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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-AOC-2022-02-01 1 MINUTES Access Oversight Committee (AOC). As approved March 1, 2022. Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 5 PM The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM conferencing. Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken, City of Ithaca Common Council liaison Jorge DeFendini; Access Studio Coordinator Lauren Stefanelli; members of the public Tony Ingraham, Patrick Pinney, (for part of the meeting) Will Metro. 01. Call to Order 5:03 by DePaolo. AOC welcomes the new liaison from Common Council, Jorge DeFendini. 02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions. None. 03. Public Comments. Pinney: I continue to work with Jim Blizzard to try to use the Twitch streaming platform in order to get Channel 13 on the Internet. 04. Comments by AOC members. Van Leuken asks if it is true that Charter/Spectrum cannot send outgoing postal mail from PEGASYS’ State Street/Green Street address. Stefanelli confirms that it is true, but she can receive mail there. She can do most of her outreach by e-mail, but not all recipients have a computer. The AOC proposes that Stefanelli use petty cash to buy stamps on such occasions. 05. Approval of Minutes of the December 7, 2021 Meeting. Moved by Van Leuken, seconded by DePaolo. Adopted 3-0-1 as distributed. 06. Access Studio Coordinator Report. Two reports were submitted by Stefanelli: on January 5 and January 31 (both attached). DePaolo: the reports do not tell us what is happening in the studio. He asked about the problems with mic and audio cable from last time; Stefanelli: the producer was unable to come and demonstrate the problem due to illness. W. Browne: would appreciate reports in Microsoft Word format rather than .pdf so as to fit into the Minutes better. Van Leuken asks if City meetings are being cablecast on Channel 15. Stefanelli: no. They are held via Zoom and streamed on YouTube. I am no longer allowed to download from YouTube and the City Clerk hasn't given me access to the Zoom recording files. Jim Blizzard has suggested that, during Zoom meetings, the Clerk should link her laptop to the screen projector allowing for direct playback on Channel 15. He will discuss this with the City Clerk. DePaolo: Zoom provides a link to its recording. He proposes that since Stefanelli is being paid to cablecast City meetings (Franchise Agreement 15.10), she could be in Council Chambers, connect her laptop to the Zoom recording and cablecast on Channel 15. DePaolo will follow up. Browne: the City appears to be less interested in cablecasting its meetings on 2 Channel 15, but I am. And I am not alone in this. Van Leuken asks about the 2021 Equipment Purchase Report listed in the January 5 report. Stefanelli confirms that no equipment was purchased in 2021. a. Charter’s Report on collected Subscriber Fees thru 2021 Under the Franchise, these fees ($0.15/mo/subscriber) are to be used for buying equipment for the studio. This report was submitted along with the Studio Coordinator Report, with the heading "Ithaca Total Construction Fund Balance" (along with the Balance report, copies of purchase orders were submitted corroborating the 2019 and 2020 purchases listed – attached). It shows that $57,791.40 is available for future equipment purchases. Van Leuken: This report shows a different balance than expected based on previous years’ reports from both Charter and the municipalities. I have asked Lauren Kelly several times for source documentation for Charter’s numbers, but none have been provided. DePaolo: If Charter's numbers differ from those on the worksheets we got from the municipalities, we should see Charter's numbers as valid for our budgeting. 07. Member Reports. a. Election of Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Secretary. Browne nominates DePaolo for Chair, van Leuken for Vice Chair, and Browne for Secretary. There are no other nominations. This slate is elected 4-0. b. Adoption of Meeting Time. Members agree on meeting on the first Tuesday of the month at 5 pm. c. Review of educational institutions’ equipment needs and uses. Stefanelli: In past years the studio has written to schools and other institutions every February inviting requests for equipment to be used in making video programs, but there have been no requests received for several years. The Ithaca High School has its own video resources, and other institutions have used cell phones or other equipment they may have. DePaolo suggests dropping this item from