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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Technology Committee 04/06/2004CITY OF PALM DESERT TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE MINUTES Tuesday, April 6, 2004 - 2:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBER CONFERENCE ROOM ***************************************************************************** I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Lewis opened the meeting at 2:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Dale Holtzer, Vice Chairman Jim Lewis, Chairman Absent: Denise Welch, Member Also Present: Bob Kohn, Director, Special Programs Doug Van Gelder, Information Systems Manager Gail Santee, Recording Secretary Jerome Pineau, Palm Desert Resident Kathi Jacobs, Time Warner Company III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Chairman Lewis introduced Jerome Pineau of Palm Desert to the Committee members. Mr. Pineau is interested in joining the Committee. Chairman Lewis noted that Member Rose had resigned due to health reasons. The Council accepted that resignation during its March 11, 2004 meeting. IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of the February 3, 2004, Technology Committee Meeting Minutes Action: Vice Chair Holtzer moved, seconded by Chair Lewis, to approve the February 3, 2004, Technology Committee meeting minutes as presented. Motion carried 2-0 with Member Welch absent. G:\CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminuteso4o6o4.doc TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES V. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION RECEIVED FOR COMMITTEE A. Memo from Sheila Gilligan re: Issues Taken to the Public Safety Committee, February 20, 2004. 1. 211 Community Non -Emergency Telephone Line The Public Safety Committee forwarded a favorable recommendation to the City Council. The City Council concurred with the recommendation at its February 26, 2004, meeting, to support the 211 non -emergency telephone number Zink in Riverside County to social services. 2. Vehicle Transponders at Gated Communities The Public Safety Committee was advised that knox boxes are used at all gated communities. These boxes give the public safety departments immediate access to properties and have caused no problems. Neither the Police nor Fire Departments are provided with any data from the surveillance cameras. Whether or not information is gathered by the country clubs relative to camera surveillance for incoming vehicles is a subject that should be directed to the individual gated communities. B. Time Warner letter, 1/30/04 indicating the 4th Qtr. 2003 Franchise Fee of $202,084.59 as compared to the 3rd Qtr. 2003 Franchise Fee of $190,968.55. VI. NEW BUSINESS None VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS A. DISCUSSION of Time Wamer Services (Kathi Jacobs) Ms. Jacobs is Time Wamer's Director, Govemment & Community Relations. 1. Govemment Access to the Channel 17 Studio Ms. Jacobs stated the studio is available to any City employee who takes the training. G:\CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminutes040604.doc 2 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES Regarding public access, there are policies and procedures set up. The studio is available for use. There are five full-time staff members, three of them dedicated to the studio and two at master control. There are no part- time staff members. The public member must take a training class after which they are certified as an Access Producer. They are then able to check out any of the portable equipment that can be taken out in the field to film whatever they chose. They will have been trained on using the Edit Bay and may do so to their film. It is then broadcast as Public Access. In terms of volume, since becoming Time Wamer in September 1999, there have been 15 applicants from Palm Desert for the quarterly public access training class. Of those 15 applicants, only 6 took the class. Out of the 6 that took the class, only one submitted a program. Valley -wide there were 80 applicants; only six submitted programs. Historically, people have a perception they can make money doing public access. This is untrue, they cannot. It is not a money -making proposition. When people take the class and leam they cannot make money, they are discouraged and don't come back. It is a means of people voicing their views. It cannot be a commercial program. The topics can include religious programs. There is no editorial control over the content of the video, except that it cannot be indecent or obscene material. However, the FCC does not clearly define either. It is left up to the cable operator or the franchise authority to determine if something is indecent or obscene. There have been problems with this in other locations, not the valley. Problems have been experienced in the New York, Los Angeles, and other divisions. Public access is considered a First Amendment Right of free speech allowing organizations and/or individuals to broadcast agendas that are not viewed by the majority of community. Because of the First Amendment Right, the cable company has no authority to prevent it from going out. Programs can be of a hate nature, offensive in great regard to the general populace. In some areas, it has been organizations such as the Klu Klux Klan, White Supremist groups, and a group presenting Nude News. (Nudity is not considered to be indecent or obscene. Therefore, nudity can be broadcast on public access channels.) They cause a