HomeMy WebLinkAboutTelecommunications Board - Minutes - 09/07/1999TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
**** September 7, 1999 ****
*** 6:00 PM ***
Council Liaison: Kurt Kastein Staff Liaison: Liz Stroh
Members Present: Howard Lowell, Greg Smith, Tim Tillson, Tom Maher, Braun Minchner
Members Absent: Larry Bontempo
City Stan Present: Liz Stroh, Gary Gordier
Guests: Kathy Stewart, AT&T Cable Services
Chair Greg Smith called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM
Approval of Minutes:
Greg mentioned that under other business should read Gary instead of Greg. Howard moved the
minutes of the last meeting be approved as corrected, Tom seconded the motion, which passed
unanimously.
Council Liaison:
Gary reported that City Council was working on developing a different approach to working with
Boards and Commissions. Greg volunteered to call the board liaison, Kurt Kastein to begin
discussions about how to work with him more effectively. The topic was tabled until next
meeting.
Tci Update
Kathy Stewart reported that 24,000 homes have been passed, and 90% of coaxial cable is in the
ground for the upgrade. 7 nodes have been certified, 15 nodes are projected to be certified within
the next 2 months. @Home service will begin testing in September. Howard asked about adding
analog channels to the system. Kathy mentioned it would not present the problems it has in the
past after the system upgrade is finished because additional bandwidth will be available. She
reported that the Sci Fi may be coming back to the analog channel line up due to a contract
requirement, and will be adding 5 new channels in the 60 mhz range. Tom asked about the cost
for @Home; Kathy informed the board that the monthly rate would be $39.95 @Home will be
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using AT&T fiber backbone, which will help with bandwidth availability. The service will be
vaiable, based on equipment and routing. Kathy mentioned that 800 households are on a
waiting list for @Home.. She will be contacting people on board as testers. Installation and 1
month free useage will be provided to the those testing the system. Since free installation will
also be part of some promotions, the board members will not need to reimburse AT&T for that
cost. Liz Stroh mentioned that she had checked with the City Attorney's office to make sure
there was no conflict of interest with the board's involvement in the testing. The Attorney's
office is clear that this is something that will be helpful to members of the board to understand as
it relates to their official duties. Kathy is interested in getting feedback on the engineering
aspects of the service, the service offering as well as the installation.
Kathy suggested that next meeting would be at TCI, so she could demonstrate @Home. The
board members agreed to that suggestion, and a demo of the @Home service will be included in
the agenda for October. Tim mentioned that the propriety nature of the browser used for
@Home may create a problem for some computer users. Kathy also mentioned that parental
control is available.
Internet II
Tom Maher explained the Internet II concept — to allow high speed access for member facilities.
The members include 147 higher education entitities.
Franchise 5' Year review:
The board reviewed the draft of the report to City Council regarding the 5' year review of
TCl/AT&T Cabls Services. Tom Maher moved to accept the report as submitted, and to
recommend Council adoption of the related resolution scheduled for October 19, 1999. Howard
seconded the motion; passed unanimously.
Legislative Policy Agenda:
Liz asked the Board to review the City's proposed Legislative Policy Agenda, and recommend
any changes or identify concerns. Tom Maher brought up the item opposing any legislation that
limits the City's ability to collect taxes from sales over the Internet. After further discussion, the
board agreed the item belonged under the Financial policies rather than the Telecommunication
Policy section, and recommended it be moved to that section.under finance. Greg mentioned that
need to include state of the art language in policy for the City.
Other business:
Greg Smith noted that the City's web pages included the home phone numbers of the board
members. Members agreed they would rather not have those numbers published.
Kathy Stewart complimented Chuck Seest of the Finance Department for his professional
approach to the fanancial audit recently conducted for the 5' year review.
Howard Lowell made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Braun Minchner. The motion passed
unanimously
The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 PM
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