10-09-2014 SWC MIN Minutes of the Sherburne/Wright County Cable Commission
Thursday, October 9, 2014, 1:00 p.m.
Watertown City Hall
Present: Commissioners Mert Auger, Jim Bart, Terri Boese, Vice Chair Phil Kern, Peggy
Carlson, Gina Wolbeck, and Lee Ann Yager. Also present: Carol Sindt
Absent: Commissioner Cathy Schuman, and Chair Tina Allard.
Also present: Technology Consultant Bill Bruce, Attorney Bob Vose, and Video Production
Coordinator Mark Davis.
1. Call to Order -Vice Chair Phil Kern called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes - May 1, 2014
Commissioner Yager motioned to approve the May 1, 2014 Sherburne Wright Cable
Commission Meeting Minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Bart, unanimous ayes,
motion carried.
3. Treasurer's Report - Mert Auger presented the financial statements as outlined in the staff
report.
Commissioner Wolbeck motioned to accept the Financial Statements as presented.
Seconded by Commissioner Boese, unanimous ayes, motion carried.
Commissioner Boese motioned to approve return of December Franchise payments to
each member City to help defer cable expenses. Seconded by Commissioner Bart,
unanimous ayes, motion carried.
Commissioner Wolbeck questioned if Franchise Fees other than those received from
Charter are calculated in the return. Commissioner Auger explained that historically, the
Commission has only included Franchise Fees paid by Charter in the return calculation.
4. Attorney's Report
a. Charter/Comcast Update - Commission Attorney Bob Vose reviewed the Charter and
Comcast transaction agreement that is contingent on approval of the Time
Warner/Comcast merger. Under the agreement, Charter will be restructured in a
manner requiring the Commission's approval. Comcast is "spinning-off' all its
system/subscribers in Minnesota to a newly formed company, GreatLand, which
Charter will operate under the terms of an agreement between Charter and GreatLand.
Charter will become the largest cable company in Minnesota in terms of subscribers its
serves, and the 2°d largest cable company nationwide. Vose discussed the option to
negotiate the needs of the Commission and member cities. Vose noted that Charter has
not been responsive to our questions and that we need to impose conditions to protect
citizens commission-wide. The general consensus of the Commission was to authorize
Vose to draft a Consent Resolution to address our concerns and to delegate finalization
of the Resolution to the Executive Committee.
Sherburne Wright Cable Commission
Meeting Minutes from 10-09-14
Page 2 of 2
b. Charter Converter Update - Vose discussed Charters conversion from old style
analogue to digital, which created channel changes for all government access channels
and Channel 19. Vose noted that Charter is seeking to impose a service fee for the box
upgrades and that Charter's intent is to continue charging for boxes located in each
Member City. Vose reviewed bulk account options versus individual invoices for each
box, and suggested to each City not to pay invoices until an agreement is finalized.
Commissioners discussed a possible option to purchase the boxes, box failure rates, and
the possibility of using 3rd party boxes. It was also discussed that Charter is offering free
boxes for a year to their users, but aren't making the same offer to franchise holders.
Carol Sindt from Charter discussed the January 15, 2015 service fee deadline. Sindt also
explained that Charter does expect that there will be negotiations to discuss.
Commission Members asked for an extension due to timing concerns with our next
Commission Meeting.
5. Equipment Report - Bill Bruce presented the equipment report. Bruce also discussed the
recent repair and upgrade issues in each member city. Bruce also noted that SCALA
Bulletin Board Software upgrades have been finished in all member cities. He described the
status of the HD Equipment transition and mentioned that vendor AV Solutions has given
the commission a $5K discount on each of 5 new HD TriCasters. Bruce discussed
upcoming equipment install phases in each city and recommended equipment purchases.
He discussed Monticello's request for commission help adding on to their audio system.
Bruce mentioned the history of the Monticello chambers and that he was still researching
options.
Commissioner Auger motioned to table the Monticello audio upgrade request to the
next Commission Meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Bart, unanimous ayes, motion
carried.
6. Programming Report - Mark Davis presented the programming report. Davis discussed
programming projects during the busy summer months for parades, festivals, coronations,
concerts, and Movie in the Park events. Davis also discussed Ad Council PSA's that can be
played on government channels, commission member projects completed, provided an
update on the status of City Works projects under construction, and videotaping of
upcoming winter sports events.
7. Commission Business
a. Employee Committee Update - Wolbeck provided an employee committee update.
Committee Members met prior to the October 9th Commission Meeting and discussed
City Works videos and the future hiring of an Intern to assist with scripting and
productions. Discussion was also held on volunteers, development of job descriptions
for the script writer and an intern position.
8. Upcoming Meeting Date - The next Commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday,
January 8, 2015 at the City of Buffalo.
9. 'ourn -Meetin djourned at 2:36 p.m.
Chair, Tina Allard Secretary, Gina olbe•