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AGENDA
IOWA CITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
CITY CABLE TV OFFICE, 10 S. LINN ST., TOWER PLACE PARKING FACILITY, LEVEL 3A
JULY 25, 2016, 5:30PM
1. Call to order
2. Approval of minutes
3. Announcements of Commissioners
4. Short public announcements
5. REPORTS
Consumer Issues
Mediacom Report not including litigation
Local Access Reports
City Cable TV Office Report
6. Adjournment
DRAFT
MINUTES
Iowa City Telecommunications Commission
June 27, 2016 – 5:30 P.M.
City of Iowa City Cable TV Office, 10 S. Linn St. Tower Place, LEVEL 3A
Call to Order:Meeting called to order at 5:35 P.M.
Members Present:Nick Kilburg, Laura Bergus, Derek Johnk
Members Absent:Alexa Homewood, Paul Gowder
Staff Present:Ty Coleman
Others Present:Josh Goding, Gerardo Sandoval
Recommendations to Council : NONE
Approval of Minutes:
Bergus moved and Johnk seconded a motion to approve the May 31, 2016 minutes as
presented. The motion passed unanimously.
Announcements of Commissioners:
None
Short Public Announcements:
None
Consumer Issues:
Johnk noted the open issue presented in the Cable Complaints report for the month of
May 2016. Coleman stated that the biggest challenge with the issue is Mediacom getting
connected to the customer, despite outreach efforts by local Mediacom staff. Coleman
said he felt Mediacom has done everything they can do at this point. Coleman mentioned
the other issue presented in the report and stated that calls regarding the timeliness of
service appointments are typically resolved by him contacting the local Mediacom staff
to inquire about options for earlier appointment times.
Mediacom Report not including litigation:
Coleman reported that he had not heard recent news from Mediacom representatives. He
noted Mediacom’s promoted initiative to provide Gigabit service to its customers in the
future and Kilburg asked if there was a specific timeframe for completion. Coleman said
he recalled that Mediacom had mentioned a threeyear timeframe to this infrastructure
investment.
1
DRAFT
Local Access Reports:
Josh Goding announced that he would be moving from Iowa City and stepping down as
PATV’s executive director. Goding introduced Gerardo Sandoval, who will replace him
in this position. Goding thanked the Commission for its advocacy and support over the
years. Kilburg wished Goding good luck and Johnk expressed appreciation for Goding’s
good work with PATV. Sandoval mentioned that he had recently met with Coleman.
Sandoval referred to PATV’s upcoming challenges with regards to the end of its current
contract at the end of July 2018 and expressed a desire to continue its relationship with
the Commission into the future.
City Cable TV Office Report:
Coleman noted that the Cable TV Office is currently in the process of hiring a new
Special Projects Assistant following the promotion of Katie Linder, who had been doing
good work in the position over the past year. Coleman stated that the Cable TV Office
continues to strengthen its bonds and collaboration with the City’s Communications
Office and that having Linder in her new role would help this effort even more.
Adjournment:
Kilburg moved and Johnk seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed
unanimously. Adjournment was at 5:44 p.m.
2
July 21, 2016
To: Iowa City Telecommunications Commission
From: Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator (MPSC)
Re: Cable Complaints June 2016
1.)
Date: 06/01/16
Method of contact: Online complaint form
Complaint/Comment Summary:
Customer commented that cable TV service had been out for over seven hours and that no information had been provided to
subscribers. Customer noted that when calling to report on and inquire about the problem, he was not able to speak to an
actual customer service representative. He also mentioned that when trying to use the online chat portal, he was told that he
was 39th in line. The customer stated a desire for a different cable company and said that Mediacom should not have a
monopoly in Iowa City.
Resolution Summary:
MPSC responded to inform the customer that Mediacom had informed the Cable TV Office of a recently cut fiber on Dubuque
Street by another company involved in a major construction project occurring there and that the cable had since been repaired
and service restored.
MPSC provided information regarding the challenge of attracting other companies to a market of our size, noting that the high,
upfront investment required to build a cable system in hopes of acquiring a percentage of the existing company’s customers
was a primary factor. MPSC expressed that over the years the City has encouraged other providers to consider our
community for expansion and that two companies had indicated an interest within the past couple of years.
MPSC invited the customer to discuss these issues further, if desired, and to notify our office if his service had not been
restored. No further communication was received from the customer.
Date of Resolution: 06/02/16
2.)
