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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLECOMM-1990-09-18 • . ; , Minutes of Cable Commission Meeting , Present: Cable Commission -- Heegard, Hess, Terrizi, Public -- Barbara Lukens, Bill McCormick, Robert Fletcher, Greg Williams 1 . Call to order - 7:35. 2. Announcement -- Richard Herskowitz and William Demo have resigned from the Cable Commission (CC). 3. Tom Terrizi is elected chairman. 4. Approval of August 14, 1990 minutes. 5. Chair's report -- Letters: (a) Charles Hockett wrote about his concerns about the billing sys- tem of ACC, he was very critical. (b) Barbara Lukens to Anne Dalton (see attached) concerning the increase in installation charges from $20 to $40 starting September 1 . 6. Public Comment -- (a) Much discussion about the need for a 100% increase in installation charges. Barbara Lukens said the new charges were in line with the going rate in other areas. It was pointed out that the increase was in- stalled just before the students returned to Cornell and IC, thus the in- crease would bring an immediate large increase in revenues to ACC. Bill McCormick lectured the CC on how important it was to document such abuses and make them a matter of public record so that this in- formation would be available during the new renewal of the franchise. (b) Bill McCormick complained about a lack of space for the public ac- cess facility and he pointed out that, in particular, there is a severe def- icit of storage space. (c) Bill McCormick explained why he felt compelled to resign from the Access Advisory Board (AAB). He feels frustrated by the lack of impact of the AAB, the CC and the city when dealing with ACC. He find the structure of the boards too awkward to effectively deal with the cable company. He would like us to "throw more shit at the company". (d) Robert Fletcher discussed the loss of WVIA, channel 44, on the cable. History -- the last time ACC removed the channel, it did so to avoid paying for copyright fees. After the current remove, Bob reports, he received over 30 telephone complaints (even though he has been off the commission for over two years!).Bob suggested a few technical solutions, for example, he believes it is possible to receive WVIA from ACC antenna on Synder Hill Rd. He stated that he can receive the channel, over the air, at his own home (on a nearby hill). In his opinion, there is no technical reason why the channel cannot be returned to the cable. Although Barbara Lukens said at the August meeting that she would check out the technical feasibility of returning the channel to the system, she reported here that ACC had not pursued this at this time. She promised to check this issue before the next CC meeting. She says that John Herwin and/or Joe Powers of ACC will contact Bob about checking these technical matters. A letter from William Kelly, Executive VP of WVIA, addresses to the CC (see attached) was dis- cussed. In the letter he complained about an advertisement ran by ACC in the Ithaca Journal in which "ACC's ad characterizes WVIA as unimaginative and mediocre; in doing so they offend us and insult the intelligence of many ACC subscribers". He concludes the letter on a more positive note by offering technical assistance in hope of returning channel 44 to the Ithaca cable system. 7. ACC report (see attached) -- (a) Barbara Lukens: (re: installation charges) said that she would find out how much ACC was paying their contractor to help them install ca- bles during the Fall school rush (-800 connections last week). (b) Discussion of meeting concerning the planned government channel which should be available by the end of the year. Invited to the meet- ing: city, IC, BOCES, library. 8. AAB report(see attached minutes) -- Peter Hess noted a discussion of the costs of new Hubs for the access channels. 9. Old Business -- (a) Political Endorsements policy: Richard Herskowitz was to study this, Tom Terrizi will take over. (b) Issues concerning the I-net will be taken by Peter Hess. 10. New Business -- Motion: The chair is authorized to obtain copies for the current bill be- fore congress concerning regulation. If the bills substantially agrees with the CC understanding the the legislation, then the chair shall send and endorsement of the bill to the congress from the CC. 11 . Meeting Adjoined - 9:47. Submitted, Chris Heegard AIIA /A _ August 27, 1990 I r I 1 WVIA N City of Ithaca Cable Commission 108 Green Street THE PUBLIC BROADCASTING CENTER Ithaca, KY 14850 WVIA TV/44 WVIA FM/90 PITTSTON, PA. 18640 TELEPHONE: 717-826-6144 To the members of the Commission, 717-344-1244 Despite WVIA's most sincere efforts to keep the dialogue over our removal from ACC in Ithaca between our supporting members and the cable company, and despite several conversations with their Manager and Marketing Director to provide information and assure our good intentions, ACC has reacted to community pressure by placing a large and misleading advertisement with which we must take exception. The advertisement contains boxes of program listings by days of the week to show how WVIA programs are easily available on other PBS stations carried by the cable system. Ithaca viewers familiar with Channel 44 will see that ACC deliberately selected only programs which are duplicated, in several cases by stations which, unlike WVIA, liberally edit and frequently interrupt for commercials. Less