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Home My WebLink AboutMN-AOC-2022-11-01 1 MINUTES Access Oversight Committee (AOC) (as approved December 6, 2022) Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 5 PM The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing. Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken; Lauren Kelly (Director of Government Affairs - Finger Lakes Region, Charter Communications), Michael Montesano (Sr. Manager, Programming, Charter Communications); members of the public Tony Ingraham, Patrick Pinney. Absent: City of Ithaca Common Council liaison Jorge DeFendini. 01. Call to Order by DePaolo 5:06. 02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions. Van Leuken: Add AOC Vacancy under New Business. 03. Public Comments. Ingraham asks if Oct. meeting was cancelled. (Yes.) Pinney: No new developments on project for live streaming. 04. Comments by AOC members. Van Leuken: 1) A belated thank you to Charter's Tim Irving for being interim studio coordinator. It is not easy to replace someone who did the work for over 30 years, but he did it well, with kindness and a good sense of humor. 2) The PEGASYS website got an overhaul and looks much better. The program schedule is much easier to read: compliments to new PEG coordinator Alex Wiers. But it should say "Bulletin Board" rather than "Community Board"; drop "by appointment only". Montesano: agrees; we have regular opening hours. DePaolo: suggests adding a link to the City of Ithaca's page about AOC. Van Leuken: 3) appreciates new slides that Wiers has made for the Bulletin Board promoting the possibilities of PEGASYS, including the announcement of training courses. They look great. 05. Approval of Minutes of the September 6, 2022 Meeting. Moved by DePaolo, seconded by van Leuken, approved without change 3-0-0. 06. Access Studio Coordinator Report provided by Montesano (attached). Van Leuken asks about the new show, the new producer and the training. Montesano: they refer to one producer, who had not made programs for several years. a. Quote for Mini-Studio Equipment and Switcher. Van Leuken asks for an explanation of the items. Montesano refers to the page headed "Main Component Descriptions" in the Audio-Video Corp. Quote (attached), also to "Equipment Recommendations" in the Coordinator Report. The "Mini-Studio Replacement Equipment" will replace all the present equipment (it's outdated) of the mini-studio. The "Mini-Studio Computer" is a needed extra item. The "Television and Stand for Main Studio" from B&H Photo Video Corp. would replace the present small TV; it's a suggestion, not a need. DePaolo: it's not a lot of equipment; why so much for installation and training? Montesano: will ask Audio-Video. DePaolo: who would be trained? Montesano: a few "super-users" who could then train others, so: Alex, Montesano himself, Tim Irving, then Alex would put together a manual and training sessions for other users. (To van Leuken) "Streaming Pic" is the name of the equipment but is not for "streaming" as we 2 understand it. I haven't actually seen the equipment. DePaolo suggests we could invite someone from A-V Corp. to answer questions for the next meeting before we actually decide. Van Leuken asks about a switcher for the main studio (a Nexus). Montesano: doesn't have a package for that yet; will have it for the next meeting. b. Maintenance and Repairs of Studio Equipment: none. c. Disclaimer - Charter's response to AOC Resolution #75. Kelly: has shared the resolution text, but no response from the company yet. DePaolo: for next month. d. Discussion. DePaolo asks if the coordinator will attend AOC meetings. Montesano: Wiers will attend the next meeting or if not, the first meeting in 2023. 07. Member Reports a. Usage Fees - annual review of fee levels, use and collection. Van Leuken: this is a required annual review. The bi-annual fees are $20 for individuals, $50 for organizations. We use the fees per Resolution #37 for "purposes to assure the continuation and benefit of PEGASYS’ community access studio operations", so for small pieces of equipment, the PEGGY awards, i.e. it's petty cash. DePaolo: let's keep it as it is. Browne and van Leuken concur. b. Staffing Levels and Business Hours - annual review. Van Leuken: There are 20 staff hours and the studio is open for 16 of those hours. Ingraham: appreciates the afternoon hours. He used to use the mini-studio, but the equipment became unreliable. Montesano feels the hours are good for producers. Van Leuken: we can leave them as they are, maybe revisit them after we install new studio equipment. Browne and DePaolo concur. Montesano: we can move Alex's hours to suit a changed schedule as necessary. Van Leuken will ask producers about their wishes (asking now, wishes for later after we get the switcher). c. