April 2006 CFB Minutes

April 17, 2006

MEMBERS PRESENT

Peter Blum, Chairman
Kent Burrow, Member
Elizabeth Herriman, Member
Daniel Lynch, Member

OTHERS PRESENT

Chairman Blum calls the April meeting of the Marion County Cable Franchise Board to order.

The first item on the agenda is the Approval of the Minutes.  Chairman Blum asks for a motion to approve the January 17^th, February 21^st, and the March 20^th Board Meeting Minutes.  Ms. Herriman moves to approve the minutes.  Mr. Lynch seconds the motion.  The motion is voted on 4-0.

The next item on the agenda is the Cable Agency Report submitted by Mr. Rick Maultra, Director of the Cable Communications Agency.

Mr. Maultra thanks the Board for the opportunity to highlight some of the things that the Cable Communications Agency has been involved with during the past month.

First Mile has advised the Agency that they will withdraw from the local franchising process and look to obtain a franchise on the State level.  They have requested the $5,000 application fee that they had previously submitted.  The Agency has tallied their costs to the process and submitted that to OCC.  For the Cable Agency, they estimate 35 hours worked on First Mile’s franchise process, which would come to $1,194.32.  That would leave a balance of $3,805.68 of First Mile’s $5,000 application fee.

OCC can tally their costs with respect to this matter and apply that to the $5,000 application fee.  An outstanding issue to this matter is the back franchise fees that are owed to the City from when First Mile was operating (and is) without a local franchise agreement.  That was a matter that was to be addressed in the franchising process.

With respect to current outstanding franchise fee audits, the Agency is doing follow up with both operators since the Agency’s auditor has reviewed the operator’s responses regarding Comcast’s audit of 2004 and Bright House’s audit of 2002-2003.  Mr. Burrow, counsel and the Agency met to discuss these audits, particularly Bright House’s, at length.  BHN sent the City a check in the amount of $136,968.  The auditor believes that the City is due and additional $68,091 plus accrued interest on both the $136,968 calculated through the date of payment and on the remaining balance when of if it is paid.  That is the discrepancy between Bright House’s own internal audit and with that of the Agency’s CPA consultant.  On the Comcast side, Comcast is claiming an overpayment of $64,165 to that of the auditor’s findings of $54,233.  Follow up is being done on the discrepancy.

Action Audits has found that Bright House is well beyond the FCC rules for the maximum permitted rate they are charging for the limited basic tier of service and the Agency has shared that information with Bright House to get their response to the findings.  The Agency did this out of courtesy before bringing it to the Cable Board for a vote.

ETC returned unused PEG Grant money totaling $2,200 to the City, which the Agency has forwarded on to the Controller’s Office to be returned to that fund.

The Cable Communications Agency has been serving as a consumer advocate to Indianapolis and Marion County cable subscribers in assisting them in mediating cable complaints on their behalf.

For the month of March, the Agency received 14 complaints for Bright House.  The high areas of complaints were in billing procedures and rates.  For Comcast, the Agency received 65 complaints.  The high areas of complaints were in the areas of billing procedures, rates, and customer service.

That concludes Mr. Maultra’s Agency Report and remarks and he will answer any questions that the Board may have.

Mr. Lynch has a question regarding the discussion that has been going on for several years on First Mile.  He asks what the magnitude of any back franchise fees owed to the City over that 2-year period.  Mr. Lynch wonders if given where we are in the regulatory process at this time, if it would be cleaner to just forgive that and move forward, refund their check, rather than debate it.

Mr. Maultra responds that he doesn’t think that is necessarily up to him to do that.  That would be something that would be up to the Board.  The City recently passed a recodification to the City code with regard to keeping the application fees to the actual cost for the City and First Mile was in agreement to do that.  The Board’s will was that the Agency would tally their cost along with OCC.  That is what is being done in terms of what was actually spent against the $5,000. 

First Mile said they were planning on reimbursing the City in regards to the franchise fees.  It is in violation of local City code that they were operating a video system without a franchise agreement.  Mr. Maultra thinks that it is strictly a matter of upholding the law.

The next item on the agenda is the Government Access TV Programming Report with Ken Montgomery, Manager of Channel 16.

Channel 16 covered 45 different meetings or events during the month of March for a total of 57 hours and 13 minutes.  That included all 3 of the Law Enforcement Consolidation meetings, the Advisory Committee, the Transition Authority, and the Steering Committee.  They also covered, as they do on a quarterly basis, the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission.

