2002-08-26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Session 1850 August 26, 2002 previous Councils who asked that the cable company return a portion of their profits to the community, which became the basis of CALOP. The committee wished to thank the Council for continuing to allow CALOP to continue with this new franchise. Mike Rothschild, 1094 Wilson, has been experienced service interruptions on Channel 2. He wanted to have this issue resolved before the Rams start playing. Jay Bordeaux came back up and referred Mr. Rothschild to one of colleagues, who will make sure that his issue is resolved in the next few days. Mr. Lieberman asked Mr. Bordeaux several questions regarding CALOP funding not being increased for five years. Mr. Bordeaux responded that recent negotiations have decreased this time period to three years versus five years. Mr. Lieberman asked about the deadline of completing the upgrades by December 2003. Mr. Bordeaux stated that all system upgrades has been completed in University City as of the end of August. They are in the process of rolling out the services related to the upgrade. Responding to Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Bordeaux stated that he is not aware of any connection between Charter, its guarantor and WorldCom. Responding to Mr. Lieberman said that high speed data services would begin September 9. The schools and all city government buildings will receive one cable drop, one internet service drop, and one video drop. Responding to Mr. Lieberman asked about the City's 9% utility tax. Mr. Ollendorff responded that cable services are not required to pay this tax. They are only required to pay a 5% franchise fee. Responding further to Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Bordeaux stated that their office was in Overland and they have a production facility in University City; they have no plans to move their offices. Mr. Wagner asked about the funding for CALOP, which is $1.00 per customer. He asked what the cash flow may be on this funding structure. Mr. Bordeaux said that based on the 8200 subscriber count, this would give them roughly $8200. Mr. Wagner said that he would have preferred the percentage arrangement, so that CALOP could enjoy Charter's success. Mr. Wagner was interested in exploring an ala carte pricing structure to allow citizens to purchase what they want. Mr. Bordeaux stated that they do offer types of ala carte packages of network program services or movie channels. However, they do not offer the level of detail as to add or delete channels that Mr. Bowser expressed earlier. Mr. Wagner said that Charter should continue to consider this, because it is one of the main interests of his constituents. Mr. Wagner asked that Charter maintain high levels of quality service, appropriate pricing and response times, stating that this also was a high request from his constituents. Mr. Munkel asked if the Council decided to deny approval of the franchise, if Charter was prepared to appeal to the FCC or federal court system. He asks this because he wanted to know the level of Charter's commitment to University City. The number of customer complaints that should be going to Charter has been going to the Council. If the franchise is approved, the Council loses control, to a certain extent, of the quality of service issue and he wonders how Charter will react to the customers once the franchise is approved. Mr. Bordeaux stated that University City was the first community that was to be upgraded on Charter's master upgrade plan. The City's negotiating team 4