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HomeMy WebLinkAboutICTC Agenda and Packet 2018-12-17 Agenda Iowa City Telecommunications Commission City Cable TV Office, 10 S. Linn St., Tower Place Parking Facility, Level 3A December 17, 2018, 5:30PM 1. Call to order 2. Approval of minutes 3. Announcements of Commissioners 4. Short public announcements 5. Post-franchise role of the Telecommunications Commission 6. REPORTS Consumer Issues Mediacom Report Local Access Reports City Cable TV Office Report 7. Adjournment If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this program/event, please contact Ty Coleman at 319-356-5454 or ty-coleman@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. PRELIMINARY Iowa City Telecommunications Commission 10/22/2018 Meeting Minutes 1 of 5 Minutes Iowa City Telecommunications Commission October 22, 2018 – 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:Matthew Brenton, Paul Gowder, James Pierce Members Absent:Kyla Paterson Staff Present:Ty Coleman Others Present:Bond Drager Recommendations to Council:​​ ​​ ​​None Approval of Minutes: Gowder moved and Pierce seconded a motion to approve the September 24, 2018 minutes as presented. The motion passed unanimously. Announcements of Commissioners: Brenton said that the City Clerk had sent a message for those interested in engaging the community as part of the 2020 Census effort. He said there were introductory meetings scheduled for October 29 and November 1, 2018. Brenton said that if any of the commissioners were interested in attending or wanted more information, they should contact Ty Coleman at the City’s Cable TV Office. Short Public Announcements: None. Post-franchise role of the Telecommunications Commission: Brenton suggested there were options to remain as a City commission or to become more of an advisory board. Coleman said that an ad-hoc committee might be another option. Brenton summarized that the Iowa City Telecommunications Commission (ICTC) was formed as part of a franchise agreement and that a number of its powers and duties, listed in the ICTC’s by-laws, came from that agreement. Pierce noted that the list of duties in the by-laws is long and that he felt there were enough duties that would remain to make a case for the group to continue as a commission. He suggested that the by-laws could be revised to include three or four clear duties the ICTC would retain. Brenton agreed and said there were still plenty of issues on which the ICTC could provide input. Gowder recalled that when he began his time with the ICTC, he was surprised about the lack of PRELIMINARY Iowa City Telecommunications Commission 10/22/2018 Meeting Minutes 2 of 5 authority held by it. He said that the one time he was glad the Commission existed was when the group of residents working on creating mesh WiFi networks presented themselves at a meeting. Gowder stated that the role of the ICTC, in whatever form it takes, should be refocused on public engagement and telecommunications matters in which members of the public have an interest. Brenton said the ICTC could have a role in providing visibility to the need and benefit of having a municipal broadband program. He said there were some hurdles and challenges that still needed to be figured out. Brenton asked if there was a legal distinction between a commission and an advisory board. Coleman said his understanding was that an advisory board could still offer recommendations to the City Council, but that it would have more flexibility with regards to the frequency of meetings and the number of members required to be present. He said he was unsure as to how an advisory board and its members would be established but didn’t think it would require Council appointment. Brenton said that the flexibility of an advisory board would benefit a group like the one working on mesh WiFi if membership was decided by the board. Pierce said that it would be a good thing if a board could be officially recognized by the City while gaining some flexibility in the way it operates. Brenton asked if there are currently any other advisory boards within the City. Drager mentioned the Community Police Review Board (CPRB). Pierce said he knew someone who needed to apply for appointment to the CPRB. Coleman referred to the memo he wrote to the Commission that was included in the meeting packet and said there were likely remaining questions about the options for redefining the group. Brenton said he would like to know how the responsibilities might change if the group became an advisory board versus remaining as a commission. Brenton wondered who would be responsible for modifying the by-laws. Gowder pointed out that it is stated within the current by-laws that the ICTC can vote on amendments. Coleman wondered if an advisory board could have by-laws or if they would be required, or if they would use guidelines instead. Brenton expressed he would want to be sure the group wouldn’t be giving anything up by shifting from being a commission to an advisory board. Pierce said the City’s website lists boards, commissions, and committees and suggested that an existing board could provide some insight into what the differences are between a board and a commission. Brenton said that a committee would likely be more focused, such as one for municipal broadband. He suggested that the group could even make a recommendation that such a