Channel 16 did 19 hours and 34 minutes of Specials and Events Production and 2 hours and 45 minutes of In-Kind Production for City-County/Government Agencies.  That included a Latino Drinking and Driving Event and a Public Defender Continuing Legal Education.

The total for month of March in all production categories was 81 hours and 2 minutes. 

The total for In-Kind services if Channel 16 would have charged for it was $1,990.

With that, Mr. Montgomery will answer any questions from the Board.

The next item on the agenda is the Cable Operators Management Reports beginning with Bright House.

Al Aldridge, Director of Public Affairs, with Buz Nesbit, Division President for Bright House Networks will present their operator’s management report that was included in the Board Packet. 

Bright House began the month with 61,192 customers and ended the month with 62,268, giving a system total of 1076 customers gained for the month of March.

On the incoming call report, Bright House handled 61,955 calls out of 62,285 calls received.  57,035 calls were answered in 30 seconds or less, which gave a call answer rate of 92.1% and a busy rate of 0.8%, as represented by them.

On the Complaint Summaries Report, there were 14 complaints from 13 customers. 

100% of service interruption calls were addressed within 24 hours.  There were no planned outages, but there were 20 unplanned outages that affected 3,975 customers.  The system reliability for the month was 99.99%, as reported by Bright House.

100% of total service calls were addressed within the next business day, unless as otherwise directed by the customer.  There were no appointments kept outside of the 4-hour service window during normal business hours, unless requested by customer.

100% of standard installations were performed within seven business days after the order was placed.

There were 0.25 underground constructions in multiple dwelling units on West Washington Street, East New York Street, and at the Hudson during the month of March.

The Division hosted the VH1 Save the Music grants concert at the Indiana Statehouse Rotunda.  The concert showcased 4-Indianapolis Public Schools.  Al Aldridge, BHN, and Christy Manso, VH1, presented the 'big check' to the four principals of the recipient schools. 

This makes a total of 22-IPS schools that have received VH1 STM grants since 2001 for a total of $550,000 in grants.

VH1 also announced that the IPS School Board would be honored at a ceremony at the National Academic Administrators Conference in Chicago in April.  The award will be in the name of Bright House Networks and VH1.  A member of the BHN Division has been invited to attend the ceremony.

Bright House Networks produced and ran a PSA with City-Council President Monroe Gray on a Senior Health Celebration event.  This was the 5th PSA that they have done with members of the City-County Council during the past year.  These spots contributed to over $34,000 worth of in-kind airtime for various organizations and community causes during the month.

Al Aldridge, Director of Public Affairs for the Division, was the recipient for two awards for his efforts with Community Public Affairs during the month.  He received the Pinnacle Award from the Midwest Cable Academy and the 2006 Public Affairs Achievement Award from the Cable Television Public Affairs Association.  He was also recognized as an award nominee at the Center for Leadership Development's Minority Achievers Recognition Awards Dinner.

Members of the Division continue to volunteer with the Indianapolis Public Schools Education Foundation (IPSEF), the Walker Theatre Center, the 100 Black Men of Indianapolis, the National Hemophilia Foundation, and the YMCA.

The continued partnership with WDNI provided 214 hours of local programming as mandated by the City's franchise agreement.

With that, Mr. Aldridge will answer any questions from the Board.

Next is the Comcast Management Report.

Mike Delph, City Director of Government Affairs, with Doug Ward, Director of Customer Service will present on behalf of Comcast their report to the Board for the month of March. 

Comcast represented that the number of customers requesting total basic service increased by 167.

87.22% calls were answered in 30 seconds or less with a busy rate of 0.1%.

System Reliability for the month was 99.99%

96.25% of total service calls were addressed by the next business day, or at the direction of the customer.  99.86% of appointments were kept within the 4-hour service window during normal business hours, or at the direction of the customer.

100% of standard installations were performed within seven business days or at the direction of the customer.

Comcast calculated 65 complaints sent to the Cable Agency.

Comcast completed construction in 2 new subdivisions.

Comcast aired over 225 hours of local community interest programming during the month of March.

Comcast was a Silver Column sponsor of the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership's Home Fair, March 3 – 5, at Glendale Mall. The Home Fair is designed to provide assistance to people who are seeking to purchase their first home.

Comcast partnered with the Indiana Blood Center and hosted an on-site blood drive, March 8. Twenty-one (21) employees generously rolled up their sleeves to help more than 100 Hoosiers in need of blood transfusions.