large number of phone calls to go to the cable system and to the franchising authority objecting to the programming. There is no authority to stop them. G:\CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminutes040604.doc 3 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES To date, Time Wamer has not experienced this problem in the Valley. However, it is a concern. Wherever possible, cable companies are encouraging franchise authorities to eliminate the public part of PEG (Public, Education, Government) access. Time Wamer Cable had been negotiating with COD and CalState for several years to work out arrangements to do programming for the access channel. Neither school had the curriculum or funding to proceed. Time Wamer is continuing with those discussions. Each of the institutions has to have the funding in their programs to be able to develop the curriculum. Time Warner has the facilities and equipment. There would be some mutually beneficial programs. Ms. Jacobs addressed the issues raised by Ms. Holiday in previous Technology Committee meetings and in face-to-face meetings. She stated there had probably been a miscommunication in style. Ms. Holiday had experience in an area where they have non-profit cable access studio and organization. It is fully staffed and fully equipped, dedicated to nothing but access channel programming. Ms. Holiday came here finding staff that do other things besides access programming — all the TV-10 programming is done by this staff, two staff members do the program insertions on Channels 4, 7, 10, 17, 18, and 20. This is a little different than what Ms. Holiday had been accustomed to. In tum, Time Warner's staff was not accustomed to Ms. Holiday's expectations. Ms. Jacobs noted that Ms. Holiday has taken the class, but has not checked out the equipment nor submitted any programming. The studio is available from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Usage must be scheduled as it is also used for the TV-10 programming. Ms. Jacobs noted the equipment is used both for public access as well as for their own programs. In November, when Ms. Holiday had been actively considering using the studio, the equipment had been taken apart and put into a mobile unit so that it could be used for Palm Springs Light Parade and the Palm Desert Golf Cart Parade. No one had signed up to use it and it had not been loaned out, therefore it was not re -assembled in the studio. One piece of the equipment was broken, has been sent out for repair, and it is now operable. G:1CityClrk\Gail SanteelTechnologyComm\Techminuteso406o4.doc 4 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES In response to Ms. Holiday's claim that Time-Wamer did not have talent releases, Ms. Jacobs responded that they do have talent releases that are routinely distributed to access programs when they come in to check out the equipment. The releases are not needed until they check out the equipment. Chairman Lewis asked how many cities had public access to Time - Warner's studio. Ms. Jacobs stated that five of the Valley cities that have the use of the studio. All but Cathedral City are currently in re -negotiating their agreements. She pointed out that the public access has been removed by mutual agreement from all the agreements that are currently being re -negotiated. Education and government access would stay in those agreements. City Councils had yet to approve those agreements. These actions are being prompted by Time-Wamer not having the ability to control public access content. 2. Broadband Usage Member Welch had asked for Time-Wamer's definition of "unlimited usage" and restrictions on the amount of bandwidth used. Ms. Jacobs responded that "unlimited" means unlimited. There are no restrictions. Time -Warner does have the ability to monitor bandwidth usage. If a user is downloading a "zillion" (ie, a bandwidth hog) by downloading an extraordinary amounts of data, which are normally videos or MP3 files, a polite letter will be sent out stating it had been noted that their usage is of an extraordinary volume. In most cases, these are pirated films that are being downloaded and may have illegal activity involved. In 99% of the cases, the usage ceases immediately because they are aware someone (Time-Wamer) is being attention to what they are doing. Again, 99% of the time, it is a young person who is doing it. With that stated, Time -Warner does not have tiers, they don't control usage, and they don't cut a user off. They haven't had to. Member Welch had also asked how Time-Wamer distinguishes between non-commercial use and commercial use. Ms. Jacobs noted this was an area outside her expertise because it is high-speed data. In general, she surmised that it is based on where the service is located, ie, business park vs. residential. Vice Chairman Holtzer noted that many people run their businesses out of their homes. She believes Time -Warner's high-speed data department has a way of determining the amount of usage over the internet and whether it is warranted to be a business class. Mr. Kohn G:\CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminutes040604.doc 5 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES added that home -run businesses must obtain a business license and a home occupation permit from the City and thought Time -Warner could cross-reference the two if they deemed it necessary. 