June 15, 1998

City County Building
Indianapolis IN 46254

MEMBERS PRESENT:

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

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Steve Nelson, Member

OTHER PRESENT: 

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

The first agenda item was the approval of minutes from the Cable Board's May 18, 1998, meeting. Motion was made by Mr. Hiltunen, seconded by Mr. Rhodes, to approve the minutes of the Board's May 18, 1998 Board Meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

The next item on the agenda was the Comcast Audit Issues settlement Letter. Ms. Piety stated that Comcast has not responded to the proposed Settlement letter that was distributed during the last board meeting.

Mr. Wilson of Comcast stated that due to the absence of Comcast key employees who are reviewing the settlement letter issues he is not able to respond to the letter at this meeting but hopes to have a response for the Board's July meeting.

Mr. Curry asked the Board for its view, realizing that this issue has been ongoing for sometime.

Mr. Rhodes asked Mr. Wilson whether the problem stems from management not making a decision on these issues.

Mr. Wilson stated that was not the case and that Comcast has a few key people out of town who are going through records and have not yet completed a review.

Mr. Curry asked whether the Board wanted to wait another month or ask City County legal to commence an action against Comcast now.

Mr. Rhodes moved that the Board commence an action now and cease that action if Comcast provides the Board with a favorable response at the next meeting.

Mr. Leonard asked Ms. Piety to describe the issues that are subjected to the audit.

Mr. Curry reminded everyone that the Board has been involved in a number of settlement conferences with three Comcast general managers, including Mr. Wilson. Mr. Curry stated that if the Board decides to let City County legal commence action against Comcast that the Board will be asking for all monies owed by Comcast.

Ms. Piety stated the issues are Comcast's compliance with the terms of the cable franchise contract for years 1990 through 1994. The remaining amount at issue is $120,547 which consists of $69,966 in fees attributable to advertising agency commissions not included in gross revenues and $50, 581 attributable to franchise fees not included in gross revenues. The audits were originally conducted in 1993 and 1994.

In response to Mr. Hiltunen's question, Mr. Curry stated that this has been an open item before the Board for 2 ½ years.

Ms. Piety stated that commencing an action does not necessarily preclude continuing settlement discussions with Comcast.

Mr. Wilson stated the issue is that Comcast received the settlement agreement prior to last month's meeting and was asked to do a reconciliation of the franchise fees of paid and revenues actually collected to see if Comcast had an overpayment or underpayment Mr. Wilson stated that Comcast is in the process of doing this reconciliation, key people are out of town. Comcast is not in a position to respond to the City's settlement letter. Mr. Wilson stated he expects to have the review done and to meet with Mr. Curry and Ms. Piety prior to the next meeting.

In response to Mr. Hiltunen's question, Mr. Wilson stated he would continue and the conversations would not have to go from the accountants to the attorneys.

Mr. Leonard stated that his preference would be to commence action after the next Cable Board meeting if there has been no further progress.

Mr. Rhodes agreed to amend his motion to include Mr. Leonard's preference action be commenced after the next Cable Board meeting . Motion was made by Mr. Rhodes ,seconded by Mr. Hiltunen, to commence action if there is not an positive response from Comcast at the July 20 Board meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

The next item on the agenda was the Time Warner BST rate order. Ms. Piety asked the Board to continue this agenda item until the next Board meeting so that she and Mr. Karrison have an opportunity to review the effect of an order issued by the FCC on June 8, 1998, concerning Time Warner's CPST rates.

The Board consented to carry the Time Warner BST rate order to next month's Board meeting.

The next agenda item was the ETC PEG Capital Grant Agreement. Ms. Piety stated the Grant Agreement is between the City of Indianapolis, Indiana, and Indiana University for equipment to support field production and post-production activities of Educational Access Channel programmers. The Peg grant requested is $65,000 the form of the grant agreement is identical to the grant agreement for 1997. Ms. Piety submitted to the Council a proposal to approve the grant award which is going through the Council process.