Date: 06/02/16
Method of contact: Online complaint form
Issue/Comment Summary:
Customer stated that she had recently been experiencing slow Internet service and pixelated or no cable TV. Customer
expressed a concern that the City’s franchise agreement with Mediacom did not benefit its citizens. She also noted that she
would be interested in seeing either ImOn or South Slope come to Iowa City, but felt that the City was preventing this from
happening.
Resolution Summary:
MPSC explained the cause of the recent outage (as in issue number 1 above). MPSC also provided information regarding the
nonexclusive nature of the franchise agreement and the challenges of attracting another provider (also noted in the above
issue).
MPSC explained that ImOn had begun to build its system to provide business Internet services in Iowa City. It was also noted
that while the City has expressed its desire for a new provider to provide other cablebased services and residential service to
all areas of the community, this would require the company to make this decision and the City would be unable to require it.
MPSC invited the customer to further discuss the issues, if desired, but no further communication was received from the
customer.
Date of Resolution: 06/06/16
The Library Channel
Report prepared for the Iowa City Telecommunications Commission monthly meeting by Beth Fisher, Program
Librarian and Bond Drager, Equipment Specialist. July 2016
The Library Channel Monthly Update:
As we near the end of July we enter the Dog Days of Summer, and we can see the end of our Summer
Reading Programs for kids, teens and adults. All three programs wrap up on July 31st. Programs broadcast
live in July have been mainly Summer Reading Program events for kids and adults:
·Wellness Wednesday: Meditation, Coloring, Stretching, and Mindfulness for Kids
·Two programs with musician, storyteller, and picture book author Dino O’Dell
·Birds of Prey with the RARE Group
·An all ages event with Acrobat and Juggler Laura Ernst
·On wheel or on foot: there's a Johnson County trail for you, with Johnson County Conservation
Program Manager Brad Freidhoff
·Two juggling and unicycle shows with the Hanson Family
·An all ages event “Snakes Alive” with the Grout Museum
·Picking a Rainbow with Scott Koepke caretaker of the Ped Mall Children’s Garden
·Ben’s Bubble Show
It’s the time of year for ICPL to hire a new Library Channel Intern. If you know any students from UI or
Kirkwood interested in learning video production have them visit our website and apply.
Monthly Program Update:
This month: July 2016 Next Month: August 2016
Live Children’s Programs ·8 ·4
Live Children’s Special
Events
·1 ·
Live Adult Programs ·1 ·
Programs Cablecast ··
Programs videotaped by
Govt. Channel/CTS
·1 ·
Emily Light Edrington, Community Outreach Specialist
319-356-5224 ● emily-light@iowa-city.org ● 28 S Linn St, Iowa City, IA 52240
Report to Iowa City Telecommunications Commission
From: Emily Light Edrington, Community Outreach Specialist
Date: July 22, 2016
Changes to Senior Center Television Studio
In preparation for the hiring of a Senior Center Development Specialist in early FY2017, the
Senior Center Television studio will be consolidated into the adjoining room 206, SCTV’s current
editing and meeting space. The Center’s computer lab will be relocated in the current SCTV
studio space by early August, and the former computer lab will become an office for the new
staff person. When current Center staff discussed options for the location of the new staff
member’s workspace, it was determined that the nature of development-related interactions
would require a dedicated office with the ability to offer privacy for sensitive discussions of
personal financial matters. It would also need to be a comfortable and inviting space.
The repercussions of reducing the workspace for the SCTV group and eliminating a dedicated
studio space were discussed in depth among staff and volunteers. The studio is currently used
for shooting video projects roughly 2-4 times per month by a small number of SCTV volunteers.
The room’s primary function aside from this is to store SCTV media, supplies, and equipment.
Some of these items are used regularly; many are not used at all anymore. The Center staff is
sometimes faced with difficult choices that require us to examine the overall picture of the
Senior Center's operations. In this case, we considered every space in the building and
determined that the SCTV studio is currently the least used room in the building in terms of
hours and number of participants, and therefore most logical to reassign for other uses.
The consolidation of SCTV’s two rooms into one will offer an opportunity for the SCTV
workspace to become more organized, streamlined, and efficient. The trend for SCTV in the last
few years has been to shoot more videos in practical Senior Center spaces, such as the lobby
and the mezzanine, as they are more visually interesting and give more context about the
Senior Center than shooting in a studio in front of a black curtain. Additionally, the City Channel
has generously reiterated its offer to allow SCTV volunteers to schedule use of its studio, which
is conveniently located just across the parking ramp skywalk bridge from The Center. SCTV
volunteers participated in a meeting and tour of the City Channel’s facilities on June 6, 2016.