obvious, however, is the missing forty-five hours of programming which continue to differentiate and distinguish WVIA on distant cable systems carrying as many as four PBS Stations. Where in this ad are Jacques Cousteau, Lucille Ball, the World at War, Dick Van Dyke, The Waltons, Ben Casey, All in the Family, the original, unedited Star Trek series, eleven weekly commercial-free movies, and dozens of other popular programs on music, weather, cooking and health? Perhaps unintentionally, ACC's ad characterizes WVIA as unimaginative and mediocre; in doing so they offend us and insult the intelligence of many ACC subscribers who care very deeply that the issue receive a fair and truthful hearing. WVIA is available to the Commission and ACC to help in any ray to provide technical assistance or other information which might restore a unique service to the people of Ithaca. Res ectfully, )k) A. Willia Kelly Executive Vice-Predident cc/ Ms. Barbara Lukens, General Manager, ACC The Ithaca Journal The Ithaca Tiwea . . . ACC Report to the Ithaca Cable Commission Sept . 18, 1590 * ACC along with representatives from The Discovery Channel , CNN Newsroom and Bravo met with educators representing 8 local schools to discuss the use of cable television in the classroom. The meeting was highly successful . (See attached letter from Boynton Middle School . ) * During student return, future customers had to wait no longer than 1 week for an installation. This is exceptional service. * A power outage last Friday caused us to lose service for about 1 hour . Our emergency generator , which tested fine on Thursday, did not come on immediately. The cause is being investigated. . . • :' /, � � • { I AAB Meeting September 10 , 1990 Present: Mary Jo Dudley, Chair ; Frances McKenzie, Eloise Greene , Bill McCormick, John Efroymson ; Ex-officio : Peter Hess and Lauren S tefanelll MJD: Chair proposed several agenda items , including some old business and a letter from GM Lukens . Finish up equipment list questions , and then lay out basic agendas for next several mtgs . August minutes approved unanimously. MJD: From NFLCP conference material, handed out duplicates of Benton Foundation Rpt. on organizational use of access across the US. And reported advisory from NFLCP on current congressional bills . Proposed Board resolution supporting : 1) guarantee PEG as basic service 2) adequate PEG funding 3) content neutrality and freedom from legal liability. EG : Seconded. Resolution passed: 5-0. FMc: Volunteered to draft a letter to senators and representatives for Board members ' signatures. BMc: AAB should urge Cable Commission and ACC to support bills. Liability protection also in company's interest. FMc: Will include in the letter. FMc, MJD & EG: Commented on ACC survey in billing. Access-related questions seen as misleading and subject to misinterpretation, with results open to misuse. JE: Meeting minutes should strongly note Board's concerns about survey. LS : ACC saw these survey questions as responsive to Cable Commission inquiries about additional channels. MJD & PH: Board should send letter to GM re : survey concerns. JE: Should react before results come in. MJD: Should invite GM to next AAB meeting. yMc : GM meeting with Board could be less contentious. EG : Meeting with GM should cover a range of issues . MJD: Read 8/30/90 letter from GM (attached ) : complimenting Board involvement, closing off possibility of studio expansion and refusing operating budget details. General discussion followed on possible topics for October mtg. with GM: 1 ) equipment purchase list 2 ) billing survey 3) future channel expansion and necessary facilities . PH : Reported on Cable Commission 8/ 14 meeting (attached) : no progress on NYS Cable Commission inquiries on additional channels and political endorsements ; CC interest in more details on capital purchases ; discussion of I-NET and promotion of I-NET use ; GM Lukens nixed any studio expansion ; CC Chair Demo and R. Herskowitz resignations seen as interruption until replacements named. EG & FMc : Expressed interest in I-NET. LS : Explained I-NET as an 8-track, possible 2-way system among more than a dozen local institutions . EG: As head of ICB-TV, not aware of I-NET . Noted that institu- tions need more information on this , for instance usefulness for data transmission. MJD: Should incltide in agenda for discussion with GM for October, and ask for copy of ACC communications to potential I-NET users. BMc : Made proposal for conference /workshop for institutions on use of I-NET. FMc: I-NET and other technologies could be of great use , , but outreach and education about them needed by public and local organizations . LS : Submitted ACC report. In general, ACC and AAB in agreement over priorities for equipment spending. Because of proximity of new year, possibility that 2 years' spending could be combined to meet priorities . GM Lukens has instructed Chief Engineer Joe Powers to have specifics on routing switchers for additional channels by late October. BMc: Question as to whether hub costs would be taken out of 2% capital fund? LS: Yes . This issue was part of discussion at last Cable Commissison meeting. GM Lukens believes that hub-related costs are legitimate access capital expenditures . BMc : That sounds like the GM didn't think the Cable Commission had seriously challenged that ACC position. PH: He and Tom Terrizzi (Cable Commissioner ) will meet