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Home My WebLink AboutMN-CABLE-1990-07-02 COMMUNITY ACCESS ADVISORY BOARD (CAAB) Minutes of July 2, 1990 Meeting held at the Tompkins County Public Library Submitted by Louis Mezgar Present : Eloise Greene, Peter Hess, Bill McCormick, Frances McKenzie, Louis Mezgar In the absence of Mary Jo Dudley, Frances McKenzie opened the meeting at 7:06 pm. Ms. Green moved, Mr. McCormick seconded the approval of the minutes for the June 4, 1990 meeting. Approved unanimously. Mr. Hess reported that there was no Cable Commission meeting due to lack of quorum. Ms. Stefanelli of ACC reported on the 2 largest projects during June ; the Ithaca Festival resulting in 24 hrs of coverage and the ACE Awards . Ms. McKenzie referred to the letter from Barbara L. Lukens, General Manager of ACC , addressed to Mary Jo Dudley and requested its distribution to the members of this Committee. Ms. Greene reported from the subcommittee regarding the logistics for the additional access channels. Mr. McCormick, the other member of the subcommittee, stated that decision on this subject must be made now keeping in mind that head-end costs are different from playback (equipment) costs. He stated that ACC assumed head-end costs in the past. A long discussion followed during which Mr. McCormick insisted that 9 channels will provide more choice. Mr. Mezgar offered the following resolution, seconded by Ms. Greene: ACC to activate 3 (three ) additional access channels by January 2, 1991 as follows - 1 for public access , 1 for education, 1 for government access. Furthermore, ACC to activate additional 3 access channels by January 2, 1992 and 2 additional access channels by January 4, 1993 . During the ensuing discussion, Mr. McCormick insisted on implementing the May 14th resolution toward the immediate installation of 9 public access channels and offered an amendment to the above resolution upon which Mr. Mezgar withdrew the resolution. Mr. McCormick offered another resolution toward the implementation of 9 access channels based on the May 14th resolution, but with staggered implementation for playback during the next 3 years. As nobody seconded, this resolution failed. Ms. McKenzie ordered a 5 minutes' recess to enable Mr. McCormick or other parties to propose a new resolution. Community Access Advisory Board Minutes of July 2, 1990 Meeting Page 2 t'` ` ' Following the recess, Mr. McCormick moved, and Ms. McKenzie seconded, the following resolution: In accordance with the May resolution of the CAAB, that ACC immediately install head-end capability for the 9 downstream channels called for in the Franchise. We recommend that planning, equipment purchase and installation proceed so that 3 additional channels begin cablecasting by January 2, 1991, 3 more by January 2, 1992 and 2 more by January 4, 1993 . Resolution passed unanimously. Mr. McCormick stated that $41 ,000 is available for new equipment purchases . Ms. Stefanelli stated that ACC needs to know the functions the equipment will be used for to be able to submit a proposal prior to the August 6th meeting. Those present stated their ideas about the equipment purchases as follows : Ms. Greene $15,000 for a 2 ch portable microwave link for more live cablecasts. Mr. McCormick: 1st priority - Playback to be improved especially for audio and also for video color correction. 2nd priority - live production capability from different locations using the upstream capabilities and adding modulators, portable switches for 2 cameras. 3rd priority - playback channel for computer generated images and information. 4th priority - Simple %" S-VHS editing capability (S-VHS to S-VHS) . Also (5th priority?) add simple VHS recording equipment for producers and public to record programming at the public access facility. Mr. Mezgar expressed concern about the location of the education channel ' s playback equipment and related staff expenditures. Mr. McCormick expressed his disappointment with the Cable Commission not acting on various problems and proposals. Mr. Hess, on behalf of the .Cable Commission, stated excessive demands by CAAB or its members contributed to the delays. Ms. McKenzie adjourned the meeting at 9:00 pm. Next scheduled meeting, August 6th at 7 pm in the Tompkins County Public Library. Attachments sent with these minutes: Letter from Barbara L. Lukens to Mary Jo Dudley Memo from Eloise Greene to CAAB on government access programming Subm'tted by 6-bg Mezgar 6/28/90 to: Access Advisory Board and City Cable Commission fr: Eloise Greene re: government access channel programming NYSCAN, operated through N. Y. S. Commission on Cable Television, provides twelve hours daily of State legislative and governmental programming, with about 4-5 hours of new product daily. However, there is no means of distributing the product statewide. Transponder time has not been funded, and there is no expectation that a funding bill will pass the state senate. The bill requests a two year funding window to operate over satellite (costing about $ one million annually) while finding other sources of revenue to continue. Presently, NYSCAN' s programming can be viewed over only a couple Albany-area cable systems via a small microwave linkup. The goal of NYSCAN was to provide service statewide. John Figliozzi , Managing Director, would appreciate letters of support from cable commissions to use with legislators. His address is: New York State Commission on Cable Television Empire State Plaza Corning Tower 21st floor Albany, NY 1222= - From September to May NYNET provides over satellite two hours weekly of material condensed from the NYSCAN programming. This is free and available to community access and schools. Locally, twenty evenings each month could be programmed by cablecasting on tape delay the following regularly scheduled meetings: Ithaca City Council (meets first Weds. ) Planning Board (fourth Tues. ) Town of Ithaca Board (first Mon. after the first Tues. ) Planning Board (first and third Tues. ) Ithaca School Board (meets twice a month) Danby Town Board (second Monday) Planning Board (third Weds. ) Newfield Town Board (second Weds. ) Planning Board (second Thur. ) Lansing Town Board (third Weds. ) Planning Board (second Mon. ) Dryden Town Board (second Tues. ) Planning Board (second Thur. ) T (I Trumansburg Village Board (second Mon. ) • Planning Board (third Thurs. ) Ulysses Town Board (second Tues. ) Groton Town Board .(second Mon. ) Planning Board (third Thur. ) Tompkins County Board of Representatives (first and third Tues. at 5130) • ' . , ,, , ,,.. . ,,„ , . .,,. ....:, j - it :� f% „ , ,,, . , , , M,AERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION June 15, 1990 Mary Jo Dudley, Chair Community Access Advisory Board 312 First St. Ithaca, NY 14850 Dear. Mary Jo: In response to the Access Advisory Board' s request for information regarding the expenditure of 2% of revenues received from City of Ithaca subscribers, I must tell you that ACC and the City of Ithaca were operating under Temporary Operating Authority (TOA) granted by the New York State Commission on Cable Television. Under . a TOA, a company continues operating on the basis of the (then) existing franchise agreement. The new franchise agreement was approved fully in February of 1989, thus 1989 was the first year of operation under the agreement which contains the 2% clause . The full 10 years of the franchise will expire in February of 1999 at which time ACC will have had 10 years of supporting Community Access Studio at the 2% rate for the full 10 years of the agreement. • I hope this explanation helps the AAB understand our position, which is in compliance with the franchise . Sincerely, :. ,.4 R' off^ Barbara L. Lukens General Manager BLL/fw . cc: William Demo, Chair Ithaca Cable Commission Lauren Stefanelli, . ACC 519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456