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual - annual review. Van Leuken: some sections of the Manual require updating. She asks Montesano for copies of all current forms. (Montesano: no problem.) Asks for info on use of facilities and channel. We used to ask producers for their production preferences every December as part of the annual renewal application. Montesano: Alex will send cablecast agreement to current producers and will send the contract for equipment use to users of equipment, by the end of this week. Van Leuken: the Series Renewal Request is #VIII.7 in the Manual. Montesano: if you want it, we'll use that renewal form as well. Van Leuken: it would allow a producer, for example, to ask for a different time slot. Will update it for Alex to use by the end of this week. Van Leuken: in the Manual there are two e-mail addresses. Montesano: please keep the two. One is for questions to the studio, one for the Bulletin Board. d. Streaming Channel 13 - follow-up. DePaolo: Pinney, van Leuken and I met with County employee, Robert Henry on September 16, 2022. He wasn't interested in facilitating the livestream. Pinney: he might have been willing to point us to someone else; I will check and let you know by the next meeting. We can ask Jim Blizzard for info directly. e. Contact person for Channel 15 and 16 Bulletin Board. Robert Henry would accept readymade slides for Channels 15 and 16. f. Common Council meetings on the Government Channel - Resolution. Montesano understood from retiring City Clerk Julie Holcomb that the City's staff had new equipment to download and convert Zoom files for broadcasting. But she told DePaolo (Email 9/7/22) that there's a staff issue for converting. DePaolo asks Montesano to 3 reach out to Scott Kronenbitter, the City's IT manager (Montesano knows him) to ask about it. DePaolo: would "cablecasting" cover broadcasting live or only after being recorded? Meetings at present require a quorum in attendance, but some members can call in by Zoom. Montesano: doesn't know if Holcomb or the new Clerk is interested in broadcasting live. We have connectivity to do live broadcasting from City Hall via the iNet if City staff can take part. Montesano: the City would have to pay Charter staff $34 per hour to cover City meetings if no City employee could put the video out on the iNet. Really City employees could do that. DePaolo: will reach out to the City. A draft resolution to ask for resumption of cablecasting Common Council meetings on Channel 15 per Section 15.10 of the Franchise was tabled till the next meeting. g. Purchase of Studio Equipment. DePaolo: we still have an impasse with Charter about financing the head-end equipment; I'm still waiting for City staff. But we have no dispute about the mini-studio; AOC covers the purchase. h. AOC's representation on the City's Website. The City's description of the AOC on their site at https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-Oversight-Committee needs updating. DePaolo will suggest to DeFendini that the City accepts van Leuken's revised update suggestions. i. Covid Guidelines and PEGASYS’ Operations. Montesano: for several months Charter hasn't insisted on masks in the mini-studio—just masks in the common areas. 08. Old Business: none. 09. New Business: AOC Vacancy. AOC is still lacking a fifth member: unfortunately, the Mayor’s recent appointee did not fulfill the requisite residency requirement, so the City will have to solicit / consider other applicants. Put on next month's agenda. DePaolo will notify DeFendini. 10. Next meeting: December 6, 5:00 PM. 11. Adjournment 6:30 PM. ================ Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207. Contact information for AOC members: City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>. City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2022- Jorge (George) DeFendini <gdefendini@cityofithaca.org>. City of Ithaca: (vacancy) Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <rd@richdepaolo.com>, <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>. Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>. Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules: https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html studio location, mailing address: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York 14850 phone (607) 272-7272 fax (607) 277-5404 e-mail PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com PEGASYS staff: Alex Wiers. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13