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Home My WebLink AboutMN-CABLE-2013-01-08City of Ithaca Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes January 8, 2013 (as approved Feb. 12, 2013) The PEGASYS Access Oversight Committee (AOC) met at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2013, in the PEGASYS studio, 612 W. Green St., Ithaca, NY. 0) Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary. Present: AOC members Wayles Browne, Mike Brutvan, chair Rich DePaolo; studio manager Lauren Stefanelli; Chris Wheatley, the new Manager of TV and Radio Operations at Ithaca College (ICTV); Barbara Smith, producer. The Chair announced that Wies van Leuken was ill and that Cynthia Brock has now been replaced as liaison from Common Council (City of Ithaca) by J. R. Claiborne. In pre- meeting discussion C. Wheatley told us he expects 13 shows on Educational Channel 16 from I.C. in the coming semester. Many are reruns; he hopes for more that will be current shows. There will be some sports programming. Members asked about hours when no program is being broadcast. Wheatley: the I.C. camera is now again pointed at the lake. Browne and others recalled the feed on the space program from NASA, the Classic Arts Showcase [still free, available at http:// www. classicartsshowease .org /get.html], Free Speech TV etc.; all these items could be put on Channel 16 when there is no other programming. Wheatley hopes for more shows from off - campus locations or of off - campus interest. - The Student Station Manager is George Ahlmeyer. L. Stefanelli informs Wheatley of several points: Ithaca City School District meetings on 2nd and 4th Tuesday evenings (length unpredictable) have been on channel 15 (governmental), but occasional conflicts arise with County Legislature meetings that are also telecast on ch. 15. Meanwhile ICTV has programming on ch. 16 Tuesday evenings. ICSD and ICTV should reach agreement on priority for using ch. 16; they can create a committee for the purpose if they wish, otherwise Stefanelli herself must assign time slots. Wheatley should contact ICSD. Further, Stefanelli understands ICSD is creating a video studio at Ithaca High School; perhaps ICTV could help out. Finally, ICTV usually participates in the yearly PEG Awards; the deadline is the end of January. Wheatley asks why ch. 16 is blurry when watched from his home. AOC members suggest he should ask colleagues whether they have the same difficulties; this may be part of the continuing problem of poor reception of channels 13, 15, and 16 in some locations. If they do, they should contact the Time Warner service line. Brutvan asks what happens to ICTV's surplus equipment. Wheatley: some has gone to Boynton Middle School or IHS. Brutvan further asks: Is IC interested in broadcasting in high definition (HD)? Wheatley: yes, but we can't feed programs to PEG in HD. 1) Rich DePaolo called the meeting to order. 2) Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none. 3) Public Comment: Barbara Smith has long been interested in having studio spaces outside the TWC building, e.g. in the Masonic Temple (if it is bought for a cultural center). She would like i -net connections to be available, as is now being discussed for the Borg -Warner Room (Public Library). Hopes this can be included in the upcoming franchise agreement. Another wish: ability to simulcast programs on TV (PEG) and radio (WRFI). 4) Minutes of the November 13, 2012 meeting: approved, with 1 clarification. 5) Access Studio Coordinator Report. Attached (p. 3 below). Discussion. Notification to educational institutions to submit funding proposals; these are to be approved at the March meeting. Brutvan: Bryan Van Campen felt the increase in user fee was onerous; has not heard of others reacting the same way. Brutvan also asks about getting an engineer to 'tune up' the studio, either TWC's engineer or an outside one. Stefanelli: that would require getting authorization. DePaolo asks why only bulletin board announcements were shown on ch. 13 during Christmas vacation. Stefanelli explains: not possible to pre - program 2 weeks' worth of programming in the small amount of work time available for her replacement Mike Cederstrom. 