Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/30/1983November 30, 1983 The Board of County Commissioners of Indian River County, Florida met in Special Session at the Sebastian City Hall, 1225 Main Street, Sebastian, Florida, on Wednesday, November 30, 1983, at 7:30 o'clock P.M. Present were Richard N. Bird, Chairman; Don C. Scurlock, Jr., Vice Chairman; William C. Wodtke, Jr. and Margaret C. Bowman. "Commissioner Patrick B. Lyons was absent due to illness. Also present were Michael J. Wright, County Administrator; - Gary Brandenburg, Attorney to the Board of County Commissioners; Terrance G. Pinto, Utilities Director, and Barbara Bonnah, Deputy Clerk: The Chairman called the meeting to order and Commissioner Wodtke led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. PUBLIC HEARING - JONES INTERCABLE INC. REQUEST FOR COPYRIGHT ADJUST14ENT FEE The hour of 7:30 o'clock P.M. having passed, the Deputy Clerk read the following Notice with Proof of Publication, to wit: RMA 55 pnA.. NOV 3 01983 VERO BEACH PRESS -.JOURNAL Published Daily Vero Beach, Indian River County, Florida COUNTY OF INDIAN RIVER: STATE OF FLORIDA Before the undersigned authority personally appeared J. J. Schumann, Jr. who on oath says that he is Business Manager of the Vero Beach Press -Journal, a daily newspaper published at Vero Beach in Indian River County, Florida: that the attached copy of advertisement, being a in the matter of in the Court, was pub- lished in said newspaper in the issues. of���% J 1.9Z3 Affiant further says that the said Vero Beach Press -Journal is a newspaper published at Vero Beach, in said Indian River County, Florida, and that the said newspaper has heretofore been continuously published in said Indian River County, Florida, each daily and has been entered as second class mail matter at the post office in Vero Beach, in said Indian River Coun- ty, Florida, for a period of one year next preceding the first publication of the attached copy of advertisement; and affiant further says that he has neither paid nor promised any person, firm or corporation any discount, rebate, commission or refund for the purpose of securing this advertisement for publication in the said newspaper. a Sworn to and subscribeO befoyp me ttA — day of Ute. A.D. 19 f- (SEAL) ray NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING The. Indian River County Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing November 30, 1983, 7:30 p.m., in the Sebas- tian City Council Chambers, located at 1225 Main Street, Sebastian, Florida, to consider a request for an adjustment of copyright fees for Jones Intercable. The proposed adjust- ment is as follows: PRESENT RATE COPYRIGHT ADJUSTMENT FEE 1st outlet $8.50 + $0.33 2nd outlet $1.80 + $0.08 All interested persons are invited to this meeting. If any person decides to appeal any decision made by the Board of County Com- missioners with respect to any matter consid- ered at this meeting, he/she will need a record of the proceedings, and that for such purpose he may need to ensure that a verba- tim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and. evidence upon which the appeal is to be used. Richard N. Bird, Chairman Board of County Commissioners Nov. 10, 1983. The Board reviewed the following memo dated 11/22/83: TO: The Honorable Members of DATE: November 22, 1983 FILE: the Board of County Commissioners THROUGH: Terrance G. Pintok Utility Services Director SUBJECT: JONES INTERCABLE, INC. - REQUEST FOR COPYRIGHT ADJUSTMENT FEE ,�l A) Application FROM: Joyce S. Hamilton`,, REFERENCES: B) H. R. 2902 Information Administrative Assi tant C) License & Exhibit "A" Utility Services DESCRIPTION AND CONDITIONS Cable systems in the fifty (50) largest markets of the United States are allowed three (3) distant signals without incurring the three and three quarters percent (3.75%) fee recently adopted by the Copy- right Royalty Tribunal. But, systems in the next fifty (50) markets are allowed only two (2), and the nation's smaller systems are allowed only one (1) distant signal without penalty. F0 C � 60 O �• o Pr c w Z.,a n NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING The. Indian River County Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing November 30, 1983, 7:30 p.m., in the Sebas- tian City Council Chambers, located at 1225 Main Street, Sebastian, Florida, to consider a request for an adjustment of copyright fees for Jones Intercable. The proposed adjust- ment is as follows: PRESENT RATE COPYRIGHT ADJUSTMENT FEE 1st outlet $8.50 + $0.33 2nd outlet $1.80 + $0.08 All interested persons are invited to this meeting. If any person decides to appeal any decision made by the Board of County Com- missioners with respect to any matter consid- ered at this meeting, he/she will need a record of the proceedings, and that for such purpose he may need to ensure that a verba- tim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and. evidence upon which the appeal is to be used. Richard N. Bird, Chairman Board of County Commissioners Nov. 10, 1983. The Board reviewed the following memo dated 11/22/83: TO: The Honorable