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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLE-2005-12-20Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes [approved] Tuesday, December 20, 2005 4- 5:30pm p.1 AOC Members Present: Wayles Browne, Wies van Leuken, Will Burbank [ch], Dan Cogan, Lauren Stefanelli [ex officio]. Public: Tom Doheny, Time Warner Cable [TWC] general manager; Shane Seger, in- coming AOC member Agenda: 1. Approve December 6, 2005 minutes. Several changes made. Approve corrected minutes: moved by Wies, seconded by Wayles. Passed [4 — 0]. 2. Public Comment None. 3. New Items 2006 Draft Schedule [attached] Create a notebook organizing AOC resolutions, organized by year and number. 4. Reaction to Time Warner Propositions 1. Fees Time Warner planned to exclude residents from outside the City, Town and Cayuga Heights from PEGASYS production facilities starting in January until these municipalities created usage fees for them, as per the current franchise. All three municipalities have since approved the AOC's fee schedule [copy of City fee resolution attached]. The fees will take effect in January. 2. Hours New hours in January will reduce hours of operations for PEGASYS to 20 hours /week because that is all the staff time franchise fees provided by municipalities will cover. 3. Capital The AOC disapproved some capital spending — for a new carpet — because it is not a production equipment item. 4. Move to front of 612 building using access capital for remodeling rejected by AOC. Tom Doheny has been invited to speak about TWC's proposals. Tom said he would like to work toward getting on the same page on access issues, and does not feel that TWC and the AOC are on the same page now. Dan replied that the mission of the AOC is to improve access. Perhaps we could discuss our ideas about what improving access means. Tom said that he wanted a user fee that was equitable both to TWC and to PM users. He calculated that this should be $35 /month. He explained that he derived that Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes Tuesday, December 20, 4- 5:30pm p.2 number by taking the franchise fees received for PEG from the participating municipalities [PMs] divided by the number of users from PMs listed in Lauren's recent report. He found that PMs pay $425 per user per year. He feels that users from other areas should pay the same amount. $425 divided by 12 months is $35 /month. Tom said that TWC's message is: until we create some impetus for someone to ask another municipality for funding, we won't get any more. Tom said he is disappointed with this group because the fees they encouraged the PMs to set, which are about $3 /month per user, means we will be running access into the ground [through excessive demand compared to staffing services]. If non -PM residents can use PEGASYS for coffee money, it is not solving the problem. TWC has devoted Lauren to PEG and will continue to do so, however, we are not on the same page. TWC is committed to improving PEG so more people watch and more municipalities are motivated to support it. Tom also addressed the issue of hours. He has advocated shifting PEGASYS hours earlier where possible to improve security, to minimize time when Lauren is alone in the building late at night. TWC is not abandoning the safe harbor obligation in the franchise. There is presently no safe harbor request. Another goal of TWC's is to push Lauren back into the community so that more people from other communities, and particularly more schools, get involved with PEGASYS. Tom has always felt strongly that "kids on TV" draws viewers, and he would like to see more use made of Ithaca High School's live video link. Tom said that this is the only community he's worked with in which there is no high school sports on cable TV. He believes that more outreach will improve access. He understands this view may differ from that of the AOC. Tom then moved on to the issue of the carpet, saying he doesn't understand the ADC's decision to reject use of access capital to replace the carpet. As for the move to the front of the 612 building, that was just an idea, originally Lauren's idea. Summarizing, Tom reiterated that TWC and the AOC are on "different pages ": the AOC believes that PEGASYS services in the past have been good and are worried about them diminishing. TWC believes that PEGASYS service in the past could have been better and is in need of change. For example, during franchise negotiations, all PMs were very concerned with setting community standards for access content. TWC is also concerned when subscribers complain about profanity and nudity on public access. This group should be pursuing this issue. AOC members then had questions for Tom. Wies asked why the new franchise set up the fee structure as it is for access. Tom explained that the reason is a change in the law since the old franchise, allowing all access production facility costs to be deducted from franchise fees of the municipality that requires them. Former Ithaca City Mayor Alan Cohen understood that the current contract, under which only the staffing portion of operating expenses are charged to PMs, instead of Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes Tuesday, December 20, 4- 5:30pm p.3 all operating costs, is a good deal. Giving up lots of franchise fee dollars would be a hardship for the City, hence the interest in spreading this cost equitably to all municipalities whose residents use PEGASYS, and to individual residents whose municipalities do not cover them. The Ithaca Cable Consortium comprised 11 municipalities trying to negotiate a franchise together, including provision of PEGASYS services. For the rural communities, content on access TV was the important issue. For the City it was funding. The