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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLE-2007-09-11Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes (as approved Nov. 6, 2007). The Committee [AOC] met at Ithaca Town Hall on Tuesday, September 11, 2007, at 5 pm. Present: AOC members Will Burbank, Wayles Browne, Wies van Leuken; studio manager Lauren Stefanelli; member of the public Theresa Alt. Unavoidably absent: Elizabeth Field (Bauchner). Resigned since last meeting: Shane Seger. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary. 1. The meeting scheduled for August 14 was not held, being postponed by the then Chair for lack of agenda items. Minutes of June 19 meeting approved with minor changes. 2. Public comment Theresa Alt: Is mostly concerned about the reduction in studio opening hours, which makes it hard to do in- studio productions, to pick up and return borrowed equipment, and even to hand in shows for broadcast. A delivery slot would help (sometimes it is not effective to leave off a show at the Time Warner customer office at 519 W. State St.). L. Stefanelli: I've got used to looking at 519 for shows daily. Not cheap to punch a hole in the door for a slot. Producers could also put the tape in a bag and tie it to the door. Alt: Still it's one more stress on producers. Also concerned about whether producers get due notice of L. Stefanelli's absences - -a producer might not hear till too late. Stefanelli: notified all series producers in person. The info is also on the phone answering message, and I post it on the wall. Alt suggests an e -mail list, and Stefanelli agrees to try e -mail. Alt is further concerned that the playback computer crashes while Stefanelli is away. Stefanelli: Last time the shows ran, but the computer with the "programs coming up on channel 13" daily schedule didn't. The previous time there was a thunderstorm, and the NEXXUS playback system had to be rebooted. Alt: Who should viewers phone to pass on a message about the need for rebooting? Stefanelli: 272 -3456 gets a centralized response center outside Ithaca (Watertown), who might merely send a message to my voicemail. Engineer Paul Cummings can restart Scala though it's not his main job. Burbank: So there's no official backup built into the system? This means a legal question: service does need to be provided. Stefanelli: TWC does respond to messages saying "a channel is out." I'll ask what members of the public can do more specifically. Alt: Also producers need to know what to do if their show doesn't run. Van Leuken: Mike Brutvan has set up an e -mail list [to join it: pegasys- subscribe(a-)yahoogroups.com or http: / /finance.groups.yahoo.com /group /pegasys/ ] and anyone who joins can post messages on it. 3. Discussion of recent reduction in studio hours. Burbank: What has happened with the reduction? Stefanelli: As it says on the schedule: the hours are the same except for no hours Friday, so four hours are lost effective this week. No objections from producers yet. Van Leuken: Stefanelli is still working for PEG 25 hours /week but the studio is open only 16. - According to section 15.4 of the franchise agreement, AOC decides on hours of service but they are subject to available funding. If TWC would release its payroll costs, we could check to see if they match the incoming revenues which we know. If 25 hours are indeed paid for by PEG funds, municipalities can decide which days and hours the studio should be open. - I and Wayles Browne, and TWC manager Tom Doheny, presented AOC's and TWC's views at the July 11 meeting of the Communications and Emergency Services Committee of CC. Burbank: was asked to sit in at a meeting of the City of Ithaca with TWC in late October. CC is very stressed at present. I will get in touch with J. R. Claiborne, chair of the Communications and Emergency Services Committee, and W. Browne should attend that Committee's meeting Sept. 12 at 7 pm. [W. Browne did attend it.] City code section 18 -4c says AOC can adopt opening hours for the studio. Van Leuken: AOC passed a resolution saying that money from user fees (fees from studio users who come from places outside the three participating municipalities, i.e. outside the City and Town of Ithaca and Cayuga Heights) should be used for replacements for the studio manager when she is away. Stefanelli: $630 has come in from user fees this year. 4. The AOC unanimously regrets the resignation of Shane Seger and wishes him well in the future. As chair of AOC, he was effective and understanding of our issues. 5. AOC Mandate. Van Leuken: when AOC's decisions aren't effective, do we need to keep getting our municipalities to pass resolutions? AOC has asked Tom Doheny for figures, but TWC hasn't provided them yet. 6. Quarterly franchise fee reports from City, Town, Village: no reports yet. Subscriber fee report from TWC: overdue. W. Burbank will remind TWC that the last one we have is dated approx. June 2006. 7. Studio manager's report (attached). 8. Next meeting: Tuesday, October 23, 5:00. 9. Meeting adjourned about 6:30. Access Coordinator Report to AOC September 11, 2007 • Capital The 2007 capital budget items were all purchased in August. Most have been delivered to Ithaca. The 3 new non - linear editing systems are being assembled and loaded in Syracuse by computer specialists there. Delivery should be very shortly. • Hours Hours starting this fall are: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30- 9:30pm and Tuesday from 7:30 -11:30 pm. PEGASYS Events Our 2007 PEGASYS Dish -to -Pass Picnic was held on Saturday, August 18. About 2 dozen people attended, and a number of lively- but - friendly political discussions were held by left -wing and right -wing political producers who usually don't cross paths. A park ranger joined in on the side of the conservatives. Special thanks to Mike Brutvan for manning the grill! • Training: The September Studio class has 5 people attending. We will be producing 3 episodes of a new series, "Motivation in Ithaca," by new producer Wayne Gooden, a person in recovery who wants to use television as a way to reach out and help others. The next PEGASYS Orientation is scheduled for September 27, 7 -8:30 pm. • Notable Public Access Productions When the tall ship "Lois McClure" came to town the first weekend in July, a number of access producers were on hand with their camcorders. However it was Greg Manter who turned in a 45 minute program within days of the event, featuring his wife Deborah interviewing the crew and Greg following the Lois McClure from his own power boat as it sailed across the lake under full sail. This program drew almost 20 calls /emails and one letter from people who told us how much they appreciated it. A new weekly series, "Steppin' Out," was started this summer by new producer Sheldon Gosline, with collaboration from his wife Kim, as well as Greg and Deborah Manter. Sheldon is completing his 15th episode this week. His series that has covered a wide variety of local events — the dragon boat festival, music on the Commons, performances at the Kitchen, an antique car show, a hot air balloon rally, winery festiivals and much more. Institutional Access • College: Cornell cablecast a live lecture on its freshman /community read on August 19. Ithaca College has a new director of ICTV, as 20 -year veteran Eloise Green moves on to other duties at the college. The new ICTV director is Peter Johanns [Manager, Television Operations]. He has informed us that, in addition to its regular programming schedule, IC will be doing a special live event this fall — a live lecture by the Dalai Lama during his visit to Ithaca in October [10/10, 2 -4pm]. • High School: The LACS has hired a full -time video instructor for the new term. His name is Mike Levy. Mike has communicated with me, and says getting programming from his students back on channel 16 is one of his goals. The ICSD hired Joe Scaglione as a consultant to expedite the school board videography project. He and I reviewed the school's plans and equipment needs in some detail. We also met with out city meeting videographer, Jim Bosjolie, who is being considered for the job of staffing school board meeting coverage. The cameras for the ICSD school board have been sent to the school for installation by their staff.