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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLE-2006-06-13Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes The Committee [AOC] met at Ithaca Town Hall on Tuesday, June 13, 2006, 4 -6 pm. Present: AOC Members Elizabeth Bauchner, Wayles Browne, Wies van Leuken, Will Burbank [chair], Shane Seger; Thomas Doheny (Time Warner Cable = TWC), studio manager Lauren Stefanelli. 1. Notetaker: W. Browne. 2. Minutes of May 16 meeting: accepted with small amendments. 3. No public comment. 4. Committee Member Reports: Seger: The City Council adopted the 2007 capital budget as approved by AOC. Council members were excited about seeing new equipment and being well informed about it. The City wishes to upgrade the microphones in Council Chambers; it would tap the fees remaining from the pre -2003 former franchise and get wireless mikes. Van Leuken: the budget is on the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees agenda on June 19. I am working with the Village Clerk to get financial data on the franchise fee payments for recent years. Burbank: The Town of Ithaca Board adopted the capital budget June 12, changing the text of the resolution somewhat. We hope that Lauren Stefanelli can come to meet the Board at a meeting in August and consider broadcasting meetings. (L. Stefanelli: a meeting in September would be preferable so we don't need to change the playback schedule.) Burbank asks T. Doheny about a number of towns suing TWC; Doheny explains it refers to a period before the latest franchises. 5. Discussion with T. Doheny on how to pay for the replacement of the carpet in the PEGASYS studio. Doheny: I want to get our disagreement clear. Is it true that the attorney told AOC that the fund is not for carpet replacement? I wrote Pat Dunn, not having City Attorney Dan Hoffinan's address. I feel strongly - -after being in the franchise negotiation meetings [2003] - -that the fund "Access Facilities and Equipment" (sec. 15.3 of the Franchise) is not for routine maintenance of facilities and equipment. According to Sec. 2, we bill the subscribers for construction. Replacement is a purchase, not routine maintenance. (Answering an objection that the carpet might be paid for out of the budget and then the studio might be moved to another location): I'm willing to stipulate that if we do replace the carpet and then move the studio, I'll make an allowance for the carpet. Seger: This is like landlord- tenant relations: the landlord replaces a carpet after routine wear. My perspective is that equipment used directly for programming comes out of the budget funds. Doheny: The 2003 franchise added the word "facilities" (previously it was just "equipment "). Seger: Under the franchise the AOC has the final say. Van Leuken: The franchise document is indeed confusing; "facilities" is not defined. Doheny: Are a roof, a shingle, a desk TWC's responsibility? Burbank: In your interpretation, what else would be paid for out of the AOC budget? Doheny: "Routine" means "not involving purchase." The carpet is horrible- looking. Seger fears a "slippery slope." Suppose that one year the roof needs replacing for $20,000 - -would that be from the AOC budget? Doheny: The crux of the PEG section in the franchise negotiations was that under law the Access facilities and labor have to be paid for out of the funds. ...Broken windows are purchases (maybe replacing glass would be routine but a new window would be a purchase). A new carpet is a purchase. Burbank: Why did you tell us not to meet at PEGASYS (as part of this discussion)? Doheny: I thought so from the beginning. The studio isn't a meeting place. Seger: For us it sounds vindictive. Lauren is already there; there is space, a table, chairs. Doheny: I'm concerned about liability. Burbank sees two cultures here: TWC = corporate, PEG is a loose community culture. Is PEG an unnatural match for TWC, something that TWC would like to be rid of? Doheny: We think public access can be a real benefit to the cable service. The usage fee is a good example of the differences in the cultures. I felt bad when AOC created such a low monthly fee ($3). What we have to do is find a way for access to be funded. The new federal laws don't provide an answer either. Burbank: we're locked in to the fee amount for next year but we're willing to discuss it again. 