City said: we'll put some franchise fees in to support PEGASYS, but unless the other municipalities do as well, their residents will not be able to use it. Ultimately, the Consortium fell apart and only 3 municipalities elected to support PEGASYS financially, so they added the requirement that residents of other areas pay a usage fee to cover their fair share of PEGASYS services. Dan said he understood and shares these sentiments, but he also believes that the split between PMs and other communities is that towns with an enlightened public interest are contributing while others are not, and this is not likely to change. Tom disagreed. If PEGASYS produced programs these other communities saw value in, such as from schools, they would be more inclined to contribute. Dan said he thinks that use of Lauren's time better served on things other than sending her before the boards of rural communities. Tom replied that the bottom line is that things at PEGASYS must change. If not, in 7 years, at the end of the current franchise, even the PMs may no longer choose to contribute, bringing PEGASYS to an end. Wayles said that he thinks encouraging more access use by schools is a fine idea. However, if the focus is on PEGASYS' value for viewers, retaining current producers should be a priority. As a City resident, he is happy to watch programming by producers from outside the PMs. Tom replied that this is fine, but he doesn't think that locking the door to producers from non -PM areas hurts us. Dan disagreed, saying that if producers from non -PM areas produce programming, for example videotaping events, of interest to PM residents, this is an asset. As for schools, the AOC is committed to using some capital for them, and this could be an inducement to non -PMs to become contributors. The AOC has already told Groton that they are not eligible for access capital funding because their municipality is not a PM. Dan said that fees distract from the real purpose that the AOC and Time Warner share: to improve the PEG channels and programming for the community. Tom said he understood that the current fee system would be in effect on a trial basis only for 6 months. Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes Tuesday, December 20, 4- 5:30pm p.4 Wies said she believed there was no limit. Dan said that there was no limit, but proposed that the AOC plan to review the impact of fees on PEGASYS operations in 6 months. Tom said his job was to convince the AOC that more equitable fees were needed for the good of PEGASYS. He said "we are on a path that will get us less" in the long term. The challenge is to work together to increase the value of the channel to viewers and to non - PMs. Will said that he had spoken to two Dryden teachers using PEG equipment and asked them to go to their town board to lobby Dryden to become a PEGASYS contributor. They felt this was beyond their reach. He said that he sees more chance of the Town of Ithaca voting to increase the percentage of franchise fees supporting PEGASYS. Wayles asked whether access channels are all on basic service [Yes]. Wayles also asked whether the franchise fees are just from basic service? [No, from all cable revenue]. Wies asked whether TWC has current franchises with all [21] Tompkins County municipalities. Tom replied that it does, except for negotiations currently being completed with the Town of Dryden, Village of Groton and Town of Danby. Shane said that he feels it is important to encourage everyone currently producing shows to continue doing that. For example, Gary Tracy, of the non -PM of Newfield, produces 2 weekly series. One is targeted to the mental health consumer community, the other to the gay community. It is important to keep these minority voices on PEGASYS. Tom said he is dealing with a personnel issue: how can we use Lauren better? The spirit of the franchise is to change things. Ithaca Town supervisor Kathy Valentino understood this. Either you are a PM or you are not, and if federal law says you have to pay you have to pay. The group moved on to the issue of the carpet. Shane said he believes that replacing the carpet is a routine maintenance expense, not capital. Will said that he believes that capital expenses should include only improving the equipment stock and providing equipment to schools. Dan said he believes this is something the AOC could discuss further. It hasn't always felt like AOC members were collaborating. It would be good if the AOC could get to the point of collaborating on such issues. Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes Tuesday, December 20, 4- 5:30pm p.5 The group continued with the issue of commonalities. Tom said that "we need to remind ourselves that we are on the same page in some areas." Dan agreed. He said that the AOC was created to solve some grey areas in the franchise. Appointees are natural access advocates. We would all be happy if there was more viewership, more educational access programming and more governmental access programming. During the last franchise, perhaps PEGASYS was not fully utilized. However now it is underfunded. Tom said that marketing access is important. He needs a way to explain to division headquarters why access is valuable and deserving of resources. Tom continued that he believes the AOC's intentions are good - to get more people in the door at reasonable rates. Tom said his intentions are good, too: to get more support from municipalities, Time Warner headquarters and viewers. Will said that AOC members do represent their municipalities and can generate support from these municipalities. Time Warner should keep this in mind. He asked Tom whether TWC wanted to continue to run PEGASYS. Tom replied that TWC is interested in good programming. It is indifferent to the issue of