Members Present: Dale Rodell, Rollin Bible, Jerry Brown, David Westbrook

Members Absent: Scott Hugstad-Vaa, John Magnusson

Others Present: Charles Grawe, Dennis LaComb, Scott Binder, Karen Sanderson, Michael Steiner

The minutes of March 9, 1998 were approved unanimous. Motion by Mr. Rodell, second by Mr. Brown.

Mr. Binder said he spoke with Jane Bremer on two occasion that day about progressing with the franchise renewal. He said he will have a list of the four or five major points yet to be resolved to the City by June 19, 1998. He said he believes the major issues include implementation of a Public Education Government (PEG) fee and a capital grant. Mr. Grawe explained that the main point of debate was whether Marcus could pass the grant through to the customer on the PEG fee.

Mr. Binder said the Rosemount system has traditionally had local management. Marcus has hired a new local manager, Rob Roeder, who will begin on Monday, June 15. Mr. Roeder will be the local contact for the City and will manage the local system. Mr. Bible asked about Mr. Roeder’s experience. Mr. Binder said Mr. Roeder has managed a cable operation in southern California for six years.

Mr. Bible said he believes the City has similar ideas about what issues remain to be resolved. He said he believes some face-to-face meetings should be able to resolve the issues.

Mr. Binder said he expected Marcus would need some cap on the PEG fee. Ms. Sanderson said she believed Marcus could provide public access for $.15 to $.20 per subscriber per month.

Mr. Bible said this issue will complicate franchise negotiations. He explained the City has invested significant resources and efforts to establish Channel 21 as the government access identity. He said with the new technology in the upgrade he did not understand why the channel needed to be moved.

Mr. Binder said the relocation was not communicated to the City and was sorry that the Committee members learned about it through mailings to their homes announcing the new channel line-up. He said Marcus wants to standardize its line-up on the lower channels. He said it is technically possible to keep the City’s channel on channel 21. However, this will cause some problems. For example, each home terminal would need to be mapped for each individual community. It also causes problems if a particular node overlaps municipal boundaries. He said Marcus would consider donating air time and newspaper advertisement dollars to re-establish an identity on channel 16. Mr. Bible said the City will not negotiate the specifics at this meeting but will work it out with the rest of the franchise renewal.

Mr. Bible asked that the Committee meet again on July 13 to discuss the franchise renewal and Channel 21 relocation.

Mr. Grawe commented that most of the complaints involved right of way repair or rate increases due to the system upgrade. Mr. Binder said a landscape contractor is under contract with Marcus to repair the sod damage. Mr. Bible asked how the upgrade was progressing. Mr. Binder said Marcus is about one month behind schedule.

Mr. Michael Steiner asked to speak before the Committee about his registered complaint. He said his daughter watched channel 99 and was able to decipher pornographic acts through the masking filter. He said that he also could see the acts through the partial blocking. He said a Marcus technician also viewed the signal at his home. He said he called Marcus and complained and was offered 2 months free service, and then $200. He said he countered by asking for $2,000 to get the company’s attention. He said he is upset because of the principles involved. He said he was ignored by Mr. Binder and Ms. Sanderson who did not return his phone calls. He wanted to know what steps Marcus has taken to protect the community and asked for a guarantee that it would not happen to another family.

Mr. Bible responded by thanking Mr. Steiner for coming to the Committee with his issue. He said the Committee has wrestled with the issue of controlling programming for many years, but that the Cable Act largely limits the City’s authority. He said the Committee can work with Marcus to make traps that bar the signals available and advertise their availability.

Mr. Binder volunteered to apologize to the other members of Mr. Steiner’s family. Mr. Steiner said he is most upset with being ignored. Mr. Binder asked if Mr. Steiner would agree that the two of them had spoken at least six times since the complaint was made. Mr. Steiner agreed but said he wanted the Committee to think about the interests of the residents and their children. Mr. Steiner left the meeting at this point.

Mr. Bible said it behooves Marcus to make the traps available to customers who want that protection. Ms. Sanderson said the current traps failed to work on the new adult channel and new traps had to be ordered. Mr. Binder said he spoke with Mr. Steiner at least six times and did offer Mr. Steiner $200 for his trouble. He said a box was installed on Mr. Steiner’s television within hours of the complaint and about a week later a trap was installed and the box removed. He said he attempted to reproduce the problem on six other television sets but was unable to see through the masking. He said he did not feel $2,000 was warranted. He said he would consider running advertisements promoting the availability of traps to ensure other families can have protection. He said it is important to word the ads in such a way as not to promote people attempting to see through the masking. Mr. Binder said the technician could see shadows of what was taking place on Mr. Steiner’s screen. Mr. Binder said Marcus needs to respond quickly to these complaints and take action to advertise availability of traps. Mr. Binder also said the scrambling device used by Marcus is industry standard.

Mr. Bible asked that the new manager be informed on the matter and that traps be available. Mr. Binder said he would prepare an advertisement and will have the new manager attend the Committee meeting of July 13.

Mr. Brown moved, seconded by Mr. Rodell to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimous. The meeting was adjourned at 7:59 P.M..