Center staff and SCTV volunteers have also discussed the possibility of reserving other spaces in
the Senior Center, such as room 205 (next to SCTV), on regular intervals for SCTV volunteers to
set up a mobile studio for projects that require it. I am confident the operations and scope of
SCTV can continue to flourish and expand, even without the presence of a dedicated studio
room, and we’ll work to ensure that SCTV remains relevant and successful long into the future.
Date: July 21, 2016
To: The Iowa City Telecommunications Commission
From: Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator, City of Iowa City Cable TV Office
Re: City of Iowa City Cable TV Office report for the July 2016 ICTC meeting
Media Production Services
Recent production activities:
●Recorded 4 concerts from the Friday Night Concert Series including performances by Flash
in a Pan and Crystal City
●Recorded 2 Iowa City Community School District School Board Candidates Forums
●Cablecast live and recorded the Iowa City City Council Work Sessions and Formal
Meetings of July 5 and July 19
●Recorded 4 concerts from the Market Music series including performances by The East
Enders and Slewgrass
●Recorded 2 concerts from the Summer of the Arts Jazz Fest
●Recorded a program in conjunction with the celebration of the Americans with Disabilities
Act focused on civil rights for persons with a disability
●Recorded 2 panel lectures for the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council including topics such
as China’s Emerging Influence in Africa and Fulbright Scholars discussing their
assignments
●Recorded the Economic Development Committee Meeting of July 12
●Recorded a lecture given by the past president of Rotary International for the Iowa City
Noon Rotary Club
Upcoming production activities:
●Record 4 concerts from the Friday Night Concert Series including performances by The
Beggarmen and The Beaker Brothers
●Record 4 concerts from the Market Music series including performances by The Awful
Purdies and Pennies on the Rail
●Cablecast live and record the Iowa City City Council Work Sessions and Formal Meetings
of August 2 and 16
Programming and Interactive Services
Recent and Upcoming Projects:
We successfully completed another Primary
election season, with five candidate forums, and
individual statements from all but one of the
candidates.
Website:
In June, we had 1,898 users access 3,436
pages in 2,633 sessions. Our most popular
pages were Mediacom's channel lineup, our
homepage, our video page, our Meet the
Candidates page, our program schedule,
Mediacom's cable rates, and bandwidth
troubleshooting page.
Our streaming media provider reports 31,202 total hits, which includes 4,591 Events (player window
was loaded), 438 Sessions (media was played), and 4,297 OnDemand Hits (media was scrubbed or
index point was clicked). 2,002 podcasts were downloaded, and our HQ media was accessed 1035
times. Our live stream was accessed 476 times.
Programming:
We cablecast 133 programs produced inhouse 770 times for 545 hours of programming, 29
locallyproduced (DITV, Senior Center, Hoover Library, JC Board of Supervisors, Coralville, North
Liberty and University Heights) programs 108 times for 117 hours of programming, and 23 imported
programs 70 times for 31 hours of programming. We also showed 82 PSAs 936 times for 20 hours
of programming.
[A list of programs completed in the month of June can be found on the following page.]
Programs Completed by the Cable TV Office in June 2016
●Working Group Theatre THE EVOLUTION OF BRUNO LITTLEMORE
●Friday Night Concert Series 2016
○West High Jazz Ensembles
○Kevin B.F. Burt and the Instigators
○Motherlode
○The Fez
○Winterland
●The Impact of Racial Injustices on Youth Part 2 of 2
●UCI World Cyclocross News Conference
●Becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community
●FNCS Sneak Peek Winterland
●Iowa Arts Festival 2016 Family Stage
○The After School Specials
○FEAT Acrobatics
●Iowa City Update
○Gateway Project
○Pride Week
○City Discussions
○Interim Police Chief Named
●City Channel 4 Weekly Highlights
○06/06/2016
○06/13/2016
●Community Highlights: Iowa Arts Festival 2016
●Iowa City City Council Meeting
○June 6, 2016
○June 21, 2016
●Iowa City City Council Work Session
○June 6, 2016
○June 21, 2016
●So, you want to start a business?
○Part 2: Look Before You Leap: Legal Issues in Business
○Part 3: Licenses, Permits and Taxes, OH MY!
●Market Music 2016
○Suzanne Wedeking
○NANCITA!!
●Economic Development Committee Meeting of 6/14/16
●Missing Middle: Responding to the Demand for Walkable Urban Living
●Iowa City Housing Code Change PSA
●Iowa City City Council Special Meeting of June 15, 2016
●First Avenue Grade Separation Project Update June 7, 2016
●UI Flood Recovery Celebration Ceremony June 15, 2016