Members of DATE: November 22, 1983 FILE: the Board of County Commissioners THROUGH: Terrance G. Pintok Utility Services Director SUBJECT: JONES INTERCABLE, INC. - REQUEST FOR COPYRIGHT ADJUSTMENT FEE ,�l A) Application FROM: Joyce S. Hamilton`,, REFERENCES: B) H. R. 2902 Information Administrative Assi tant C) License & Exhibit "A" Utility Services DESCRIPTION AND CONDITIONS Cable systems in the fifty (50) largest markets of the United States are allowed three (3) distant signals without incurring the three and three quarters percent (3.75%) fee recently adopted by the Copy- right Royalty Tribunal. But, systems in the next fifty (50) markets are allowed only two (2), and the nation's smaller systems are allowed only one (1) distant signal without penalty. F0 Jones Intercable has made an application for an increase in rates to offset this recent increase. levied by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal for carriage of distant independent signals. Jones Intercable is required to carry channel 43 (Melbourne) as it is termed a "must -carry" station by the FCC for-t'is territory. There- fore the cable company dropped the other distant signal channel (17, Atlanta) for which they would be required to pay the 3.75% fee. By customer demand, channel 17 was returned to the air and this request. was made to the Board to offset the expense(Attachment "A"). U. S. Congressman Mike Synar (D -Okla.) recently introduced H. R. 2902 in Congress which is designed to provide up to three (3) distant independent television signals regardless of system market size -or location before being subject to copyright payments(Attachment "B"). ALTERNATIVES AND ANALYSES: The alternative of not granting this increase to offset the expense of carrying channel 17 would mean Jones Intercable would discontinue carriage again. This alternative was very much opposed by several of their customers when it occured earlier this summer. The Commission and Utility offices received several telephone calls voicing opposition to channel 17 being dropped and protests in large number. -were made at the cable company's office: RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends this increase be granted to offset the Copyright Royalty Tribunal fee with the provision that if and when H. R. 29.02 is passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate, this in- crease will be terminated automatically and billing will be adjusted to reflect same. Chairman Bird explained the procedures to be followed during the rate hearing and asked that everyone who had filled'out a slip and wished to be heard come forward to the microphone to speak and be sworn in by Attorney Brandenburg. He explained that Jones Intercable would present their request and the Commissioners would then have an opportunity to ask questions of staff and Jones Intercable before the meeting was opened up to public comment. Mr. Ken Vickers, Manager of Jones Intercable, Inc. presented the firm's request for a rate increase: A I would like to provide a brief.history of events since our initial action discontinuing our carriage of WTBS back in June -of this year. The copyright legislation effecting our carriage of WTBS was approved in apellate court in March of'this year. The new copyright fee raised the charges to our system to 3.75% of our total basic revenues. This tremendous increase prompted our deletion of Channel 17 WTBS before we entered the next copyright period. The initial public reaction to this channel change focussed on two points. 3 � NOV 3 01983 �t&i( 55 PACE NOV 3 0193 190K 55 PACE 7 [1] The abrupt change was not appreciated. This will not happen in the future. We will provide a subscriber notice at least two weeks prior to any channel change should this become necessary. [2] The subscribers stated that they wanted WTBS on our system and would be willing to pay an additional cost aimed at offsetting the new copyright fee. As a company we pay a charge to WTBS for each subscriber viewing the service. This per subscriber charge is not a part of the copyright fee and we will continue to absorb this cost ourselves. Petitions were circulated and delivered to my office stating that subscribers were willing to absorb the cost to continue carriage of WTBS. In July, through the assistance of our subscribers, we returned the channel to our program lineup, pending the approval of a copyright adjustment in our billing by the various franchising entities. The method utilized to determine the additional charge necessary to offset the copyright fee is based specifically against the basic rate and additional outlet charges now in effect. If you take 3.75% of our current basic rate of $8.50 it can be determined that .32 (.31875) would be apid in copyright fees. The total increase of .33 was calculated by determining how much more would be paid if the additional revenues of .32 per subscriber were implemented. The additional outlet fees were calculated using this same procedure, 3.75% of $1.60 is .06. One section of the package provided to you breaks down the revenues received versus the copyright fee on those same