Mr. Burkholder of ETC stated that Indiana University does not have any problem with the format of the proposed agreement.

Motion was made by Mr. Rhodes, seconded by Mr. Hiltunen, to adopt the Grant agreement prepared by Ms. Piety. Motion carried unanimously.

The next agenda item was the American Cable-Security Fund Agreement. Ms. Piety stated the Cable Agency received a statement of account from Bank One entitled, "Escrow Agreement between American Cablevision of Indianapolis and Consolidated City of Indianapolis". The Agency questioned what the escrow agreement was and what it referred to. Ms. Piety received a copy of the Security Fund Deposit Agreement from Bank One and reviewed it with Mr. Maultra. The agreement went into effect on January 18, 1982 when American Cable (now Time Warner Cable) was originally granted a franchise by the City. The escrow amount represents the security deposit that Time Warner was required to pay to assure the performance of the franchise agreement. That agreement was renewed in September 1996. The agreement provides that the operator's entitles to the return of all security funds remaining on deposit in the security fund account on the date of expiration of the term of the franchise, provided that there is no outstanding default by the operator. Ms. Piety stated there was no outstanding default by the operator on that date and she recommends that the Controller's Office work with Bank One to return the monies to Time Warner now that the franchise agreement has been renewed.

Mr. Curry asked Ms. Piety whether Time Warner is entitled to the monies because it has changed its name. Ms. Piety stated the agreement applies to and binds American Cable's successors, including Time Warner.

The amount that is in the account is just slightly over $15,000 for January 1 through March 31, 1998.

Motion was made by Mr. Hiltunen, seconded by Mr. Rhodes to release the funds to Time Warner. Motion carried unanimously.

Mr. Hiltunen left the meeting.

The next agenda 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 arranged a meeting between representatives of WAV-53 and public access to discuss possible opportunities. The Agency has continued its research for the City-County Council regarding the zoning ordinance on Personal Communication Service towers and met with Councillor Phil Hinkle to discuss this at length. The Cable Agency participated at a round table discussion at the Hudson Institute. The recently released Institute Study on Cable TV Competition and Regulation was the topic as were some other issues. The Cable Agency constructed a response to this Study and mailed a copy to each Board member. The Agency also forwarded copies on to the Senate Commerce Committee as they are reviewing the efficiencies of the FCC's Cable Services Bureau. Additionally, the Cable Agency took a position regarding the proposed merger of Ameritech and SBC Communications. The Indianapolis Star was seeking comment on the proposed merger in its Friday Forum and the Agency participated in that. The Agency had discussions with Time Warner regarding making the Educational & Public Safety Channel (EPS) full time in the upgraded areas as opposed to making them full time at the end of the year. Finally, the Cable Agency worked with both cable operators in mediating a number of customer cable problems with a summary and breakdown of the problems included with the Agency's report.

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 May. In May there were 35 hours and 58 minutes of live meeting coverage. Tape Delay meetings totaled 6 hours and 25 minutes. Special Events Production totaled 8 hours and 3 minutes.

In the area of In-Kind Production, Channel 16 had 6 hours and 26 minutes of production. The total for the month of May for all productions was 59 hours and 52 minutes. Interactive Information Usage totaled 1,190 calls for the month. Mr. Montgomery also stated beginning June 15, 1998, Channel 16 will carry all public meetings of the City-County Council and its committees. Those meetings scheduled outside of the Public Assembly Room or Room 260 will be presented on a tape delayed basis, usually the day after the meeting is held. This policy is in response to the Council vote on June 8^th to require the various Committee chairs to schedule their meetings to enable live or tape delayed carriage by Channel 16.

Mr. Curry observed that the City-County Council passed a proposal which provides that the Council Committees can be televised if the facilities exist at Channel 16. This may have a small impact on the 1999 budget. There is both an equipment issue and a people issue with the frequency of Council committee meetings especially in August and in September. Channel 16 has to make choices about the use of its facilities to cover Boards and other groups meeting at the same time.