3. Senior/Low-Income Discounts The cable industry considers the basic service tier (channels up to Channel 26) to be its low-income option. The cost in Palm Desert is $10.15 plus franchise fees and taxes. Rancho Mirage has a low-income discount that is part of their franchise agreement. It provides for customers to receive the City's low-income discount if they have already qualified for Edison's Care low-income discount. They have to provide proof; Time-Wamer does not do any background checks. This discount amounts to about a $1.00 off. The Committee felt this was a subject the Mayor would want to look at. 4. 2003/04 15th Annual National Teacher Awards The Time-Wamer program is nationwide. Educators apply and have until April 16 to complete their applications. The Desert Cities office has done this in the past with minimal response. Ms. Jacobs will be re -instituting some more of this type of program with the Valley. The program is merely an opportunity for teachers and/or students to participate in programs where they can win a prize consisting of either money and/or college scholarships. Time Wamer is currently running the 25 Best Mom's program. They have received approximately 1,500 essays from local students nominating their moms. One mom from each of the three levels, elementary, middle school, and high school, will be chosen. Each winning student will receive $500 and a computer. The moms will receive a gift bag. 5. Ms. Jacobs addressed items that appeared in previous minutes. a. HD -TV: Time-Wamer is and will continue to increase the number of channels that are in high -definition, not only in the pay channels, but also in free channels. They have been negotiating with KMIR, the NBC station, both on a local level and at the corporate level. Time -Warner has approached the local ABC station; negotiations are proceeding. ABC will launch an HD channel this summer. None of the other broadcasters have an HD channel in mind. The only high -powers in the valley are KMIR and KESQ and they are the only ones required by the FCC to go digital. Therefore, they are offering HD. CBS- G:\CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminutes040604.doc 6 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES 2 is not required to go digital because they are a low -power station. b. Time-Wamer is trying to bring KOCE back into the desert. There are some kinks that need to be worked out, but it is progressing and will be offered as a free channel to anyone with a digital box. c. Time -Warner Cable is involved in the community: - All the programs carried on Channel 10 are free. None of the programmers are charged for their programs or airtime. They are all for -free as a community service, including the Arthritis Foundation program, UCP, Game of the Week, Valley Views, Talk of the Desert, and Community Dialogue. - Time Wamer tapes the Palm Desert Golf Cart Parade, the Palm Springs Light Parade, the Indian Wells Desert Symphony, and they are carried in their entirety on Channel 10 as a community outreach. - For the City of Palm Desert specifically, Time-Wamer has sponsored/provided movies in the park in the past. With eleven franchise authorities to work with in the Valley, it is not easy to do something in each one of those areas. But, they do try. - This year, Time-Wamer has retumed to the Student Art & Essay Contest. It is a worthwhile activity. Time-Wamer's corporate has charged the local offices with reaching out in the areas of art and education. - A couple of years ago, they brought the C-Span school bus to the Palm Desert Library. She is attempting to get this popular event back to Palm Desert. - In 2003, they donated over $800,000 system -wide to local charities and organizations as well as innumerable volunteer hours. - In 2002/03, they tutored Lincoln Elementary School 4th graders. There is a Time -Warner initiative called "A Time to Read". It is a literacy campaign. They are hoping to bring it back; it is a matter of scheduling staff time and availability. - Time-Wamer routinely provides cable service to sporting events in the Valley: Bob Hope Classic, Nabisco, tennis tournaments, etc. Time-Wamer provides cable service for their use to uplink their data. This year, Time-Wamer rescued the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens during the tennis toumament. The Gardens G:\CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminutes04o604.doc 7 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES had contracted with Disc to provide high-speed data and it went down. Within one hour, Time-Wamer had The Gardens up and running at no charge to The Gardens or the event. - Time -Warner also provides high-speed cable service to the Palm Springs Convention Center. d. Franchise fees on cable modem service: It had been Time - Warner's position that high-speed data or cable modem service was a cable service. Every community Time-Wamer has provided cable service in has received franchise fees. In 2000, the courts made a decision that is wasn't cable service, it was an information service. Time -Warner had to stop providing franchise fees to those entities that had been receiving them. e. Service to business parks: The area across from Time- Wamer's office off Cook Street: They are planning service now. It cost over $100,000 to install the cable. They are providing service to the customers on the west side of Cook Street; the east side does not. Mr. Kohn noted he had sent out a survey to businesses about their cable service and whether or not they had it or wanted it. Most of the responses indicated the businesses would not be willing to pay for it. Most of them wanted at the very least data capability. Ms. Jacobs