HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLECOMM-1990-01-09 Minutes of the Ithaca Cable Commission Meeting
January 9th, 1989 - 4 ,r c
•
Present: Bill Demo(Acting Chairperson),Richard Herskowitz,Peter Hess.
1.The meeting was called to order at 7:35 PM.
2. The minutes of October's and December's meetings were approved.
3. Chairperson's report:
Correspondence. Mr.Demo read a letter from Barbara Lukens regarding ACC access
policies.
4.Public comment: none.
5.ACC January report was presented by Barbara Lukens. An copy of the report is
attached.
Item 7. in the ACC report refers to concerns of the Access Coordinator and her staff about
the intimidating behavior of one of the users of the access facility. Ms. Lukens wanted to
advise the Commission of this problem and of the steps she has taken to deal with it.
In addition to the items listed in Ms.Lukens report, she announced that subscriber fees
would be raised as of March 1. Basic service will be$12.10 per month and the surcharge
for upper tier service will go up to$7.00 per month.
The increase put rates at the ceiling allowed by the franchise agreement. Mr.Demo pointed
out that this was a 12% increase,high relative to the inflation rate,and asked if Ms. Lukens
expected that ACC would always raise rates to the permissible ceiling. Ms.Lukens
answered that that was probable. She said that programming costs were escalating rapidly.
She stated that for the most recent fiscal year, ACC's profits were less than 5% on
invested capital.
Mr. Herskowitz noted that the last increase was last March,when upper tier service went
from $14.00 to $17.00.
6.Access Advisory Board
The producers of"Take One",a regularly scheduled access program,have moved outside
ACC's service area. The Franchise Agreement requires that access producers be residents
of the coverage area. The AAB passed a resolution endorsing an exception to this
requirement,only in the case of"Take One", because the producers met the residency
requirement when the program began.
The AAB noted that there is a beginning to be a problem with availability of time at the
access facilities and proposed that when interviewing for a new staff position,
consideration be given to the applicants willingness to work on Sunday, so that the
facilities could be open Sundays.
Marilyn Rivchin resigned from the AAB,citing lack of time as the primary consideration in
her decision.
The Commission discussed a proposal by Mr.Herskowitz to reconstitute the AAB,
appointing members to fixed rather than open-ended terms,and passed the following
resolution unanimously:
The Cable Commission resolves that the Access Advisory Board be
reconstituted.Nine new members are to be appointed at our February
meeting,five for two year terms and four for one year terms. In
subsequent years appointments will be fixed at two years.
A subcommittee of Mr.Hess and Mr Herskowitz was appointed to review applications
prior to the next meeting.
7. Old business.
Senior Citizens'discount. The City Assessor's office could certify eligibility base on
income. Mr.Demo will investigate.
Political endorsements. Additional follow-up is still required with the State Cable
Commission. ACC will pursue this. Ms. Lukens stated that ACC has no problems with
allowing political endorsements on access but does not want fund-raising appeals.
8. New business
Meeting schedule. For the next three meetings(February,March,and April)we will meet
on the second Monday of the month at 7:30 PM. The next meeting will be February 12th.
Op-ed article. Mr.Demo passed out to the Commission,for review,a draft of an article by
Mr.Terrizzi describing the role of the Commission and inviting public comment on matters
related to cable service and policy.
Appointment of Chair- and Vice Chairpersons. Mr.Demo was appointed chair. and Mr.
Herskowitz vice-chair.of the Cable Commission for the coming year. The appointments
were unanimous.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 PM.
Minutes submitted by Peter Hess.
[
' . .
. Syndex we, o /�0 A�C is c�rren �� l blac!.: out
a�out 5 progran�s on VP� X ^ ` N� ha` � u c� �r�ct�r �c'�crzted ' .y� �a�r
on e:Flaioiny L��e b T:�e
12/29. We aro t (.7.,nplai1. c
2 . UVC p:rch rJ
he deliv'y'ing OV� ins��e�J of CVN.
• );. "Ji 1 ,1 h* i r,�
re.�ults wi ��h t|`' coomiscjon u'on . �un t c|.
!,• [,u i �� ./'` `^|.� . | / •'�''.. ' ` / ' ''`o ■ ` !`. /`-, " '
. �'o 1,Ji1l |� p��/ '�d jI` draf �
forCI).
arr losiny a'` /cces� *ta • < /xo"i`zr a+ the '�/ 'l .` � .(o...'.o-y.
The position is being posLcd .
6. Access hours were 7:31ightly to provide more
hours (1pn -11pm) .
7. ACC has an access issue which requires '' ifl con� i�s��ce"
discussion .
S. ACC is purchasing an ()udjo Rcs�onsz L/ni � tc imlp h�ndlo
cusLomer calls and PP'/.
A
10. PPV on an on�o` og �usis.