with City Attorney on hub cost issue and other franchise-related questions . MJD: Asked PH to get information/advice from NYS Cable Commission JE: Can State clarify whether labor costs are part of the 2%? .3 LS [continuing ACC rpt. ] : Access staff exploring access use and equipment by schools in Cortland and Cook Cablevision (Syr) . There are now 2 access interns from TC3 : BOCES is cablecasating an AP Biology course from the studio Mondays-Thursdays. JE : There is of course a question of whether there are adequate facilities for programs like the BOCES one . FMc : It is good that the facilities are used. BMc: What if the Ithaca school district wanted to use the same studio hours as BOCES? Franchise and facilities were negotiated by the City for the City's franchise . BOCES is in Lansing. The needs of institutions outside of the City of Ithaca are rightly the question for those Town and Village franchises. MJD & JE: Outstanding issues like this and others , for instance staff compensation to insure retention should also be discussed with the GM. MJD: Began discussion of agenda schedule for next 6 months. October meeting set aside for GM. November for equipment purchase specifics . PH: Suggested that all money on equipment be spent on priorities 2-6, thereby forcing ACC to assume Priority 1 , i. e. , additional channel costs . JE: Proposed such a resolution. BMc : For lack of any other, seconded the resolution ; though made it clear he would vote against it. Vote : . For : 1 [ JE] ; Against: 1 [BMc ] ; Abstain: 3 BMc : Made known his intention to resign from the AAB, because the structure of the Board is ineffective and the City, the Cable Commission and the City government generally has been unwilling to pursue any assertive access policy in the public interest. Next meeting scheduled for October 1 , 1990 ; 7pm at the TCPL. Meeting ended at 9:05pm. 4 Report to CAAB on Cable Commission Meeting of August 14 Pete will call Steve Shay at NYSCC to get information about access channel requirements. Richard will follow up to get written confirmation of NYSCC position on political endorsements. Barbara say she regrets that she did not reply to Mary Jo's June 15th letter,that it was an oversight. There was discussion of the need of the CAAB to have more information about capital purchases for access that is provided by Lauren's quarterly report. Barbara said that it should be possible to provide an itemized list The list can include prices except when items are bought on contracts where,for competitive reasons,ACC or the vendor do not wish them to be public information. The I-net is up. Participating institutions have been notified. So far only the fire dept. and BOCES have responded. ACC is using the I-Net drop at the courthouse for the Kinge trial coverage. Several suggestions were made to increase use of the I-Net -a conference -a board of directors -an I-net coordinator ACC has hired a part time staff member,Tammy Sackett, to work with schools to increase their use of cable programming. The Four Seasons lease was discussed. Barbara confirmed that,with guaranteed renewals,it runs to 1993. Richard recalled Mike saying that ACC's long term plan was to increase the size of the access studio. Additional developments Bill Demo and Richard Herskowitz have resigned from the commission. There will be no meeting of the commission tomorrow,and may be no further business meetings until a new appointment is made. ✓ i - A r :.,;... __ ti e , „., .„„„ ,„.„ t ...„;,...:;.0 _ .AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION August 30, 1990 Mary Jo Dudley Access Advisory Board 31.2 First St. Ithaca, NY 14850 Dear Mary Jo: My apologies for taking so long to answer your letter. Since so much has happened since I received your letter, I will simply say that I have seen the prioritized list for equipment, and Lauren and I have discussed it. She will be reporting back to the CAAB at the next meeting. It' s great to have the CAAB• creatively involved in generating a list of desired equipment because it makes our jobs somewhat easier. At least we can see if priorities are at all aligned and attempt to serve the greatest need. I see no reason why we should not continue to have such input in the future . As regards expansion possibilities for the future, I can say only that ACC ' s lease with Four Seasons will not expire until June 30, •1993. While I don' t know that it is necessarily true , I am presuming that a fairly large amount of remodeling would be required to convert the space occupied by Four Seasons to a space which would be useful for access . I cannot promise that I would • be able to obtain funding for such a project. We will keep the • lines of communication between the CAAB and ACC more open than they were in the past, though. I cannot provide detailed information on our operating budget; however, if the advisory board feels that ACC ' s access operation or any function of access is not being performed adequately, we would certainly want to know that. Again, I 'm sorry I dropped the ball on staying in touch, but let' s keep talking. 