committee be formed. Pierce said that issues such as affordability and access of Internet and television could benefit from a board, commission, or committee that would focus on them. Brenton said that if the group remained a commission, perhaps it could include access and affordability of services as one of its missions listed within revised by-laws. Brenton asked if the ICTC would continue to receive information about telecommunications complaints even though the local franchise agreement had expired. Coleman said that the City’s Cable TV Office would continue to receive complaints and work to facilitate resolutions by connecting with staff from local service providers. Brenton and Pierce expressed they would be interested in knowing if City Council had any particular goals or a vision for the redefining of the group. Pierce suggested that once the group PRELIMINARY Iowa City Telecommunications Commission 10/22/2018 Meeting Minutes 3 of 5 had come up with a proposal, it could be presented to Council in hopes of coming up with something that works for both entities. Brenton asked, in a situation where the ICTC would remain as a commission, whether the group would be able to amend the by-laws or if the Council would want to play a part in revisions. Brenton suggested that once some of these questions are answered, the Commission could likely make a decision at its next meeting. Coleman said he would inquire about how the process of making a proposal to the Council would work once the group had come to a conclusion. Pierce stated that he is still willing to attend City Council meetings from time to time in order to keep the Council updated on the activities of the Commission and to receive feedback from the Council. Consumer Issues: Brenton noted there was a cable relocation issue in the Cable Complaints report that was not yet resolved. Coleman said the cable was present, but that he had learned it may not be buried until the first part of 2019 due to tight construction schedules as winter approaches. Brenton mentioned that the report referred to boring rather than trenching for getting the cable in the ground. Coleman said he was unsure as to what the specific situation was with the location, but that one possibility could be that there is some kind of rock formation the cable needs to pass through. Gowder asked if there was any compensation offered for situations where a cable must be temporarily placed on top of someone’s lawn. Coleman said he did not believe that compensation was typically involved. Gowder asked about the issue in the report dealing with a customer’s unexplainable high data usage and whether it was for the same customer that had presented the problem several months ago. Coleman said it was for the same customer and that this was the first time since then that he had heard of a recurrence of the issue. Gowder said it was interesting that the customer received a warning notification for high data use five days after her billing period ended and wondered if there was some kind of database problem. Gowder said that the technician’s suggestion for clearing the customer’s cache and cookies would not likely make a difference in the notifications sent by Mediacom. Mediacom Report: Coleman reported that he had not received any information from Mediacom. Local Access Reports: Drager said the past month had been very busy with recordings of Book Festival and Witching Hour events. Coleman referred to the hard copy of a report submitted by Public Access Television that did not make it into the packet in time. City Cable TV Office Report: Coleman referred to the report the Cable TV Office had submitted in the meeting packet and added that Cable staff had recorded some Book Fest panels. He also mentioned that he had set up a live stream of the recent University of Iowa Homecoming parade from a window in the PRELIMINARY Iowa City Telecommunications Commission 10/22/2018 Meeting Minutes 4 of 5 Cable TV Office. Coleman said that there was a decent amount of engagement with the stream on the City’s Facebook page. Coleman said that live streams have become a useful tool in the City’s toolkit for getting messages out to the community. All five of the League of Women Voters candidate forums recorded by City Channel 4 were live streamed. Coleman said his office had recently recorded the Iowa City Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Week performance at a local school. Adjournment: Gowder moved and Pierce seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously. Adjournment was at 6:05 p.m. PRELIMINARY Iowa City Telecommunications Commission 10/22/2018 Meeting Minutes 5 of 5 TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 12-MONTH ATTENDANCE RECORD Gowder Bergus Brenton Johnk 11/27/2017 x x x x vacant 11/30/2017 Special meeting x o/c x x vacant 01/22/2018 Meeting not held due to lack of quorum. vacant 02/26/2018 x x x x vacant 03/26/2018 x x x x vacant Pierce 04/23/2018 x x x x x 05/21/2018 x o/c x x x 06/25/2018 x x x o/c x 07/23/2018 Meeting not held due to lack of quorum. vacant vacant 08/27/2018 Meeting not held due to lack of quorum. vacant vacant 9/24/2018 x vacant x vacant x Paterson 10/22/2018 x o x vacant x (x) = Present (o) = Absent (o/c) = Absent/Called (Excused) Re: Council work session discussion RE role of the ICTC Good afternoon, all ‐   I’ve attached a few documents that will be useful as you consider your options.  