The next agenda item was the Cable Operator's Reports. Mr. Apple presented Comcast's report. Mr. Apple stated in May Comcast picked up almost 300 full basic customers for the month and 111,604 expanded basic customers in Marion County For incoming calls, Comcast had 73,306 calls; 82.53% of those calls were answered in 30 seconds or less. Comcast had 117 outages for the month, 8 of them were planned. Comcast received and scheduled 3,455 calls and completed 3,456; 63.1% were completed within 24 hours; 99.1% were completed in 36 hours or by customer request. Comcast scheduled 3,938 installations and completed 3,499 of those scheduled.

Mr. Apple stated that during the month of May, Comcast had 81 hours of community interest programming aired on Channel 50. WAV-53 had 161.5 hour of locally produced programming. In May, 1998 Comcast aired and produced 8 public service announcements and Newsmaker featuring 11 local organizations in May.

Mr. Al Aldridge presented the Cable Operator's Management Report for Time Warner. Mr. Aldridge stated that Time Warner has had a steady customer growth. Time Warner completed 3,301 installs for the month of May with 3,838 scheduled. Incoming calls total for the month was 47,596; answering 92.5% within 30 seconds or less. Service calls received for the month were 3,980; 1,923 calls scheduled and 1,848 service calls completed. Time Warner had 31 outages for the month ;which were all planned outages. Time Warner is on track with its upgrade and plans to have the upgrade completed by the end of December.

In its Community Involvement reports, Time Warner produced and aired a public service announcement for the Asante Children's Theatre. Time Warner also produced and aired a promotional spot for the Eitlejorg Musuem's special screening of a program about the history and culture of Native Americans. (see Time Warner Community Involvement Report).

The next item on the agenda was the ETC Report. Mr. Burkholder presented the ETC report. ETC playback site move/EPS equipment installation obtained with previous funding-materials incoming/Mid-July target for completion. In regards to the 1998 Capital Equipment Request: IU's part of the process is underway-submitted for approval and proper signatures through Research and Sponsored Programs. For June 1998, ETC provided 390 hours of free or donated programming: 0 hours of purchased programming, 156 hours of PBS programming; 234 hours of locally produced programming; and 321 hours of SCOLA Foreign Language Programming.

Under Old Business, Mr. Maultra submitted an update on televising IPS Board meeting. Mr. Maultra stated he contacted the superintendent's office and did not hear from him. Mr. Maultra contacted Earl Harris who is the Director of the IPS television department. Mr. Harris stated that he does not know what IPS intends to do in regard to Board meeting coverage.

Mr. Leonard asked when new IPS Board members take office.

Mr. Curry stated he believed it is July 1^st.

Mr. Rhodes asked what was the potential cost for IPS to televise it meetings.

Mr Maultra stated the costs would be from the human resources standpoint and whether they have the equipment. Mr. Maultra stated he mentioned to Superintendent Pritchett and Mr. Harris the possibility that IPS might be a candidate to receive some of the equipment Channel 16 will be retiring. That equipment would offset some of the expenses. Mr. Maultra guessed that IPS's cost would be about $100,000.00.

Mr. Rhodes asked whether Channel 16 is currently broadcasting any other township school district meetings.

Mr. Maultra was not aware of any other broadcasting.

Mr. Leonard stated from his understanding that program polices require Channel 16 to be invited to a meeting before they can broadcast the meeting.

Mr. Maultra stated that policy was amended at the last City County Council meeting to allow Channel 16 to cover all Council meetings.

Mr. Leonard asked if the policy extended to the Neighborhood Association meetings.

Mr. Maultra stated that it did.

Mr. Leonard asked whether, in order for Channel 16 to tape IPS board meetings without an invitation from IPS, the Board have to amend to the programming policy or grant a waiver from it.

Mr. Maultra stated Mr. Leonard was correct.

Mr. Leonard asked whether any other issues would be created for Channel 16 if it started broadcasting IPS meetings.