1 Si cerely, ✓C Barbara L. Lukens General Manager cc: Lauren Stefanelli Peter Hess . • 519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456 . L i AAB Meeting September 10 , 1990 Present: Mary Jo Dudley, Chair ; Frances McKenzie , Eloise Greene , Bill McCormick, John Efroymson ; Ex-officio : Peter Hess and Lauren Stefanellj MJD: Chair proposed several agenda items , including some old business and a letter from GM Lukens . Finish up equipment list questions , and then lay out basic agendas for next several mtgs. August minutes approved unanimously. MJD: From NFLCP conference material, handed out duplicates of Benton Foundation Rpt. on organizational use of access across the US. And reported advisory from NFLCP on current congressional bills . Proposed Board resolution supporting : 1) guarantee PEG as basic service 2) adequate PEG funding 3) content neutrality and freedom from legal liability. EG : Seconded. Resolution passed: 5-0. FMc : Volunteered to draft a letter to senators and representatives for Board members' signatures. BMc : AAB should urge Cable Commission and ACC to support bills . Liability protection also in company's .interest. FMc: Will include in the letter. FMc, MJD & EG : Commented on ACC survey in billing. Access-related questions seen as misleading and subject to misinterpretation, with results open to misuse. JE: Meeting minutes should strongly note Board's concerns about survey. LS : ACC saw these survey questions as responsive to Cable Commission inquiries about additional channels. MJD & PH: Board should send letter to GM re : survey concerns. JE: Should react before results come in. MJD: Should invite GM to next AAB meeting. yMc : GM meeting with Board could be less contentious . EG : Meeting with GM should cover a range of issues . MJD: Read 8/30/90 letter from GM (attached) : complimenting Board involvement, closing off possibility of studio expansion and refusing operating budget details. .General discussion followed on possible topics for October mtg. with GM : 1 ) equipment purchase list 2) billing survey 3) future channel expansion and necessary facilities . PH : Reported on Cable Commission 8/ 14 meeting (attached) : no progress on NYS Cable Commission inquiries on additional channels and political endorsements ; CC interest in more details on capital purchases ; discussion of I-NET -and promotion of I-NET use ; GM Lukens nixed any studio expansion ; CC Chair Demo and R. Herskowitz resignations seen as interruption until replacements named. EG & FMc : Expressed interest in I-NET. LS : Explained I-NET as an 8-track, possible 2-way system among more than a dozen local institutions . EG: As head of ICB-TV, not aware of I-NET. Noted that institu- tions need more information on this , for instance usefulness for data transmission. MJD: Should include in agenda for discussion with GM for October, and ask for copy of ACC communications to potential I-NET users. BMc: Made proposal for conference/workshop for institutions on use of I-NET. FMc: I-NET and other technologies could be of great, use , but outreach and education about them needed by public and local organizations . LS : Submitted ACC report. In general , ACC and AAB in agreement over priorities for equipment spending. Because of proximity of new year, possibility that 2 years' spending could be combined to meet priorities. GM Lukens has instructed Chief Engineer Joe Powers to have specifics on routing switchers for additional channels by late October. BMc: Question as to whether hub costs would be taken out of 2% capital fund? LS: Yes . This issue was part of discussion at last Cable Commissison meeting. GM Lukens believes that hub-related costs are legitimate access capital expenditures . BMc : That sounds like the GM didn't think the Cable Commission had seriously challenged that ACC position. PH: He and Tom Terrizzi (Cable Commissioner ) will meet with City Attorney on hub cost issue and other franchise-related questions. MJD: Asked PH to get information/advice from NYS Cable Commission JE: Can State clarify whether labor costs are part of the 2%? 3 LS [continuing ACC rpt. ] : Access staff exploring access use and equipment by schools in Cortland and Cook Cablevision (Syr ) . There are now 2 access interns from TC3 : BOCES is cablecasating an AP Biology course from the studio Mondays-Thursdays. JE : There is of course a question of whether there are adequate facilities for programs like the BOCES one . FMc : It is good that the facilities are used. BMc: What if the Ithaca school district wanted to use the same studio hours as BOCES? Franchise and facilities were negotiated by the City for the City's franchise. BOCES is in Lansing. The needs of institutions outside of the City of Ithaca are rightly the question for those Town and Village franchises. MJD & JE: Outstanding issues like this and others , for instance staff compensation to insure retention should also be discussed with the GM. MJD: Began discussion of agenda schedule for next 6 months. October meeting set aside for GM. November for equipment purchase specifics . PH: Suggested that all money on equipment be spent on priorities 2-6, thereby forcing ACC to assume Priority 1 , i. e. , additional channel costs . JE: Proposed such a resolution. BMc : For lack of any other, seconded the resolution ; though made it clear he would vote against it. Vote : For : 1 [ JE] ; Against: 1 [BMc ] ; Abstain : 3 BMc : Made known his intention to resign from the AAB , because the structure of the Board is ineffective and the City, the Cable Commission and the City government generally has been unwilling to pursue any assertive access policy in the public interest. Next meeting scheduled for October 1 , 1990 ; 7pm at the TCPL. Meeting ended at 9 :05pm.