Comcast sponsored "Noble Evening in the Garden," March 10, at the State Fairgrounds. This annual event is a preview of the Flower and Patio Show and features dozens of area restaurants showcasing items from their menu against the backdrop of the gardens. Comcast has sponsored the event since its inception nine years ago.

Comcast sponsored the Center for Leadership Development's Annual Minority Achievers Awards Dinner, March 13, at the Convention Center. The Center for Leadership Development provides training and mentoring services for the City's underserved youth.

Comcast was a sponsor of the United Way Annual Meeting, March 14. At the luncheon, United Way of Central Indiana recognized companies that participated in the 2005 fundraising campaign.

Comcast hosted a C-SPAN School Bus visit to Lincoln Middle School, March 16 and the Indiana Social Studies Convention, March 17 at the Martin House & Lily Conference Center.

Comcast sponsored the Lawrence Township School Foundation Invest for Success Community Investment Luncheon, March 17 at the Sheraton Hotel. Local Business leaders joined Gerry Dick, host of Inside Indiana Business, and learned more about ways they impact youth in their communities.

Comcast employees sponsored a book drive and reading event for St. Vincent Children's Hospital, March 23. Close to twenty (20) employees personally interacted with several patients and their families during the visit and each patient was given their own personal book to take home.

That concludes Mr. Delph’s formal report and he will answer questions from the Board.

Chairman Blum asks Mr. Delph what Comcast plans to do for the month of April to improve their numbers.

Mr. Ward responds to date, they are at 91% and that there is a class that will be taking calls this week.  That will offer Comcast a greater opportunity to meet the customer’s expectations.  They expected to meet the service level in March and were very disappointed that they did not.  They were on track to meet the service level but had a very difficult week towards the end of March. 

The last 8 days or so of March brought them under the 90%.  Mr. Ward believes that they have put the corrective measures in place and are committed to not only meeting the numbers, but also meeting the expectations of their customers. 

Chairman Blum asks if Comcast has received their letter of non-compliance and Mr. Ward responds that they have received it.

The next item on the agenda is the ETC Monthly Report submitted by Earl Harris.

Mr. Harris, President of the Education Television Cooperative, with Charlie Wiles will go over the ETC monthly report for March.

Discussion has taken place with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  The discussions have centered around IMS Productions producing documentaries for viewing on the ETC channels.  Further conversation is scheduled for later this month.

NUVO Newsweekly has shown interest in partnering with ETC in the creation of a column featuring ETC Programs.  NUVO is also interested in producing a show tentatively called “NUVO Newsmaker.”

Conversation has taken place with Dr. Bernice Rhuel from Wellpoint about her organization hosting a reception for ETC involving business and community leaders.  Dr. Rhuel has also discussed interest in pursuing underwriting for a diversity series on the ETC channels.

Future updates will be provided on all.

Mr. Harris has been informed today that University of Indianapolis Administration has signed off on the agreement to move the ETC Playback site to their campus. 

With that Mr. Harris and Mr. Wiles will answer questions from the Board.

Chairman Blum asks what the targeting date is for the moving the playback site and Mr. Harris responds they are targeting the end of the University’s semester.  That will either be the end of April or the beginning of May.

Chairman asks Mr. Harris how long the site will be down.  Mr. Harris responds that if their plan works out correctly, they will have a temporary site at the University of Indianapolis up and running, have the switch happen with Bright House, and then move the rest of the equipment over.  If they can work it out with the equipment and the technology, they will have no down time at all.

Chairman Blum commends Mr. Harris and Mr. Wiles on everything they have done for ETC.

The New Business portion of the meeting is next.

Mr. Maultra states that the next annual NATOA meeting is scheduled during the August Cable Franchise Board Meeting.  He asks the Board for an approval to reschedule the meeting to one week earlier.  Ms. Tirotta has checked on the availability of a conference room and has reserved room 107 for August 14^th at 5:30 PM.

Ms. Herriman moves to approve the rescheduling of the August Cable Franchise Board Meeting from August 21^st to August 14^th.  Mr. Burrow seconds the motion.  The motion is voted on 4-zero.

The Public Comment portion of the agenda is next.

George Zeltner spoke under Public Comment about his concerns regarding Comcast’s response and execution of his complaints. 

Mr. Smashey spoke under Public Comment regarding public law with respect to the cable operators.

Chairman Blum announces the next Board meeting on Monday, May 15^th at 2:30 PM in room 260 and adjourns this meeting.

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