the agenda. Van Leuken will check if it is a requirement of the Franchise Agreement. d. Terms of AOC Members. DePaolo: has been reappointed. Van Leuken's term expired in Dec. 2021; the Village of Cayuga Heights is preparing a request for Common Council to reappoint her, but this is a process. Meanwhile she can serve until replaced. e. AOC Vacancy. Stefanelli has spoken to one possible interested person. Meanwhile the City's webpage (https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-Oversight-Committee) needs updating: it misspells DeFendini's last name, and still lists Stefanelli as working for Time Warner Cable. DeFendini will follow-up. f. Communications with City Attorney's office. DePaolo has been in touch with him. By the end of this week DePaolo will draft a non-compliance letter specifying our issues with Charter, and submit it first to AOC and then to the Attorney's office. g. PEGASYS' operations - Resolution. Van Leuken: I am proposing updates to the PEGASYS Manual. “Daily” was omitted from the list of how often a Series may be scheduled and the studio’s Covid rules need to be adapted. We now understand better how Covid is transmitted, vacating 3 the need for the 24 hour equipment quarantine and we can drop the “by appointment only” for studio use and replace it with “call before you enter”. This will codify present practice, such as providing for daily programming which now exists. DePaolo moves and Browne seconds a resolution to amend the first paragraph of Section V.1-d and to amend Section IX of the PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual. WHEREAS, the current Policies and Procedures Manual ("Manual") for the PEGASYS Community Media Center ("PEGASYS") was approved by the Access Oversight Committee ("AOC") on November 2, 2021; and WHEREAS, the AOC wishes to amend certain sections of the Manual; now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the AOC approves amending sections V.1-d (first two sentences) and IX of the Manual, as described below. V.1 Cablecast Requests d. Series programs are multiple programs with the same title. A Series may be live or pre-recorded, locally produced or syndicated and may be scheduled daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. IX. ADDITIONAL POLICIES & PROCEDURES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC This section describes the additional rules and procedures in effect during the COVID-19 Pandemic. They will temporarily amend the rules and regulations of Sections I – VIII of this Manual, in particular, the rules for studio use, equipment check-out and hours of operation. PEGASYS will operate in accordance with the rules and guidelines for "Media Production," enumerated by New York State, as part of its "Reopening New York" initiative. PEGASYS operation may also be subject to directives and guidelines of New York State and the Tompkins County Health Department. In addition to the guidelines enumerated by New York State, PEGASYS users will be subject to the following rules: 1. Equipment check out and media drop-off. To facilitate equipment check-out and media drop offs, the PEGASYS entryway vestibule will be used as a social distancing-safe "airlock." Requests for equipment must be made by phone or Email. To be admitted to the vestibule for pick-ups or drop-offs, call Staff at 607-272-7272. The number is also listed on the Notice Board next to the main entrance. 4 2. Hours of Operation and PEGASYS Building Rules Hours of operation will remain the same as specified in Section III.1, except that PEGASYS will only be open for those activities allowed under the rules described in this section. a. PEGASYS Staff is available by Email, phone or Zoom. b. Staff will notify producers by Email of all changes as soon as they become known and copy the members of the AOC on such communications. A summary of current rules and guidelines will also be posted on the Studio’s Notice Board next to the main entrance door. c. Concerns should be brought to the AOC when they cannot be resolved by Staff. 