revenues; assuming an average yearly subscriber level. As you will see upon examination of this section the copyright fee we will incur is slightly more than what will be collected in additional revenues, but for all practical purposes, equal. We have three franchises affected by this increase, Brevard County, The City of Sebastian, and Indian River County. Our copyright adjustment has been approved both by the City of Sebastian and Brevard County. We have agreed to make the changes necessary in our billing system to itemize our charges noting the copyright charge specifically as such. If this new copyright fee is eliminated by legislation currently under consideration the copyright adjustment will be removed from our billing; or if the copyright charges are nullified or if Super Stations are exempted from this type of copyright charge. - _ As a company, we will be charged a copyright fee for the period beginning last July 1st and ending December 31st, since we did_re-t.urn WTBS to the system and have continued its carriage on our program lineup. We are seeking no compensation for the charges during this copyright period. However, the next copyright period will begin on January 1st running through the end -of June 1984. In order to offset these fees in the next copyright period we would have to implement an adjustment in our January 1984 billing. At this time I respectfully request that this board grant the approval to implement a copyright adjustment in order to continue our system's carriage of Channel 17 WTBS." Utilities Administrative Assistant Joyce Hamilton clarified that Jones Intercable is not required to carry Channel 17 in Atlanta, but it has been returned to the air and this increase is requested to offset that -expense. Chairman Bird opened the floor to public comment. County. Attorney Brandenburg swore in Ann Dewhurst, 943 S.E. Schumann Drive, Sebastian, who stated she was not here 4 to object to others seeing the Atlanta Braves but to protest that they cannot see what they pay for now. She was upset that during many movies, the TV just quits, and she never does see how the movie turns out. Mr. Vickers confirmed that the cable company has-been experiencing quite a few problems with channels 3, 5, 6 and 9 for the last three or four weeks as have other cable companies in the area. He emphasized that if the picture comes in to their site at a poor quality, it goes out the same way and there is nothing they can do about it. Attorney Brandenburg swore in John Mace, Sandrift Motel, 14415 U.S. #1, -Sebastian, who found the amount of interference on 500 of the channels unbelievable and -reported that many people who rented rooms specifically to see football games this season asked for their money back. - Attorney Brandenburg swore in Pete Richards, 122 Kildare Drive, Sebastian, who complained not only of poor reception, but also regarding hookup service and lack of response to telephone complaints; in fact, he believed they probably took the office phone off the hook. Mr. Richards stated that although he realized they are entitled to an increase, the people are not receiving proper service. Chairman Bird asked Mr. Richards if he would be willing to pay the increase in order to have Channel 17 and Mr. Richards affirmed that he would. Some discussion ensued in regard to difficulties encountered with reception, and Mr. Vickers emphasized the distance they are from West Palm Beach. Attorney Brandenburg swore in John H. Smith, Shady Rest Mobile Home Park, who had no complaint about Channel 17, but did have complaints about the service received. Mr. Smith emphasized that when Jones Intercable originally came in for an increase, the Board did not grant it because of the complaints about the quality of their service, and their 5 NOV 3 01993 anx 55 FAU48,8 �� J k7 ..NOV 3 01993 SIOK FJ 5 PACE48 reception at Shady Rest has never been poorer than it is now. He informed the Board that many other residents of Shady Rest would have been here tonight to present their complaints except that a rent increase meeting is being held tonight. Attorney Brandenburg swore in Bill Harris, 651 Lawson Street, Sebastian, who stated that he and several others in the audience were part of a committee to try and get Channel 17 back on the air. He believed that most of the audience is willing to accept the copyright adjustment fee in order to keep Channel 17, and that is the main issue rather than reception. Attorney Brandenburg swore in Anita Haag, resident of Roseland and member of the "Save Channel 17" Committee, who expressed her willingness to pay the increase. She had no complaints as to reception, and stated that as a school aide and scout leader, she would like the community to be able to receive WMTV. Attorney -.Brandenburg swore in Eugene Mahalick, resident of Breezy Village, who was not against the increase, but complained of the deplorable reception. He also complained about not being able to get through to Jones Intercable on the telephone. Further discussion ensued as to difficulty with receiving Channel 5, and Commissioner Scurlock suggested Jones check with