training people to use television equipment. The problem with discussing transferring management of PEGASYS to an operator other than TWC is that there is no funding to support the creation of a not - for - profit organization. Will asked whether TWC would be supportive of efforts to transition PEGASYS to a not -for- profit structure. Tom said TWC would find it preferable. Dan said that if PEGASYS were converted to a not - for - profit, it might be eligible for grants or other funding streams. The discussion turned to the issue of hours and the possibility of increasing hours by replacing current staff with less senior, less expensive staff. Will said his concern is that the new hours [reduced from 30 to 20] will squeeze producers. Tom suggested the group "look at the numbers," as they would find currently allocated franchise fees would not buy much more. He advised that having experienced staff is a good asset. He said he doesn't think changing staff buys you anything — you may gain hours, but you lose much more towards your ultimate goals with an inexperienced staff. Again, Tom said, our perspectives differ. He doesn't see keeping Newfield producers out a hardship. Rather, it's not moving forward that is the problem. And maintaining a high level of service for PM producers during available hours, rather than trying to stretch staff to the Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes Tuesday, December 20, 4- 5:30pm p.6 point of providing inadequate service to all. The group asked what specific duties Lauren would have during her non - PEGASYS hours. Tom was unable to be specific at this time, but said he would work on it together with her. Honestly, he continued, my intentions for Lauren's hours are all PEG - oriented, but with the other 20 hours devoted to increasing support for PEG. Will asked what the process would be if Lauren's job were to be replaced with a lower - grade position. Lauren explained that this would mean replacing her position, "access manager," with the position called "access coordinator." Tom replied that regular Time Warner Cable job posting procedures would be followed. Tom said that the new hours would take effect in January 2006. Will asked whether "we could discuss an easy transition," in the "spirit of cooperation," as 30 to 20 hours is a huge cut. Tom said Time Warner has legal grounds to use Lauren only 20 hours /week for PEG, but in the spirit of cooperation, she will be used 40 hours /week on PEG - related functions. Wies pointed out that the change in hours was brought to the AOC on a very last- minute basis and that, as they have approval power on PEGASYS hours, a more reasonable timetable allowing AOC consideration should be used for hours changes in the future. The conversation turned to the issue of Enfield resident Cris McConkey and his petition to the Public Service Commission [PSC] for continued rights to use PEGASYS cablecasting and production facilities. Will asked whether Tom would allow Cris to continue to submit programs to PEGASYS while awaiting a response from the PSC. Tom said he had consulted with the PSC on this issue and is confident that their position supports restriction of use of PEGASYS to service area residents, so he doesn't think this is necessary. More discussion produced the information that Cris has area residents prepared to submit his programs on his behalf, so he will not be denied use of the channel in any case. Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes Tuesday, December 20, 4- 5:30pm p.7 5. Reports and Actions Requested Lauren was asked to create a book of AOC resolutions organized by year and number. Time Warner was asked for: 1. a report of franchise fee revenue for PEG for 2004 and 2005. 2. a report of capital spending for 2004 and 2005 6. Next AOC meeting Tuesday, January 17, 4pm at PEGASYS Meeting adjourned at 5:30pm. Minutes by Lauren Stefanelli Addendum 1 City of Ithaca Resolution, December 7, 2005 Resolution to Create PEGASYS Fees for Users from Non - participating Municipalities Whereas, the public access studio in Tompkins County, New York is funded by the City of Ithaca, the Town of Ithaca, and the Village of Cayuga Heights, henceforth known as the Participating Municipalities, and Whereas, the Franchise Agreement between the City of Ithaca and Time Warner Entertainment - Advance /Newhouse Partnership dated January 2003 contains the following language: "A usage fee for each separate use of access equipment and /or facilities shall be assessed to access users who do not reside in Participating Municipalities in Tompkins County. Such fees shall be established by the Participating Municipalities." and Whereas, the Access Oversight Committee (AOC), which includes representatives from all three Participating Municipalities, proposed the creation of a usage fee, and Whereas, in addition to satisfying the terms of the franchise, a usage fee will bring in additional revenue to help in the funding of the public access studio, and Whereas, in the absence of a usage fee set by the participating municipalities, as of January 1, 2006 Time Warner will no longer allow users from non - participating municipalities to make use of the public access studio, now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Common Council of the City of Ithaca adopts the following usage fee schedule for users of the public access studio who do not reside in a Participating Municipality: Initial Fee when first receiving training Individuals: $30 (includes 6 -month membership) Organizations: $100 (includes training and 6 -month membership for up to 4 users) The initial fee will only be charged to new users; current users will pay the ongoing fee: Ongoing membership fee Individuals: $20 every 6 months Organizations: $50 every 6 months (for up to 4 users).