One is the list of questions I posed based off of the discussion you had at the October ICTC meeting ‐ and the answers provided by Assistant City Manager Ashley Monroe.  Another is the minutes from the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Steering Committee, who recently decided to convert to an advisor y board.  The minutes give some answers with regards to what an advisor y board would gain or lose, as compared to a commission.  The third is the proposal ﴾a draft, I believe﴿ the group created to send to Council.   Thanks, Ty   ••• Ty Coleman Media Production Services Coordinator City of Iowa City Cable TV Office o: (319) 356-5454 m: (319) 631-9685 citychannel4.com       On Nov 7, 2018, at 9:45 AM, Ty Coleman <Ty‐Coleman@iowa‐city.org> wrote:   Good morning,   I wanted to pass along a link to a 5‐minute portion of last night’s Council work session where they talked about the ICTC’s discussion of it’s post‐franchise role and duties.  It may help you as you continue to think about your preferences before your November 26th meeting, where you’ll continue the discussion.  Also, I imagine that I’ll have some answers to questions posed at the October meeting sent to you before that meeting.   https://youtu.be/D‐Ih0CDCMgc?t=9068 ﴾This link takes you directly to the related por tion of the Council work session.﴿   Please let me know if you have any questions.  To avoid any issues with violating open meetings laws, please do not reply to all.   Thanks! Ty   ••• Ty Coleman Media Production Services Coordinator City of Iowa City Cable TV Office Ty Coleman Tue 11/13/2018 3:24 PM To:Matthew Brenton <matthew.p.brenton@gmail.com>; Paul Gowder <paul.gowder@gmail.com>; James Pierce <jimmypierce1@gmail.com>; Kyla Paterson <kylapaterson1@gmail.com>; .3 attachments ﴾158 KB﴿ ICTC Q&A RE Advisory Boards 2018‐11.pdf; Minutes_CAAPSC_8‐10‐18.pdf; Iowa City Climate Action Advisor y Board bylaws proposal.docx; Our commission discussed at its last ICTC meeting the idea of evaluating the commission’s role and considering a process of redefining its form as well as its responsibilities. As I would expect, they asked some questions, which I’ve listed below. Overall, the discussion leaned towards maintaining a similar presence, but there was interest in the idea of becoming an advisory board. 1.What are the distinctions between a commission and an advisory board?​​ ​​Sue Dulek offered great distinction between the two for the Climate Action Committee that recently opted out of staying a formal commission. As an advisory board, they do not have an official affiliation with the City and are not strictly advisory or compulsory for Council actions. They meet independently and include City staff in their meetings as a liaison. I’ve attached meeting minutes when they discussed the issue – perhaps that will help! 2.Is there anything the group would be losing/giving up by changing to an advisory board?​​ ​See above. 3.Are there currently any other advisory boards in the City?​​ ​The Climate Action Advisory Board and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board 4.How would members of an advisory board be established? Does Council appoint them? Is there an application process similar to serving on a commission?​​The Climate Action advisory board is currently comprised of members of the prior City Committee. They decided to create a proposal identifying their members, how they would be selected or sought, and what expectations they have of the members participating. Once they move to an advisory board status, Council does not have a say in who is a member. The advisory board may require an application process- I think it’s up to them. 5.As an advisory board, would the group be solely responsible for amending or recreating its own by-laws? The group is not required to have by-laws but the Climate Board has chosen to start with some guidelines that keeps everyone on the same page. The benefit of the Climate group is that they have an existing plan as a tool to work from, for actions and objectives, as well as a relative time-frame for activity.​ ​If the Telecommunications Commission members would like to modify the responsibilities of the Commission or recommend alternative responsibilities, they would be responsible for identifying new or amended by-laws. 6.Has the Council expressed any vision or goals for the reorganization of the group?​​ ​Council is looking to the Commission for the upcoming trends and needs of the community as they relate to telecommunications. I suppose this could expand to technology at-large or speak to the question of support for broadband. It was at one time but I do not know if municipal broadband is still on the full Council’s radar. 7.Once they’ve agreed on what they feel their role and duties should be, how should they go about making a proposal or recommendation to Council? Should they write a memo? Have them tell me what they want and ​​I​​ write a memo?