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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLE-2004-12-09Cable Access Oversight Committee Thursday, December 9, 2004, 4:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Minutes [approved] Members present: Wayles Browne, Will Burbank, Dan Cogan, Wies van Leuken Others present: Lauren Stefanelli, PEGASYS director; Barbara Smith, PEGASYS producer, Theresa Alt, PEGASYS producer, Jurden Alexander, PEGASYS producer 1. Minutes After some discussion of changes by members, minutes from November 18, 2004 meeting were approved. Moved by Will, 2nd by Wayles. Passed unan. 2. Public Comment Barb Smith described the Friends of Access [FOA] organization she has been trying to start. She said she envisions it as a booster organization and producers' auxiliary which could do some things staff can not do, such as raise funds. She is interested in doing a producer survey and asked the AOC for suggestions for questions. She also wondered whether her group could affiliate with the AOC for fundraising purposes. Dan replied that all members are overcommitted, so being active in FOA efforts would not likely be possible. However he encouraged her to proceed with her ideas. He said members were not prepared to suggest survey questions without some thought first, and suggested she send them her survey questions by email for their consideration and comment. Will suggested that producers' perception of user fees was a big concern of the AOC, and might be a good question for Barbara's survey. Barbara replied that she thought there should be no user fees, that municipalities should pay. 3. Distribution of Minutes to Elected Officials The AOC directed Lauren to add the Ithaca mayor and Common Council members to the list of people to be sent emails with minutes, because the city clerk does not distribute the minutes to them. There should be a proviso that they can have their names removed from the distribution list at any time. Dan provided her with a list of email addresses for this purpose. Lauren opened the city web site and found that the AOC is listed as the "PEGASYS Oversight Committee." Some discussion about whether this name or franchise -given name, Access Oversight Committee, should be used here. No minutes are posted on the city's site, although they've been sent to the city clerk. Wies agreed to talk to the clerk about this. 4. Report from Studio Manager 1. Lauren reported that all 2004 capital equipment has been received. All camcorders for schools have been distributed. One item, our camera cable, was the wrong item and must be exchanged. Accounting is working on that now. Some items must still be installed, and are waiting for our engineer to work this into his schedule. 2. The Spring 2005 PEGASYS scheduling season is being set up. Renewal confirmations will be sent out next week, so any other changes AOC might want to make, such as fees, hours change, etc, would logically be sent at the same time. Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes 12/9/04 p.2 3. Lauren told the group she had visited Boynton's new video studio at Kelli Hazard's invitation last week, and helped them with a couple technical problems. She observed a run- through tape of the school's news program, and saw how the studio had been set up. It was nice to see the Newscenter 10 equipment put to such good use! In addition to the roughly $30,000 [replacement value] of equipment Time Warner had donated, Ithaca College donated a great deal of used equipment as well — about $80- 100,000 worth [replacement value] — as well as the engineering expertise to do the installation. Some equipment PEGASYS donated [3 tripods, video mixer, 2 SVHS VCRs, edit controller] is still in a closet because IC donated better equipment. Kelli insists she will be using it, though. Boynton also received a gorgeous news set from a local TV station and a cityscape backdrop from their own dance program. They have 3 rooms dedicated to their new video operation: a studio with standing set, control room and reporters' newsroom. Principal Vann is personally involved in the project, working with students directly. They are still having a problem getting an intercom system and getting closed circuit video to classrooms to work. 4. Lauren said she had exchanged correspondence with Democracy Now to resolve the issue of whether there must be fees for receiving their programming. They assure us there is no fee if we use our PEGASYS dish and a digital receiver. There is a choice between a $200 consumer receiver [recommended by DN staff] or a $1500 professional one [recommended by our engineer]. VOTE: The AOC authorizes, out of the 2005 capital budget, the purchase of a $200 -300 digital receiver toPick up Democracy Now, as soon as possible. Motion by Will, 2" by Wayles. Passed unan. Dan and Will will contact Tom Doheny to discuss Time Warner's concerns. 5. Member Issues 1. A brief discussion of the lawsuit by Bill Huston of Binghamton against Time Warner, with members asking Lauren whether she could give them information about it and about any relevance to Ithaca and the AOC. Lauren told the group that Mr. Huston has a lot of information on the internet about this. For example: http: // binghamton .publicaccesstv.net /displaystoO/2003/ 10/ 19/212814/94 As for relevance to Ithaca, there really isn't any. We currently have 3 PEG channels; Binghamton has 1 and Huston is suing to get a second. We currently have an access production and training center; Huston is suing to get one in Binghamton. 2. Wayles and Will both have membership terms up at the end of this month. Both have agreed to be reappointed. Dan said he will ask the mayor to reappoint them at the next Common Council meeting. Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes 12/9/04 p.3 6. Fees for Users from Non - participating Municipalities Dan provided a modified version of his previous proposal for establishing PEGASYS usage fees for residents outside the 3 participating municipalities or PMs [City, Town of Ithaca and Cayuga Heights], as required under the new franchise. That proposal is attached. There was a good deal of discussion with members and producers. Wies said she wanted to take whatever plan was approved to the Cayuga Heights board before implementation. She opposes all fees for PM residents and would drop fees for non -PMs from $50 and $25 for initial and ongoing fees to $10 and $5, respectively. Theresa Alt [producer of "Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America Presents "] opposed all fees. PM residents pay taxes and cable franchise fees and should not have to pay any other fees. Fees even for non -PM residents would be a disincentive and would make it harder for producers to find crew. Plus it is regressive, punishing most those who can least afford it. Theresa suggested a fee for advanced classes instead. Jurden Alexander [producer of "Homemade Jams "] said he's a cable subscriber who pays a franchise fee as part of his bill, part of which supports PEGASYS. PEGASYS fees would mean he's paying for PEGASYS twice. Dan said he's comfortable dropping fees for PM residents, as this is not required in the franchise. However he felt that dropping the fees for non -PM residents to $10/ six months makes it so nominal that will not add much to the PEGASYS staff budget for additional temp help, nor would it incent these users to pressure their communities to become new PMs. He proposed a compromise: eliminate fees for PM residents, change non -PM fees of $50 and $25 to $30 and $20, respectively. Wies next brought up the issue of who would be considered a "non -PM user" under this fee system: just producers? production crew? talent? Dan suggested that producers, all technical crew plus the host should be considered users. There was some debate about whether guests should also be considered users. Some thought one -time or occasional guests should not be charged, but regular guests should be subject to the fee requirement, and a system could be developed to determine how many appearances were required before they were considered regular enough. No resolution was reached on this. Will expressed concern about unintended consequences of a fee system. He said he didn't believe that any more non -PMs would be willing to become PMs based on access user lobbying. Theresa asked whether syndicated providers or producers using their own equipment had to pay. Dan explained that only those using PEGASYS production facililies were subject to fees, as the point of the fee system was to have all users support this facility, either Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes 12/9/04 p.4 through their participating municipalities or, for those from non -PMs, individually. He asked members whether anyone else had a proposal for discussion. Barb Smith [producer of "Finger Lakes Forum "] said if there were fees, she would feel obligated to pay the fee of her cameraman, if required, since he was volunteering to help her and it seemed unfair that he would have to actually pay to work on her show. Lauren said that, although including talent under the fee system hadn't been really considered before, it did seem unfair that a cameraman had to pay to help on someone else's show, but a program guest, who got to speak on the channel, did not. Lauren then had an idea that she thought would resolve some of these issues. She proposed a system of low - priced tickets which would apply to anyone from outside the 3 PMs who wanted to take part in any production activities, including appearing on a program. Tickets would be inexpensive, perhaps 50 cents each, and stamped for one day, like at the state parks. For that day the person could attend classes, produce programming, use cameras, direct, edit, or be studio talent. A producer could afford to pay for a non -PM crewmember or guest, if she preferred. A cameraman or host who came once every 2 weeks would end up paying $13 per year, 50 cents at a time. A one- time guest would pay just 50 cents. A producer who was in twice /week to use the studio and then edit would pay $52 /year. If that producer then got his own editing equipment at home and was in only once per week he would pay just $26 /year. Administration would be simple: all current producers, students and crew are asked to show valid residence ID. Their residence status becomes part of their PEGASYS record. Others, like show guests, would be asked for the same residence verification. Tickets could be purchased from staff at the door. Multiple tickets could be purchased in advance. The Friends of Access could create a ticket bank or subsidy if they wished. The franchise requirement, which specifies per -use fees for non -PM residents using PEGASYS facilities, would be met. Those for whom a sum like $50 or even $25 was a decisive issue would not be shut out of the facility. Wies said she was opposed to charging program guests under any fee structure. Wayles aggreed with Wies. Will said he was opposed to fees altogether, but he understood the franchise requirement for them and was willing to entertain ideas. Dan suggested that the group discuss these ideas via email before the next meeting. 7. Schedule meetings for 2005 Next meeting set for January 11, 4:30 pm at Boynton. Dan will check this date with Kelli Hazard and confirm by email. 8. Adjourn Meeting adjorned at about 6:20pm Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes 12/9/04 p.5 Addenda: User Fees Proposal presented by Dan Cogan Proposal for User Fees — REVISED 08- Dec -2004 Rationale We can collect fees from all users of PEGASYS when they first receive training to act as an incentive for them to move beyond training and actually produce programming. By paying for 6 months in advance, they will have an incentive to come back and use the studio. The money collected will be dedicated to keeping the studio open, at least for playback, while Lauren is on vacation. Furthermore, by charging an ongoing fee to users from non - participating municipalities, we will generate additional fees that can be earmarked for temporary coverage while Lauren is on vacation. It also creates a distinction between those municipalities who participate in paying for PEGASYS, and those who do not. Proposal Initial Fee when first receiving training: Participating Users: Non - participating Users: $25 (one -time fee) $50 (includes 6 month membership) The initial fees will only be charged to new users; current users who have already received training will not have to pay the initial fees. Ongoing membership fees Participating Users: Free Non - participating Users: $25 every 6 months Rebates Users could get a rebate on their user fee for the following actions: Action Rebate Volunteering to work for hours in the studio under Lauren's direction