HomeMy WebLinkAboutTelecommunications Board - Minutes - 09/19/2005TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
September 19, 2005
6:00 PM
Council Liaison: David Roy
Staff Liaison: Liz Stroh, Communications and Technology Services; 221-6522
Board Chair: Curt Cramer
Vice Chair: Herb Saperstone
Present: Curt Cramer, Robert Reichenberger, Herb Saperstone, Chip
Cushman, Tim Tillson, David Heiberg
Absent: Larry Bontempo,
Staff: Eric Dahlgren, Liz Stroh
Chair Curt Cramer called the meeting to order at 6: 05 PM.
Public Input: None
Minutes:
Robert Reichenberger moved to approve minutes of the last Board meeting,
seconded by Herb Saperstone. The motion passed unanimously.
Council Legislative Policv
Liz asked the Board to review the Council's Legislative Policy Agenda regarding
Telecommunications. Robert Reichenberger brought up concerns about privacy
and identity theft. He suggested that the policy be modified to support legislation
that protects the public in these areas, as well as limits a vendor's right to refuse
service if the subscriber declines to give a social security number. A motion was
made by Robert, and seconded by Tim to modify the Legislative agenda in this
way. The motion was passed unanimously. Liz will incorporate that into the
policy document.
Tim asked about the Policy item related to the collection of sales tax for Internet
purchases. Curt also mentioned that, with the onset of Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP), there may be legislation related to taxes imposed on telephone
service. The Board agreed that the revenue stream for this type of tax may
continue to diminish over time, creating a growing revenue shortfall for cities,
particularly because those revenues go to the cities' General Fund.
Tim proposed that item 6 be eliminated because of the difficulty in defining voice service
against data service ("Support preserving local taxing authority over
communication providers to the full extent that other businesses are subject to
such authority".) Herb Saperstone proposed, a modification that would support
local taxing authority until such time as the issues are addressed by the FCC anc
the telecommunications industry. The Board agreed that the area is very
complex and needs further legal investigation. Curt suggested that the Board
invite the Council Liaison, David Roy, to meet with the Board sometime in 2006
to discuss this and similar issues. Chip moved to approve the motion as
amended, Tim seconded with unanimous approval.
The Board asked Liz to determine if it was possible to provide more information
on the City's Internet site that identified various telecommunications service
providers so citizens would be better informed about choices. Liz will review the
City's policy and report back.
Other Business
None
Afturn
Chip made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Tim. The motion
passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 7:00 PM.
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