​​ The Climate Committee met as a group and came up with their own ideas for how to run their advisory board. We walked them through the difference between a formal commission and an advisory board and they took it from there. A few members drafted a memo/document that states what they came up with. I’ve attached it (but it might be the nearly-final draft). I’d recommend the memo come from them. Since Council has indicated they’d like to connect with the Commission members, I would suggest having them write something up and prepare to present it at a Work Session. We would include in an Information Packet and have someone speak to any questions Council may have. Emailed to members of Telecommunications Commission by Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator, on 11/13/18 1 Meeting Minutes Steering Committee of the Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Friday, August 10, 2018, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Emma J. Harvat Hall Iowa City City Hall 410 E. Washington Street Members in Attendance: Members Absent: Ingrid Anderson Anne Russett Martha Norbeck Ryan Sempf Charles Stanier Liz Maas Katie Sarsfield Jesse Leckband Matt Krieger John Fraser Eric Tate GT Karr Eden DeWald City Staff Present: Brenda Nations, Sustainability Coordinator Sue Dulek, Assistant City Attorney Others Present: Carol Trockmorton, Yanni Koutsonikolis 1. Call to Order Meeting called to order at 4:00 a.m. by Ingrid Anderson, Committee Chair. 2. Recap, update and goals for the meeting • Nations gave an update since the Community Meeting. • Community meeting was very successful, all should have received the report that Elevate provided with a summary of the public input. • All 100 participants were added to the Sustainability Newsletter mailing list (as were attendees of the first community meeting). • The newsletter went out giving the attendees a link to the summary report, a video and the online link to take the pledge online. • Update on the CAAP: in final design, was going to be ready to go in the Council packet next Thurs. to be adopted at Aug. 21st , Council Meeting. Should include within memo what action this committee wants to take. The date just got pushed back to Sept. 18th • Our Communications team is working on final design document. Estimated to be ready around Aug. 31st. Nations will send ASAP and will be on vacation Sept. 1-9 • Other deliverables from Elevate: Climate Action Toolkit-Our communications team just completed today Still waiting on: 1. Adaptation Document with vulnerability assessment Emailed to members of Telecommunications Commission by Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator, on 11/13/18 2 2. High level memo with associated costs, etc. 3. Excel spreadsheet to track progress of actions 4. Resource document (former 88 p. detailed report on each action) 3. Discussion of Advisory Committee vs. Formal Council Appointed Committee Sue Dulek was present to answer questions about City Commissions and legal requirements. Q: Would communications to the Council be the same for either group? A: yes, both could report to Council and have a voice. Q: Is their authority different? A: Not necessarily different. Officially appointed may have more clout. Q: Would advisory group have size limits? A: No. If Council appointed committee, they would decide how many would be in committee. Nations mentioned that smaller is often more efficient to get things done and that the Climate Steering Committee is one of the larger formal committees. Q: What about working groups? Could that be done with formal committee? Could the Advisory group be a working group to formal committee? Scope is larger than steering committee, that working/advisory committee. Karr stated for example, he has-building codes expertise, may only like to focus on that. Working groups could focus on action items and could meet more often. Liaisons could meet less often and be looking at reporting or updates Anderson said we could have advisory group meeting for a year and see how it is working, if see a need to make it more formalized later we could, would hesitate to put together by laws for a formal committee together at this stage. A: Advisory groups are more flexible, but can also be open to public and have community meetings. Could have minutes for the public, etc. Q: Does anyone feel strongly about formal meeting? Krieger mentioned that formal meeting would have more credibility. Stanier said the scope is so large it warrants external formal committee to meet quarterly to hear about the plan and advise both staff and city if things are going well or not, would be harder for it to fizzle out, won’t stall. A group of volunteers to help out to implement the plan will make it more successful. Need to put about $400,000/year to climate related activities to turn ship. Someone should have eyes on it. Could be other money that is flowing through, not necessary all City funds. Fraser discussed credibility. If we lose credibility to Council, that would be a concern. Q: Krieger asked: how would getting on a committee/advisory group differ? A: Council would appoint if formal committee. Often based on expertise. Norbeck noted that the open meeting laws feel strangling, not effective, no freedom to communicate outside, being on the committee has been far less effective than had hoped, would not be interested in continuing formal committee. 