02-13-2019 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of City Council FROM: Chris Heineman, City Administrator DATE: February 13, 2019 RE: CTV Update BACKGROUND: I attended a meeting of the North Suburban Communications Commission Joint Powers Authority Administrator’s meeting on Wednesday, February 6th. Staff provided a legal update on the Federal Communications Commission implementation of Section 621(a)(1) related to cable television franchise agreements. The CTV attorney is estimating potential reductions of 20-30% and submitted comments on behalf of all cities in December. While the timing of this process is unknown, it will have a significant impact on our Cable Fund if it moves forward. Also on the agenda was a review of the North Suburban Communications Commission Access Channel Policy. This policy has been completely reorganized and revised to meet current regulatory guidelines and best practices. At the request of area City Administrators one of the items that was not included in the past and has been added is a policy for program sponsorship. This may be useful to the City of Little Canada if we partner with a local business or other community organization to produce a program or local content that is of special interest to local residents. CTV staff provided an example of the updated City landing pages on the CTV website. Dana Healy was planning a soft launch of these landing pages next week and they will go live February 15th. Dana also showcased a locally produced program for the City of St. Anthony that demonstrated what CTV staff can provide for each City. I plan to provide a brief example of this program at the workshop. Additional updates on the transition to CTV production staff will also be provided. A copy of the December and January monthly information reports are attached for your information.