continued saying that when cable first came out, it was a video service. However, cable is now carrying high-speed data service. Time - Warner is having to go back to install the cable plant. However, they won't do that unless they know they can get a return on their investment. They have surveyed all the businesses along Cook Street, to the east and west of Cook Street, plus the area off of Country Club and Washington Streets to find out who wants the service. There is interest on the part of the tenants of those buildings. The next step is to get a Right of Entry to allow them to put the service into each building. This is the responsibility of the owner/building management. This is often where the delay occurs. f. Bundling: Time-Wamer does not reduce the rate on cable service when bundled with high-speed data service. The City realizes all franchise fees off the cable side. G:\CityCirk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminutes040604.doc 8 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES g. Parental Control Options: Ms. Jacobs asked the members which channel did they think was asked to be blocked the most. The answer: QVC — the shopping channel. If someone has a digital set top box, there are parental control options contained within that box that allows one to block by channel, rating, time, and title. If one does not have a digital set top box and your TV comes with a V-chip controller, there are control options within the TV. If someone doesn't have either, one can block entire channels — not just a single program — by calling Time -Warner. There is no cost for this service. Mr. Kohn reported staff had met with Time-Wamer's senior counsel and had received a red -line draft of the franchise agreement about three months ago. Mr. Rudell and staff had reviewed that draft. Mr. Kohn noted there wasn't a lot to negotiate. If one looks at what is required by law and what is in the agreement, what we have is OK. There are a few minor things, among them is the term of the agreement. The City has discussed terms ranging from 5 to 7 years to ten years with 5-year renewals. Time-Wamer is asking for a 15-year term. Ms. Jacobs explained Time -Warner is investing millions and millions of dollars in the infrastructure. With a 5-year agreement, there is no way to re -coup any of their costs. Ms. Jacobs noted that it is a non-exclusive agreement; the City is not tied down in anyway shape or form. The City can still form its own public utility and have its own cable company. On the other hand, the shorter term agreement hinders the cable company and from a corporate view point could discourage it from wanting to install advanced technology in this area. What would be the incentive for Time -Warner to give Palm Desert all the technology they give to another city with a 15-year agreement. Since the agreement is a public document, therefore it sets a precedent for other Time-Wamer communities. She stated Time -Warner has to stay competitive as new technology is developed. They are competing against the aggressive satellite providers. They also have competitors in some of the new gated communities. She noted the cities are not receiving franchise fees from these providers. Vice Chairman Holtzer asked what the driving force was behind completing these negotiations. They have been extended time and time again. G:\CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminutes0406o4.doc 9 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES Ms. Jacobs noted the City of Coachella signed a 15-year agreement two years ago. The City of Indio has a 15-year agreement currently on the table. That agreement is at a standstill as the City of Indio is using the same attorney the City of Palm Desert is using, Mr. Rudell. Fifteen years is on the table in other cities, but those negotiations are not far enough along to know where they are going to go. The City had discussed the possibility of installing cable in the Council Chamber in order to transmit proceedings from there. Currently, there is no interest in having this. There has also been discussion of having cable TV service at Desert Willow. The estimated cost would be $25,000. Mr. Kohn noted the current extension expires June 2004. He intended to go before the Council to request another 6-month extension in May. Chairman Lewis asked if a special meeting could be set up with Committee members, staff, and Mr. Rudell to go over the red -line draft. The draft has eliminated the "public" in PEG access. Ms. Jacobs departed the meeting. Mr. Kohn spoke to the members explaining that Time-Wamer wants to take away everything that isn't required under Federal law. That is their goal in all the franchise agreements. The City will not agree to that. Vice Chairman Holtzer asked what the difference was between PEG access and community access on Channel 10. It sounds as though they are a duplication. Mr. Kohn noted that Channel 10 was shared by almost the whole valley. Palm Desert has the right to have its own channel — 17 — which has never been used. In PEG, there is a need for the Govemmental and the Educational portion. The Public access is for the general public's use and as mentioned earlier, could be the cause of some concern for what is broadcast as there is no regulatory powers. Noting how many applications and programs had been submitted since 1999, Public access is a minor issue for now. However, in ten years and as the average age of our residents lowers and is more computer literate, it could be a valuable