3 Q: How would a quorum be defined? A: Quorum is defined in bylaws, majority of committee. Q How does the overall process compare? A: Slower if formal committee. Fraser mentioned that the advisory group has not “invited” and wondered what is the best vehicle do successfully do that? Noted that as long as there is a passion the group should continue. Nations stated that the Mayor also said that he had hoped the group would continue for implementation of the Plan in past meetings. Nations mentioned that staff time would be allocated regardless of committee structure. More staff time would be needed to deal with the administration of a formal committee. Much less time staff time is needed for an advisory committee. Q: Are there any additional resources that will be allocated? A: Not at this time. Council will decide about budget in the future. A: No money is usually expended on board and commissions, commitment is usually only staff time. A transcriber could be hired and used for a formal committee to take minutes. The group agreed that it would be important in having an implementation staff person or a consultant in a contracted role for implementation to make all the items on the plan happen. There could be an Implementation task force-doers could build community, make ad hoc groups of experts, have a small formal body with an oversight role of ”grading” of how process is going, record of quarterly grades and assessment. Committee agreed that adding full-time staff should be added to memo along with recommendation. It was asked “How do we integrate with non-city actions?” “We have to have a paid a person.” Group agreed that in first year, would like to show tangible results with limited budget. Norbeck moved that the steering committee should transition to an advisory group. 9 voted for, Stanier opposed. Group decided to pilot for one year after which it will be evaluated if any changes are needed, such as to form a formalized committee. Will make sure cross cutting community, racial equity, gender, etc. Would like to consider including some other representation. Ryan Sempf-has moved away and is no longer available Anne Russett-is working for the City of Iowa City now and is unavailable Liz Maas-was not able to attend this meeting but is interested in continuing and has no preference for the format of the committee. DeWald, Fraser, Anderson, Sarsfield, and Krieger will take responsibility on meeting again as a small group to discuss organization of new advisory group and all that goes with it. 4 Implementation planning priorities were discussed, since Council is interested in what to do first. Norbeck suggested defining top three implementation items that could be done in the first year. What could be accomplished with resources and will in the community. Priorities can be varied such as marketing value---money, leverage power, showing quick victory, high value, visibility. Idea is to pick something like existing buildings, and drilling into what action must happen next. Wanted clear directions of what actions should be taken first, if subcommittee can meet, each review all reviewed the list, each committee member can pick personal top three, data is out there already. The steering committee group decided it would be the goals of group to collect initial thoughts, hash out top three. The Steering Committee determined they would like to meet again and the date decided worked best for all was Monday Sept 10th at 4 pm. Fraser will call in. Norbeck will put together all information about the personal top three priorities and cc: Nations when emailing the group the information to prepare for the next meeting. 4. Adjourn Meeting Adjourned at 5:27 p.m. Iowa City Climate Action Advisory Board Proposal to Iowa City City Council Over the past year, the Iowa City Climate Action Committee assisted the City and its consultants with development of Iowa City’s Climate Action Plan. The Committee’s term will end when the Plan is adopted. Based on the actions outlined in the plan and the scope of work required to implement such actions, the Committee proposes the establishment of a self-appointed, self- organizing Climate Action Advisory Board to assist with implementation of the Climate Plan actions. The board shall be established as follows: The mission of the Advisory Board is to assist the City with implementation of the Climate Action Plan actions to achieve or exceed the emissions reduction goals set by the City Council. This includes, but is not limited to: o Prioritization of actions o Action implementation planning o Financing recommendations and development o Achieving diverse stakeholder representation and viewpoints o Partner with area governments to develop comprehensive community approach to plan actions, where applicable. The Board shall be established for one year to develop implementation plans and determine the most efficient scope and design of the board to facilitate implementation. Board members shall be chosen based on specialty and expertise. There shall also be two (2) at-large community member positions. The Board shall consist of fifteen (15) members, initially consisting of members of the Climate Action Committee that wish to serve on the Advisory Board. Any remaining positions shall be filled by the Advisory Board members, based on identified expertise not currently represented on the Board. Relevant areas of Board representation may include, but are not limited to: o Students o Small and large businesses o Government agencies o Institutions, including but not limited to the Iowa City Community School District and the University of Iowa o Regulated utilities o Non-profit organizations o Professional Services, for example: architects, contractors, bankers/economists, lawyers. The Board shall be a working board. Board members duties include, but are not limited