HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLECOMM-1989-06-13 Minutes of Cable Commission Meeting -June 13,1989
Present: Demo,Heegard,Herskowitz,Strati,Terrizg'
1. Call to order -7:30.
2. Approval of May minutes as amended.
3. ACC report-
Janice Strab reported on a telephone conversation with Leonore Glowacki, the act-
ing manager of ACC. She had discussion on: (a) the rebuild schedule, (b)ACC has 3
public access employees, (c) ACC has sent a policy statement on cable and equip-
ment ownership to it's customers in the city, (d) action on complaints to ACC.
Leonore Glowacki is the one to contact at ACC until a new manger is announced.
4. Public Comment -
(a) Mr. A. F. Marshall - read an article concerning the vertical building of the cable in-
dustry (e.g., the Time/Warner or Paramount merger). He asked for the support of
the city (cable commission/ common council) of current US Senate hearings on
cable de-regulations issues. Janice Strab will draft a letter to our NY Senators asking
for their positions on such issues.
(b) David Lytel -pointed out that there is some confusion on the part of the public as
to the length of the current franchise.'The length of the contract is 10 years (not 15
as ACC originally request). There was discussion of the possibility that the Cable
Commission draft a letter to the Ithaca Journal concerning such information and to
express our views on the relationship between ACC and the city.
5. Access Board report -
(a) Discussion of the staff hired by ACC for access support
(b) The new studio is operational, while there are some complaints about the facility,it
seems that at this time, there is overall satisfaction with the access facility
(c) Discussion of the format of the required quarterly reports from ACC.
6. Senior Citizens Discount -
(a) NYSEG abates finance charges for people on fixed incomes,but does not give a dis-
count on service charges.
(b) Will continue to look for ideas for senior citizen discounts that are acceptable to
ACC -Janice Strab.
7. Equipment Buy Options -
(a) Will ask ACC about the status of third party remote controls (e.g.,while they have
stated in their pamphlet that ACC will sell remote controls for$100,it is believed
that they pay approximately$7 for them, a 1300% profit seems unreasonable)
(b) Will ask ACC to clarify statements made in section 3, (5) of ownership pamphlet
8. Meeting Adjoined -8:55.
Submitted,
Chris Heegard