Florida Cable to see what they are doing. Attorney Brandenburg swore in J. W. Thompson, 125 S. W. Main Street, Sebastian, who questioned Mr. Vickers about the article in the Today newspaper which mentioned a $214,000 revenue figure and 3.75% of this would cost the customers $8,000 a year. Mr. Vickers explained that the $214,000 figure is the revenue point at which a cable company must begin paying that 3.75% fee; the adjustment that they are going to 6 collect is the money that they are going to pay for the copyright amount. Attorney Brandenburg swore in Warren E. T. Miller, 622 Lawson St., Sebastian, who had a list of 50 occasions when his TV reception was interrupted. He emphasized that -Jones Intercable is a monopoly in this area, and their service is really bad. Administrator Wright pointed out that this rate increase applies only to those people who live outside the City of Sebastian. The City of Sebastian already held their public hearing at which customers expressed all of their complaints, and they granted the increase. However, the cable company cannot issue a different rate for them than 'the unincorporated area of the County because they are on the same system. They cannot cut off Channel 17 without affecting the unincorporated area of the County, and the City is taking the position to either grant the rate increase or drop the channel. Attorney Brandenburg swore in Marty Csuri, 12485 Roseland Rd., who complained about poor service and reception and felt they were not receiving what they are paying for right now. Attorney Brandenburg swore in Robert Tanksley, 8240 Capewell Ct., Roseland, a member of the original committee to save Channel 17, who favored the rate increase. Mr. Tanksley stressed that we are here tonight to decide whether Jones Intercable gets a rate increase and not to solve the reception problems, and these matters should be separated. He reported that he had obtained over 600 signatures on a petition which supported granting a $1.00 increase, rather than just a 330 increase. Chairman Bird agreed that we have strayed a bit from the matter of the rate increase and felt these matters should be considered separately. 7 NOV 3 01993 L_ MCK 55) PACE I NOV 01983 ! PACE Mr. Mahalick suggested that if the Board grants an increase, they should get a promise from Jones Intercable of better service and reception. Attorney Brandenburg swore in Sebastian City Councilman Richard Szeluga, 597 Lakeport Drive, wished to clarify that the City of Sebastian has approved the copyright adjustment rate increase contingent upon the County residents also paying the same fee. Chairman Bird called Burt Snell, Jack Nolen, and Bee Scheeren, who stated they wished to pass as their questions had been answered. Chairman Bird asked if anyone else wished to speak. There were none. ON MOTION by Commissioner Scurlock, SECONDED by Commissioner Bowman, the Board unanimously closed the Public Hearing. Commissioner Scurlock felt the basic question before the Board tonight was whether or not to keep Channel 17. However, acting as the government agency that oversees cable vision, he believed we also have a responsibility to investigate timely service, reception, etc. He recalled that before granting the previous rate increase, the Board had come up to Sebastian on three different occasions and believed at that time that there had been some improvement in service. MOTION WAS MADE by Commissioner Scurlock, SECONDED by Commissioner Bowman, that the Board grant Jones Intercable the rate increase to offset the copyright adjustment fee. 8 Under discussion, Commissioner Wodtke was concerned that if H.R. 2902 is passed, then the channel copyright adjustment fee requirement will automatically terminate and if the increase is added to the monthly bills in the meantime, the money would have to be refunded. There is also the possibility that the cable company might not reach $214,000 in revenues. Administrator Wright suggested that the Motion be amended to read that should the copyright. adjustment fee requirement be repealed or if the cable company's gross receipts do not reach the $214,000 amount, the money would be subject to refund. - Director Pinto suggested that it should read that if -they are not charged the copyright fee either because of the bill not passing or not making the proper revenue, they would not be able to charge the customers. Attorney Brandenburg advised that the problem with that is that the cable company does not know what their revenue will be until they have reached that point sometime during the year, and during that time period they have to charge the amount anticipated. Lengthy discussion took place about the possibility of Jones Intercable not reaching the minimum requirement of $214,000 in revenues, and Mr. Vickers suggested that the County Utilities review their revenue figures every six months to see if they exceed the $214,000 level. Commissioner Scurlock suggested that Jones Intercable collect the 33� increase and hold it in escrow, and then if they don't reach the $214,00, they can refund the escrowed funds to the customers. COMMISSIONERS