to: o Advise City staff regarding implementation planning and decision-making o Assist City staff with outreach and coordination Developing working groups for specific action implementation 1 Emailed to members of Telecommunications Commission by Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator, on 11/13/18 Leveraging existing community relationships and building new community relationships Communicating action plans and progress with the Iowa City community and surrounding communities o Assist city staff with documentation and data collection o Provide recommendations to City staff and City Council, including but not limited to budget and staffing recommendations for action implementation. Board member requirements include, but are not limited to: o Attend at least 75% of Board meetings, which shall occur once per month o Serve on and/or lead at least one working group o Participate in community outreach, including attending two (2) community events per year o Assist with fundraising. Board leadership shall consist of the following: o Two (2) co-chairs o Secretary o Recorder o Communications. 2 November 19, 2018 To: Iowa City Telecommunications Commission From: Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator (MPSC) Re: Cable Complaints October 2018 1.) Date: ​​09/25/18 Method of contact:​​ Email to MPSC Complaint/Comment Summary: Resident reported that, according to CenturyLink’s website, high speed Internet service is not available for his home, even though his next door neighbor is eligible for service. Resolution Summary: MPSC inquired about the issue with CenturyLink. Leighton Griffith, an engineer with CenturyLink, investigated and has put a ticket in to escalate the issue up the chain and said he would provide an update once he has more info. Date of Resolution:​​ This issue is not yet resolved. Awaiting a final determination as to whether or not the property is serviceable. 2.) Date: ​​10/01/18 Method of contact:​​ Submitted comments and questions through the City’s request tracker service. Complaint/Comment Summary: Resident inquired about the limitations for a new company from providing improved Internet service to Iowa City neighborhoods. Resident also asked if fiber optic cable to neighborhoods was part of the City’s infrastructure improvement plan. Resolution Summary: MPSC provided information to the resident, informing him of the challenges of attracting a new provider due to the need for an extremely high initial investment that companies may not find desirable as they consider the potential return on investment. MPSC informed the resident that the City does not currently have plans to create its own municipal broadband system for residents. MPSC explained how, in many cases, communities owning its own broadband system already owned its own electric utility prior to building a fiber network. MPSC contacted the City’s Information Technology Services (ITS) staff, who reported that the City does lease duct and fiber to providers. Date of Resolution:​​ 10/12/18 3.) Date: ​​10/05/18 Method of contact:​​ Visit to Cable TV Office and email. Complaint/Comment Summary: Resident expressed a concern that Mediacom lacked some of the public television channels in its local lineup. Resolution Summary: MPSC responded to inform the resident that the current cable TV line-up in Iowa City contains four public television channels and directed the customer to Mediacom’s channel line-up online, where a search mechanism is available. The resident said he no longer has Mediacom service and has found that their channel information can be confusing. Date of Resolution:​​ 10/12/18 December 14, 2018 To: Iowa City Telecommunications Commission From: Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator (MPSC) Re: Cable Complaints November 2018 1.) Date: ​​11/01/18 Method of contact:​​ Email to MPSC Complaint/Comment Summary: Resident complained that she had experienced a number of outages with her CenturyLink service in recent years, with the latest lasting over three days. Resident also expressed frustration with poor customer service, saying that she felt the resolution processes used do not allow issues to make it to an executive level. Resolution Summary: MPSC provided information given by local CenturyLink contacts that decisions to replace or upgrade aging infrastructure are reviewed for return-on-investment potential. MPSC noted that the City does not have the authority to force a communications service provider to improve its infrastructure or quality of service. MPSC provided a link to the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) online complaint form. Resident responded that she corresponded with the IUB, who said they do not have authority over Internet service. The IUB forwarded the customer’s complaint to CenturyLink and suggested she contact the Consumer Protection Division of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office if she does not receive a response. The resident also noted that she has started a petition at: https://www.change.org/p/century-link-customers-force-century-link-executives-to-listen-to-their-customers?recruit er=6588055&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=shar e_petition Date of Resolution:​​ 11/06/18 2.) Date: ​​11/09/18 Method of contact:​​ Phone call to MPSC Complaint/Comment Summary: Customer complained about the increasing price for using a