option. G:\CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminutes040604.doc 10 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES Mr. Pineau introduced himself as a 38-year-old Palm Desert resident. He noted that he would definitely use the facility had he known it was available. It is a valuable resource. Neither Time-Wamer or the City advertise its availability. Chairman Lewis stated it was the City's job to look out for its citizens. If it is not being promoted, why is it an issue in the negotiations? Mr. Pineau felt that as people get familiar with the technology, there would be more use of the facility. Chairman Lewis wanted it to be made public that he and Ms. Jacobs attended the same Coachella Valley Leadership classes. They had met about two weeks ago and had a discussion about the Technology Committee. B. DISCUSSION of Fiber Optic/Wireless RFP (Bob Kohn) Mr. Kohn stated he had received comments from Vice Chairman Holtzer regarding the RFP draft. Some of those changes had been followed and the RFP is somewhat thinner. The RFP needs to go to Council to see if they even want to go out with it., to take a look at the City's existing fiber, potential uses of that fiber, and potential uses of wireless maybe in combination with fiber. If Council is interested, enough information could be obtained to make decisions now and in the future for the 24-strand fiber optic already in the ground of which traffic control is only using two strands. The thought behind the RFP is if someone could come in and do an in-depth study of the existing system and the potential of that system for the City's uses, we could save some significant dollars. Once the RFP is approved, it would be helpful for one or two members of the Committee to sit on the review panel that goes through the RFPs and help make a selection. Discussion evolved around what dollar figure, if any, to put in the RFP. Action: Chairman Lewis moved, seconded by Vice Chairman Holtzer, to recommend to the Council an RFP for a study of the existing fiber optic cable and the potential of that system for the City's uses and dollar savings. Motion carried 2-0 with Member Welch absent. G:\CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminutes040604.doc 11 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. DISCUSSION of the City Website(s) (Doug Van Gelder) Mr. Van Gelder noted the April Brightside contained an article about the City's websites in an effort to remind residents and inform new residents of this source of information. 1. Summary of user statistics Mr. Van Gelder distributed copies of Monthly Ranking Reports from Sitewire for the AIPP, E-gov, and TourismNisitors sites. The reports indicate in what order the websites pop up when using the eleven top search engines. For example, if "Palm Desert City Government" is typed in Google, the E-gov site will be in positions 1 and 2. However, if just "Palm Desert" is typed in, the E-gov site shows up in the 15t spot. The tourism site pops up first — which is good as it has links to the E-gov and AIPP sites.. Mr. Van Gelder distributed various other usage reports indicating bandwidth used, hits, visits, most common page views, most common referring sites, most common browsers, and a host of other details for www.cityofpalmdesert.com during March 2004. Mr. Van Gelder felt the most useful information is what are people looking at , i.e., the General Plan, job openings, agendas, committees. As a side note, the City codes are located on another website as it is hosted by an outside service. It is updated every six months. It had been discussed that code updates be posted on the City's site to fill in the time between the six-month updates. Mr. Kohn noted when a City code is changed, City staff does not "codify" it. The service codifies it and inserts it in its appropriate location. Mr. Van Gelder asked if there was any information the Committee would like to see on a regular basis. Chairman Lewis stated the bottom line is "are people using it." The March report indicated that job openings had 2,078 hits and the General Plan had 1,840. Chairman Lewis asked Mr. Van Gelder to insert an Executive Summary of the General Plan. G:\CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyCommVrechminutes04o604.doc 12 TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE April 6, 2004 MINUTES Incoming emails are forwarded to the appropriate department for response. General emails are directed to Administrative Services. 2. Status of Agenda/Minutes on the Website Each City department is responsible for posting its own agendas and approved minutes. C. REVIEW of Sitewire's Proposal The City is currently paying Sitewire about $2,800/month whether the allotted hours are used up or not. Mr. Kohn reported that staff felt a time - and -materials maintenance agreement is all that is needed to keep the websites up to date. Discussions are continuing with the City of Brea. IX. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Council Liaison - none B. Committee Chairman Chairman Lewis asked about former Member Rose's recognition date from the City Council. C. Committee Members - none D. Staff - none IX. ADJOURNMENT Vice Chair Holtzer moved, seconded by Chairman Lewis, to adjourn. Motion carried 2-0, with Member Welch absent. The meeting adjoumed at 3:30 p.m. The next Technology Committee meeting is scheduled for May 4, 2004, at 2:00 p.m., in the Council Chamber Conference Room. Respectfully submitted, ail Santee Recording Secretary G:1CityClrk\Gail Santee\TechnologyComm\Techminutes04o6o4.doc 13