SCURLOCK AND BOWMAN AMENDED THEIR PREVIOUS MOTION to include the provision that the rate increase funds be held in an 9 NOV 3 0193'" 55 N Q V -9 n 1933 9 W 55 pAcE 493 interest bearing escrow account during each six-month period, subject to review of Jones Intercable gross receipts. THE CHAIRMAN CALLED FOR THE QUESTION. The Motion was voted on and carried unanimously. MOTION WAS MADE by Commissioner Scurlock, SECONDED by Commissioner Bowman, that the Board instruct the Utilities Dept. to meet with Mr. Vickers and the area residents to analyze the service and reception problems and bring back a recommendation in a reasonable amount of time. Administrator Wright felt that we should get some additional technical expertise, but Commissioner Scurlock did not want to get into hiring consultants and suggested that staff just meet with Mr. Vickers to look for a solution. Director Pinto suggested that it is very important that we hear from the general customers as to what the actual problems are. Commissioner Bowman felt that Mr. Vickers should have some backup from Colorado for this workshop and that Jones Intercable upper management should not have sent a PR man, but a technician instead. Mr. Vickers explained that he has the unfortunate duty at times of being both, and advised that Jones Intercable's home office was out of Atlanta, not Colorado. Commissioner Scurlock felt that it should be determined what it would take to improve the level of service, and then 10 L-1 see at what point the company could generate enough revenue to cover the improvements. Chairman Bird believed that present day technology has developed equipment that would be able to provide the north county with a level of service comparable to that received in Vero Beach, and Mr. Vickers agreed, but stated the problem is that their revenues do not keep up with the technological expense that would be involved. Commissioner Scurlock recalled that when the transfer from Indian River Cable to Jones Intercable occurred back in 1979, Jones Intercable assured the Board that they were a large corporation and*had the resources to provide an improved system. He realized that any time you are dealing `with a small community, it is always difficult to meet the customer base in the initial years, but' -pointed out that Jones will have a very lucrative franchise here in the north county in the future and it would behoove them to improve the service to encourage other residents to subscribe. Commissioner Wodtke questioned the quality of the equipment and whether it is being properly maintained. He felt this matter should be investigated to make sure Jones is not providing an obsolete type of reception. Chairman Bird requested that staff also explore the matters of timely company response and customer relations. If communication with customers has broken down, it needs to be mended. Mr. Vickers agreed that they have had a problem with their phone answering service as they have only one in -coming line and need to address the volume of calls received. He believed that working with the Utilities Depti would result in some definite plans on how to improve or replace the answering system. THE CHAIRMAN CALLED FOR THE QUESTION. It was voted on and carried unanimously. 11 a K 5- PA -A I JONES INTERCABLE, INC. ' P. 0. Box 327 Sebastian, Florida 32958 Has this date. been granted d license to operate in Indian Rivver County, Florida for a period ending May, 2002. This license allows operation as a franchised CATV system according to conditions of °Ordinance 82-7 as amended by Ordinance 82-23. The rates as shown on the attached Exhibit "A",shall apply until changes as authorized by procedures of Ordinance 82-7 as amended by Ordinance 82-23 are approved and authorized. This license is approved by the Board of County Commissioners of Indian River County on November 30 , 1983. INDIAN RIVER COUNTY BY ITS BOARD OF C UNTYCCOMM�ISSS�IONERS ATTESTED BY By Alai,"`G%��L�.� Clerk. Richard N. Bird, Chairman �� �`• y� Approved a o for _ and lead Su e� ar i. Brandenpu g 09 my Attopiey--' ;q l r �cat r t <r LITHO IN U.S.A. 1 1 EXHIBIT "A" The following rates and charges are hereby authorized for service under this franchise as granted on July 14, 1982: 1. Installation New installation $19.95 Reconnection(previously active) $12.50 Extra outlet $ 7.50 Relocate outlet $ 7.50 2. Monthly Services Regular Services: One outlet $ 8.50 Each additional outlet $ 1.60 3. Monthly Services - Commercial These rates are to be negotiated on an individual basis. The following adjustment of copyright fees is authorized which automatically terminate if and when H. R. 2902 is passed by the U. S. House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate: 2. Monthly Services(Amended) One outlet $0.33 $ 8.83 Each additional outlet $0.06 $ 1.66 L.Y Attested C, C e� Date November 30, 1983 13 By�� Richard N. Bird, Chairman Indian River County Board of County Commissione NOV 3 01A ea�K 5 PAS I ' 55 pAcE497 There being no further business, on Motion duly made, seconded and carried, the Board adjourned at 9:00 o'clock P.M. ATTEST: Clerk 77 14 Chairman I