cable box. She said she has to use a cable box for each of her TVs and that the monthly fee has gone from $0.99 to $3.99. She complained that Mediacom does not offer the cable boxes for purchase and she is therefore forced to keep paying and doesn’t see an end to it. Resolution Summary: MPSC provided information to the customer regarding the City’s expired agreement with Mediacom and the change in state law that allowed Mediacom to convert to a state franchise. MPSC provided contact information for the Iowa Utilities Board. MPSC also noted that it could be possible some of the customer’s TVs may not actually need a box if she uses a digital TV and only needs to view the basic and expanded family tiers of cable service. Date of Resolution:​​ 11/09/18 Date: ​​November 19, 2018 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 November 2018 meeting Media Production Services Submitted by Jack Brooks, Special Projects Assistant, and Toni Ugolini, Media Production Assistant Recent production activities: ●Produced weekly ​Iowa City Update​ programs. Topics included Halloween safety tips, Thanksgiving waste reduction tips, and ‘Tis the Season events. ●Created an​ Iowa City In Focus ​that features the Emerald Ash Borer, flood mitigation efforts, curbside collection tips, and more. ●Made PSA videos on How to use Curbside Collection, the Citizens Police Academy, and a tribute to the City Park Rides that were recently closed. ●Recorded the Downtown Historic Survey Result discussion that was held at the Old Capitol Museum. The purpose of this discussion was to provide the results from the Downtown Historic Survey and answer any questions. ●Captured the Annual Human Rights Awards Breakfast, where several City employees, recipients, and their friends & families attended to witness their awards. ●Recorded the 61st Annual Arc of Southeast Iowa Award Ceremony. Upcoming productions: ●Upcoming ​Iowa City Update​ programs to feature new library director, Holiday with the Hounds, and the final Holiday Market. ●Producing an ​Iowa City In Focus ​that will feature a push towards strawless restaurants, service animal rights, and more. ●Recording and live streaming a League of Women Voters candidate forum for the Johnson County Board of Supervisors special election. ●Continuing to produce weekly shows for the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council ●Updating the Virtual Park Tour short video for City Park, to adjust to the changes that occured. ●Recording and/or streaming the holiday tuba concert on December 7th. Programming and Interactive Services Submitted by Kevin Crawley, Communications Technician Recent and Upcoming Projects: So, we got past two election events, and now we are gearing up for one more before the end of the year. ITS is in the process of updating their firewall/proxy server, and our office has a surprising number of machines that need exceptions to the normal proxy server rules. We're almost caught up, and looking forward to being able to update our machines without doing IP magic tricks. Website: In October, we had 4,568 users access 7,960 pages in 6,276 sessions. Our most popular pages were Mediacom's channel lineup page, Mediacom's channel rates, our home page, Daniel Clark's MTC video, Dave Loesback's MTC video, our program schedule, our live video page and our watch-online page. On YouTube, we had 8,769 video views account for 30,282 minutes (504 hours and 42 minutes) of watch time. We added 27 more subscribers, and our current total is 488. Our most watched videos by views were the Welcome to Iowa City! video, Iowa City Voter ID Law, How to Use Curbside Collection, the current In Focus episode, and an ICFRC presentation on Russian artists. The most watched videos by time were the In Focus video, the ICFRC presentation, Iowa City Voter ID Law, and the Deer Population Management presentation. Programming: We cablecast 120 programs produced in-house 909 times for 538 hours of programming, 38 locally-produced (DITV, Senior Center, Hoover Library, Task Force on Aging, JC Board of Supervisors, Coralville, North Liberty, University Heights and Education Exchange) programs 95 times for 96 hours of programming, and 35 imported programs 128 times for 75 hours of programming. We also showed 108 PSAs 1150 times for 29 hours of programming. Programs Completed by the Cable TV Office in October 2018 ●35th Annual Human Rights Awards Breakfast ●Aging in Place Forum - Your New Home: Levels of Care in the Community ●Candidate Forums ○Iowa Secretary of State ○Iowa Senate District 43 ○Iowa Senate Districts 37 & 39 and House District 73 ○Johnson County Board of Supervisors ○U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District ●City High School Fall Choir Concert 2018 ●Community Highlights ○2018 Jingle Cross Festival ○2018 Kids Day at the Farmers Market ○Light Art Tour ●Economic Development Committee Meeting of 10/29/2018 ●Emerald Ash Borer Response Plan ●Fire Prevention Week 2018 Performance ●Flood Mitigation Efforts ●How to Use Curbside Collection ●Iowa City Book Festival 2018 ○Panel: A Sense of Place ○Paul Engle Prize ●Iowa City City Council Meetings ○October 2, 2018 ○October 16, 2018 ○October 23, 2018 (special formal) ●Iowa City City Council Work Sessions ○October 2, 2018 ○October 16, 2018 ○October 23, 2018 ●Iowa City Downtown Historic Survey Review ●Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Presents ○Bringing International Sports Competitions to Our Community; Diplomacy, Logistics, and Challenges ○Political and Policy Obstacles to Feeding the World ○Religion and New Realities; Moscow, Kiev, and Shanghai ●Iowa City In Focus: Emerald Ash Borer Response Plan ●Iowa City Update ○City Council Special Election ○Halloween Events ○Halloween Safety Reminders ○Leaf it to Us ○Leaf Vacuum Program ●Iowa Women's Foundation 2018 Annual Luncheon ●Light Art Grand Tour USA (full recording) ●Market Music 2018: Adrian & Meredith ●Meet the Candidates 2018 ○2nd District House of Representatives ■Christopher Peters ■Daniel Clark ■Dave Loebsack ■Mark David Strauss ○Johnson County Board of Supervisors ■Pat Heiden (recorded prior to primary, statement was reused for the general) ■Janelle Rettig (recorded prior to primary, statement was reused for the general) ■Phil Hemingway ○State Senate District 37 ■Carl Krambeck (recorded prior to primary, statement was reused for the general) ■Zach Wahls(recorded prior to primary, statement was reused for the general) ○Senate District 43 ■Joe Bolkcom ■Patrick Wronkiewicz ●Meet the Candidates Marathon Promo/Bumper ●Why flushable wipes shouldn't go in the toilet Date: ​​December 11, 2018 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 December 2018 meeting Media Production Services Submitted by Jack Brooks, Special Projects Assistant, and Toni Ugolini, Media Production Assistant Recent production activities: ●Produced weekly ​Iowa City Update​ programs. Topics included new Library director, winter explorers camp, and new recycling carts. ●Made PSA videos on the City’s traffic calming program, snow emergency ordinance, snow plow priorities, and a recruitment video for the Iowa City Fire Department. ●Recorded the League of Women Voters of Johnson County’s Board of Supervisors Candidate Forum, for which we also streamed this forum live on the LWV’s FaceBook page. ●Recorded the Iowa City High School’s Masterworks Concert. ●Finished editing the Arc of Southeast Iowa’s 61st Annual Awards Ceremony. ●Recorded and FaceBook Live streamed the Holiday Tuba Concert, which was held outside of the Old Capitol Museum. ●Created a new City Park virtual tour video to be displayed on the City’s website. Upcoming productions: ●Continue creating ​Iowa City Update ​programs with topics including waste reduction tips for the holidays, Poetry in Public, and how to recycle your holiday tree. ●Producing an ​Iowa City In Focus ​that will feature a push towards strawless restaurants, City Park Rides, and more. ●City budget meetings - overview and Capital Improvement Projects ●Historic Preservation Awards ●Create and edit short format videos for the City’s parks. Programming and Interactive Services Submitted by Kevin Crawley, Communications Technician Recent and Upcoming Projects: Firewall/proxy server testing with ITS is a work in progress. I've set up a new podcast player for the Iowa City Matters podcast program, which should begin in January. The new video/photography drone has arrived! I've updated its firmware, and I'm chomping at the bit to take my certification test as soon as I can find the time. Website: In November, we had 4,501 users access 7,674 pages in 5,931 sessions. Our most popular pages were Mediacom's channel lineup page, Mediacom's channel rates, our home page, our live-video page, our watch-online page, and our program schedule. On YouTube, we had 8,427 video views account for 26,310 minutes (438 hours and 30 minutes) of watch time. We added 17 more subscribers, and our current total is 497. Our most watched videos by views were the Welcome to Iowa City! video, Zach Wahls’ Meet The Candidates video, Iowa City Voter ID Law, 2019 Citizens Police Academy promo, the Iowa City Update episode on IC Transit changes, and the Leaf Vacuum PSA. The most watched videos by time were Zach Wahls’ MTC video, Welcome to Iowa City!, the ICFRC presentation of Nov 16, Iowa City Voter ID Law, and live feeds of the Nov 20 and Nov 6 City Council Meetings. Programming: We cablecast 135 programs produced in-house 850 times for 542 hours of programming, 44 locally-produced (DITV, Senior Center, Hoover Library, Task Force on Aging, JC Board of Supervisors, Coralville, North Liberty, University Heights and Education Exchange) programs 119 times for 110 hours of programming, and 37 imported programs 72 times for 37 hours of programming. We also showed 110 PSAs 1000 times for 24 hours of programming. Programs Completed by the Cable TV Office in November 2018 ●Iowa City Book Festival 2018 ○Panel: Technology ●Iowa City City Council Meetings ○November 6, 2018 ○November 20, 2018 ●Iowa City City Council Work Sessions ○November 6, 2018 ○November 20, 2018 ●Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Presents ○A Multicultural Perspective to See Mental Health: Theories and Applications ○Corporate Social Responsibility in Latin America ○New Challenges Facing the European Union ○The Migingo Dispute between Uganda and Kenya ●Iowa City Update ○'Tis the Season ○Library Director ○Thanksgiving Waste Reduction Tips ○Transit on Google Maps ●Lower City Park Adventure Playground Design Concepts Presentation ●Market Music 2018 ○Pennies on the Rail ○Sweet Cacophony ●Citizens Police Academy Registration Promo ●Saying Goodbye to the City Park Rides ●Water Plant system training (internal use) ●Traffic calming informational video ●Snow plow priorities informational PSA