6) Election of Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Secretary: Rich DePaolo, Wies van Leuken and Wayles Browne were elected by acclamation. 7) Adoption of Meeting Schedule for 2013: the 2nd Tuesday in the month at 4:30. Agenda items for next meeting: upcoming franchise agreement; how to broaden public visibility of PEG; also Brutvan suggests getting two kinds of cameras, some lightweight and some more 'serious'. 8) Member Reports: DePaolo and Browne, along with producer Theresa Alt, attended a meeting of TCCOG (Tompkins County Council of Governments) and made a 'pitch' for the importance of PEG access TV, in view of the upcoming cable TV franchise negotiations. TCCOG suggested we write to the municipalities that are members of it. DePaolo will circulate a draft letter before the next AOC meeting. 9) Next Meeting: Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013, 4:30 p.m. 10) Adjourned 6:05. Contact information for AOC members: J. R. Clairborne, Common Council liaison 2013- <gclairbo @cityofithaca.org> Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2 @cornell.edu> Rich DePaolo, chair <rd @richdepaolo.com> Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4 @comell.edu> Michael Brutvan <mbrutvan @me.com> Web site for the PEGASYS studio, with program schedules: http://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 phone (607) 272 -7272 fax (607) 277 -5404 PEGASYS staff. studio manager Lauren Stefanelli <lauren.stefanelli @twcable.com> To: AOC January 2013 Access Studio Coordinator Report - Educational and Governmental Access News A letter inviting educational and governmental institutions to requesting equipment funding will be sent out this month. [attached] - Access Capital The last of the equipment bought under the 2012 budget has been installed and brought into service. So far, the new version of Premiere has been able to read /edit all file types that producers have brought in. - Equipment Repair One of our standard camcorders [Sony PDX10] was sent out for service. The service center reported that it cannot be repaired, so our fleet has been reduced from 6 to 5. As we are planning to replace this fleet this year, this should not be a long -term problem. - PEGASYS Facility An air conditioning system was installed for our cablecasting playback room. This should resolve a problem we have had in recent years in which our playback system failed on very hot days when the overall building AC could not keep this room under 85 degrees. - PEGASYS User Fees As per the AOC resolution last year, user fees have been raised to $40 per 6 month period. Producers are being notified as they appear for their renewals. So far, no one has refused to renew because of this change. - PEGASYS Awards The 2013 PEGASYS Awards video competition is underway. I invite the AOC to supply one of its members to serve as a contest judge. The awards ceremony will take place on February 22, in a live cablecast on channel 13. C C C C C January(8,(2013C C C C Dear(EducationalGand( Governmental (Institution(Representative,C C PEGASYS, CtheCPublic, CEducationalCandOGovernmentalCAccessCrelevision (SystemCnfC Time CWarner( E able, OnvitesCyouCconsiderCusing( fheCeducationalCaccess (TVCchannel,C channelCL6, Cand( iheCgovernmentCaccessCchannelCL5 ,fforCprogrammingCrepresentingC yourCinstituti on. CTo Cass istCyouCinCthisCendeavor, Cwe Care Cable CtoCofferCtechni cal C assistance (andCequipment(funding.0 C Fo rCmore Cin formation Cabo utCthi s Copp o rtunity, Cpl ease Cco nta ctCm eCatCanyCofCthe C contacts Cli ste d Cb el ow. CTechni cal Cass i stance Cis Cavail able CatCanyctime. CE quip mentC fundingC�sCalsoCavailable .CEquipmentCisCplacedCon (long- term(loan(atcinstitutionsCon(aC contractC basis,C whichC requiresC theC equipmentC beC usedC toC produceC accessC programmingCorOjeCreturned. (Applications G orCmonies (toa) eCspent(In(2014(aref eingC acceptedCthrough(April(2013.0 C Cordially,C C C C C Lauren (Stefan elliC PEGASYS(CoordinatorC C Mail:C 519GiV. (State(St.0 Ithaca,(NY(f14850C C Email:C lauren.stefanelli @ twcable.comC C Telephone:C 607 - 272 -7272C 607 - 272- 7875Ci.(48784C C Studio (Eocation:C 612Q/V.(Green(St.0 Ithaca,(NYC