979, which represents 89 percent of calls, were answered in 30 seconds or less. Comcast had 82 outages for the month, 14 of them were planned.

The outages affected 17,684 customers without services during the month of December. During the month of December Comcast received and scheduled 2620 service calls completed 2,578; 58.1 percent completed within 24 hours; 98 percent completed in 36 hours. Comcast scheduled 3,697 installations and completed 3, 680 of those scheduled.

Mr. Apple stated that during the month of December, Comcast had 33 hours of community interest programming aired on channel 50. Comcast aired and produced public service announcements, featuring Senator Coates and Lugar and Representatives Carson and Burton and Governor O’Bannon extending holiday greetings.

Ms. Shary Hoffman-Meadows presented the Cable Operator’s Management Report for Time Warner. Ms. Hoffman reported Time Warner was using the twelve full months for the true-up period which requires Time Warner to go back three months into the previous year.

Mr. Curry confirmed that the methodology for Time Warner true-up was nine months in the current calendar year plus the final quarter of the previous calendar year.

Ms. Hoffman stated that Time Warner has been able to maintain its number of customers. Time Warner gained 278 customers in the month of December. Time Warner completed 3,172 installs for the month of December. Service calls total was down for the month of December with 2,873 calls and 89% of those calls completed within 24 hours. Ms. Hoffman reported that percentage of unplanned outages went up for the month due to the weather.

The average duration for outages dropped during the month. Ms. Hoffman stated that Time Warner did a little construction for the month of December on the regular cable side and on the upgrade side TimeWarner is on target. Time Warner is approximately 40% through the actual upgrade for the Indianapolis hoping to have all systems upgraded by the end of this year. Community Involvement report supports a lot of different community events and programming in the year.

The next item on the agenda was the ETC Report. Mr Curry stated that Mr. Donaldson was not able to attend the meeting; however, he dropped off material for the Cable Franchise Board members.

Under Old Business, Mr. Curry stated several date changes for the Cable Franchise Board meetings due to the availability of Room 260. The June meeting will be on Monday, June 15; The November meeting on Monday, November 16; and the December meeting on Monday December 21.

Motion was made by Mr. Hiltunen, seconded by Mr. Leonard, to accept the date changes for the Cable Franchise Board meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

Under new Business, Mr Maultra discussed the NATOA members’ payment to Legislative/Regulatory Fund. Mr. Maultra stated that NATOA has asked that in addition to our annual membership renewal, that the City of Indianapolis contribute an additional $200 donation for NOTOA’s legal defense fund.

Motion was made by Mr. Hiltunen, seconded by Mr. Leonard, to donate $200 to NATOA for its legal defense fund. Motion carried unanimously.

Mr. Leonard commented on the proposed NACo letter. Mr. Leonard stated he had reviewed the letter and proposed a revision. Mr. Leonard questioned the rights of way policy that is addressed in the letter stating that if there is going to be reasonable compensation charged to the telecommunications providers for the use of the public rights of way on a non-discriminatory basis that it be in a manner that does not disincent the enhancement of technology infrastructure in this locality, because locally there is not sufficient technology infrastructure yet. He would not want the money that the City contributes to NACo’s legal defense fund going toward efforts which undo incentives for telecommunications providers to use of public rights of way.

Mr. Curry asked Mr. Leonard for meaning of the word "disincent."

Mr. Leonard stated once the City starts charging too much for its right of way or regulating it in a manner that "disincents" providers from upgrading the technology infrastructure, that would be a disservice to the community.

Mr. Curry stated that the Board is obligated under the Cable Telecommunication Act to be fair and reasonable and to raise no barriers as well as to publicly disclose what ever is done and to be non-discriminatory. To the extent the Board would ask, through the NACo letter, that NACo model ordinance respond to those four things, the Board needs to be careful with the wording so that "disincentive" does not equate to zero.

Mr. Curry stated that there has been a bill filed in our local legislature as recently as last week which defines the payment for use of the public right-of-way and that definition does not provide for any lease or rental or payment, but only the dollars necessary to get the permits. Mr. Curry stated he does not have a problem with Mr. Leonard’s change provided that the word "disincent" is not seized by people to say that it means the Cable Franchise Board via the Cable Agency can not put anything in there.

Mr. Rhodes stated that he would also be concerned with the language of disincentive. The compensation does not have to be a dollar compensation; it could a number of things. Mr. Rhodes feels that it must be a fair compensation.

Mr. Curry stated that Mr. Leonard suggested that the letter to NACo regarding its legal defense fund should be rewritten to read: "the Cable Franchise Board of Indianapolis and Marion County and City Council support and join NACo in opposing federal and state efforts to strip away authority of local governments to manage public ROW and rights of local governments to require fair and reasonable compensation from telecommunications providers for use of public rights- of- way on a non-discriminatory basis and in a manner which does not tend to disincent the enhancement of technology of infrastructure in a locality.

Mr. Leonard moved that the letter be amended the way it was read; Mr. Nelson seconded.

Mr. Maultra stated that the language used in the letter is from the 96 Telecommunication Act.

Mr. Hiltunen stated that as an important policy the City needs to look at promotion of competition in the City.

Mr. Curry stated that this is an important letter going to NACo representing what the Cable Franchise Board and City County Council support, and the Board needs to say what it really means.

Mr. Curry stated that there is a motion to amend the letter to say " the Cable Franchise Board of Indianapolis and Marion County and City-County Council supports and join NACo in opposing federal and state efforts to strip away authority of local governments to manage public ROW and rights of local government to require fair and reasonable compensation from telecommunications providers for use of public rights of way on a non-discriminatory basis and in a manner which does not tend to disincent the enhancement of technology of infrastructure in a locality. The motion is to have the second paragraph read as such.

Mr. Leonard and Mr. Nelson voted in favor of the amendment, while Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Hiltunen, and Mr. Curry against it. The motion fails at 3 to 2.

Motion was made by Mr. Rhodes to sent the letter to NACo as is; Mr. Curry seconded. Vote was 3 to 2, with Mr. Leonard and Mr. Nelson opposed.

Under public Comment, James Smashey stated that installation fees the cable companies are charging are too high. He wanted to know if this complaint could be filed with the FCC. Also Mr. Smashey disagreed with the cable operators’ upgrade fees and with time that the FCC takes to respond to filings against the cable companies.

Mr. Curry stated that the installation fees are a local matter and would not be part of the City’s filing with the FCC.

There being no other business to come before the Board, Mr. Curry adjourned the meeting at 4:15 P.M.

______________________________
Mr. Carlton Curry, Chair

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Mr. Charles Hiltunen, Member

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Mr. David Leonard, Member

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Mr. Steve Nelson, Member

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Mr. Stuart Rhodes, Member

Attest:

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Ms. Janise L. Winston