6. Financial reports: none. 7. Report from studio manager Lauren Stefanelli: - a few more crises with NEXUS - she went to the Ithaca City School District with a mobile studio for trial runs of broadcasting meetings from the meeting room. However the administrator said not to do it until we can get wall- mounted cameras and hidden wires. The District's engineers also want wireless mikes (as does the City of Ithaca). Can ICSD coordinate this with the City Clerk so that both get the same kind of mike? Perhaps they could be paid for from the same fund (from the previous PEG franchise) that the City is looking at. Wireless mikes will need a better mixer than the mobile unit provides. Lauren discussed at length with the ICSD's engineers what the administration wishes. - she visited Syracuse and Binghamton public access centers, both operated by TWC. Syracuse has a studio; Binghamton has only tape playback. Syracuse, Binghamton, and Cortland all differ in their policies for using the access facilities; T. Doheny seeks uniform rules for the whole division of TWC. Ithaca's rules seem the most restrictive. (But some differences in rules are unavoidable due to differences among the centers' facilities.) - The Syracuse facility remained in downtown Syracuse with old equipment and just 1 employee when the rest of TWC moved to Fair Lakes Rd. in East Syracuse. The studio is used a few times a month. Most users edit on their own computers. The employee doesn't do playback. Producers have to take tapes out to Fair Lakes Rd. The new premises has a studio but it is not used. - Ithaca: the studio is used to capacity. NEXUS is playing tapes, DVDs, mpegs. (Answering van Leuken's question:) There have been no objections to the usage fee: it's not a deterrent. Burbank: Is there a higher fee that would also be acceptable? Stefanelli: Probably, but let's analyze it at the end of the year. Seger: What happens to the money? Stefanelli: Read the Franchise. Van Leuken: It's up to AOC. Stefanelli: The present amount could cover a certain number of days of sick time replacement (Kelly temporary employees cost $16/hour gross, or $64 for a four -hour day). Van Leuken proposes a resolution that TWC is to use the 2006 usage fees for replacing Stefanelli during her absences, that TWC is to set up a separate account for user fees, and that we get a quarterly statement of this account. Passed 5 to 0. She will formulate the exact language and then notify T. Doheny. Final text: Resolution on the Collection, Disbursement and Reporting of Usage Fees WHEREAS, Section 15.6 -4 of the Franchise Agreement between the City of Ithaca and Time Warner Entertainment- Advance/Newhouse Partnership (TWC) of January 2003 requires that the participating municipalities (City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Village of Cayuga Heights) assess a Usage Fee to PEG access users who do not reside in these municipalities, and WHEREAS, a Usage Fee schedule was adopted by Resolution by the City of Ithaca at their regular meeting of December 7, 2005 and endorsed by Resolution by the Town of Ithaca at their regular meeting of December 12, 2006 and by the Village of Cayuga Heights at their regular meeting of December 19, 2005, and WHEREAS, said Usage Fee was put into force effective January 1, 2006, and WHEREAS, TWC has collected said fees, pursuant to Section 15.6 -4 of the Franchise Agreement, and WHEREAS, pursuant to this same Section "said Fees shall be disbursed for PEG purposes at the discretion" of the Access Oversight Committee (AOC), and NOW BE IT RESOLVED, that the AOC determines that such Usage Fees shall be used during absences from the studio of the studio manager, who is at present its sole staff member, to staff the studio in such a manner as to assure the continuation of the community access studio operations to the maximum extent possible, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that TWC shall establish a separate account to track the collection and disbursement of such Usage Fees, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that TWC shall present a full statement of this account to the AOC on a quarterly basis, no later than 15 days after the close of each calendar quarter, addressed to the Access Oversight Committee, City of Ithaca, 108 East Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850. Approved unanimously. 8. The next meeting will be Tue., Sept. 12, 4 to 5:30, Ithaca Town Hall. Agenda items: - status of bills in Congress that concern cable service. - TWC's maintenance and repair schedule. - report on quarterly 15 -cent subscriber fee. - PEG satellite dish on BOCES building not being used. 9. Meeting adjourned 5:35.