Mr. Montgomery stated that in January of 1997 he appeared in front of IPS School Board requesting permission for Channel 16 to cover all their meetings. IPS declined Channel 16 is offer to cover those meetings on a tape delayed basic. The Board preferred to provide coverage through the ETC channel.

Mr. Leonard suggested this be an agenda item for the July Board meeting.

Under Old Business, Mr. Maultra addressed a complaint regarding Time Warner moving CSPAN to CPST and Fox Sports Midwest on E\DPS channel in upgraded area. Mr. Maultra stated that, at the last Cable Board Meeting, the issue was raised that CSPAN had been moved from the Limited Basic Service tier in the Time Warner territory. Mr. Maultra also stated other issues raised including that even thought the area of the Barton House Apartments has been upgraded, people living at the Barton House are not receiving the upgraded services. Also, a concern that the E/ DPS Channel is not full time in the upgraded areas, that there are duplicative services on the limited basic service tier in that essentially two channels are dedicated to FOX Sports Midwest.

Mr. Maultra stated that Time Warner essentially moved CSPAN from the limited basic tier to expanded basic tier to make room for Fox Sports Midwest. Channel lock necessitated the move. This raised another issue, if an area is upgraded in Time Warner's franchise territory, then why isn't the E/DPS programming running full time. The Cable Agency contacted Time Warner about this and they addressed the issue very quickly by going full time with the E/DPS programming in the upgraded areas.

Mr. Maultra also stated that the concerns about Barton House area being upgraded, but not receiving upgraded services falls under the Housing Authority's jurisdiction. They will be meeting with Time Warner in the near future to discuss bringing in the upgraded services to the tenants. Mr. Maultra stated this issue is really out of the hands of Time Warner and the Cable Agency. Comments about cable service issues for those living under the Indianapolis Housing Authority umbrella should be to that agency. Barton House falls under the Housing Authority.

Mr. Satterfield stated that Time Warner arranged for the Housing Authority to have cable service at a special rate. Mr. Satterfield stated the original agreement called for the level of service and pricing that was pre-upgrade offer. Time Warner is not offering the bulk service in the Barton House apartments.

Mr. Smashey stated that he has been mislead by the Housing Authority and they are not helpful to his situation.

Ms. Piety stated that Mr. Smashey has filed a tort claim notice and copies of this notice were sent to Mr. Maultra and Ms. Piety.

Mr. Curry asked whether the Board should continue to discuss Mr. Smashey's complaint at the Board meeting or should discussions be held pending resolution of the claim.

Ms. Piety stated she would do some investigation and respond at the next board meeting.

Under Public Comment, Ms. Andrea Price stated there were three items she would like to discuss: 1) Public Access of Indianapolis was invited to present the current status of lack of public access in Indianapolis at the Indiana State board meeting of the Alliance for Community Media; 2) Ms. Price has been elected as Vice-Chair for the State Board for the Alliance of Community Media:3) Ms. Price also stated that she had a meeting with Amos Brown and WAV-53; finally, Ms. Price is pleased that the Cable Agency is following up the complaint against Time Warner showing Fox Sports Midwest on E\DPS channel in upgraded areas.

Mr. Alfred Chandler stated he commends Time Warner for taking care of his cable problem. Mr. Chandler also stated he is upset in regards to the franchise fee and also unsatisfied that there is a fee to receive a copy of the Board minutes.

Mr. Curry stated there is a provision for per page copying fee for government documents. Reading the documents is free, but there is a per page charge for a copy. With respect to the franchise fee, Mr. Curry stated itemizing the franchise fee is an option available for the cable operators and paying the franchise fee is a action required by contract which was supported by the City County Council.

There being no other business to come before the Board, Mr. Curry adjourned the meeting at 3:55 P.M.

_________________________________ Mr. Carlton Curry, Chairman

_________________________________ Mr. Charlie Hiltunen, Member

_________________________________ Mr. David Leonard, Member

_________________________________ Mr. Steve Nelson, Member

_________________________________ Mr. Stuart Rhodes, Member

ATTEST:

________________________________________

Ms. Janise Winston, Recording Secretary