3. COVID-19 Guidelines for users of the PEGASYS facilities a. The doors of the studio remain locked during the hours of operation. To be admitted to the studio, call Staff. The number is also listed on the Notice Board next to the main entrance. b. Only essential individuals for PEG production will be allowed to enter the production facility. Any non-essential individuals including visitors (e.g., friends, family, guests) are prohibited from entering the production facility. c. All individuals accessing the PEGASYS facility MUST wear acceptable face coverings and maintain social distancing, where practicable, at all times during hours of operation. d. All Access Users, crew and cast/talent must be signed in via the Sign-In Sheet. e. All Access Users, crew and cast/talent will ONLY be permitted in applicable designated areas (i.e. edit, control room, studio, etc.). f. A COVID-19 Health Questionnaire will need to be completed and submitted on the day of the scheduled session by all cast and crew/talent. The producer will be responsible for making everyone anticipated to be in attendance aware of the questionnaire that MUST be completed and submitted to PEGASYS staff. All are required to comply. This policy is subject to change with the introduction of additional public health guidelines from local, state and federal authorities. The resolution passes 4-0. DePaolo will forward the Resolution to Charter, as well as to Stefanelli and AOC. Van Leuken to Stefanelli: I understand that you reviewed the manual. Do you have any comments? Stefanelli: directions for the file upload system have been changed; I will send you the new handout to include it in the latest version of the manual. The AOC deemed that this change did not require a resolution. Van Leuken will distribute the updated Manual to all, including producers. h. Publicity and Outreach. Van Leuken is working on revitalizing the Publicity and Outreach Committee. 5 i. Website. DePaolo: we can create our own site; we have to think of who would maintain it and how to finance it. I will draw up some options and bring them to the next meeting. Stefanelli: the current website used to have the feature of embedding hyperlinks (so we could post links from producers' series), but the feature stopped working when our computers were updated to Windows 10. DePaolo: If we can get the Twitch streaming to work, it could be reached from a site of the AOC. For ca. $100/year we could find some web template and add content to it. Could we take it out of the PEG fees? Seemingly not on an ongoing basis. I'll ask the City Attorney. We could have disclaimers to let Charter off the hook for any problematic content. 08. Old Business. a. Franchise Agreement negotiations. No new developments, b. Franchise agreement non-compliance letter. A draft is coming, see 07f. c. Inclusion of PEG Channels on Spectrum app. Will be in non-compliance letter. d. I-Net "end equipment" maintenance cost shift. Will be in non-compliance letter. e. Charter's disclaimer. Will be in non-compliance letter. f. Bulletin Board, TBA and Archive Programs. Will be in non-compliance letter. Items 8 c, d, e, and f can be dropped from the agenda. 09. New Business. Van Leuken: asked Stefanelli if, for the next meeting, she could prepare her annual report from Facil on equipment use and with a program analysis for 2020 and 2021. Stefanelli: I will do so. 10. Next meeting. Tuesday, March 1, 2022, 5 pm. 11. Adjournment 6:20. ================ Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207. Contact information for AOC members: City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>. City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2022- Jorge (George) DeFendini <gdefendini@cityofithaca.org> City of Ithaca: (vacancy) Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <rd@richdepaolo.com>, <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>. Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>. Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules: https://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@charter.com 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 COMMUNICATIONS Lauren Stefanelli PEG Coordinator Access Oversight Committee Meeting, Ithaca, NY Coordinator Report 2/1/2022 Equipment Maintenance/Repair Issues:  No issues this month. Equipment Recommendations:
  Vendor recommendations for replacement options for the mini-studio still pending. Non-Resident Summary:  Current balance for PEG Usage Fees as of February 1, 2022 is $471.81. 519 W. State St. | Ithaca, NY P (607) 272-7272 Lauren.Stefanelli@charter.com 2021 Final PEGASYS Fees Report Name Municipa y Description Fee/Cost Amount Total 2020 Total $479.00 Ndjombe Titi Newfield Membership Jan - Jun 2021 Fee $20.00 $20.00 Andy Finkle Dryden Membership Jan - Jun 2021 Fee $20.00 $20.00 Andy Finkle Dryden Membership Jul -Dec 2021 Fee $20.00 $20.00 Jim Blizzard N/A Game Capture card Cost -$97.19 ($97.19) 2021 Total $441.81 2022 January PEGASYS Fees Report Name Municipalit Description Fee/Cost Amount Total 2021 Total $441.81 Andy Finkle Dryden Membership Jan - Jun 2022 Fee $20.00 $20.00 Erin Leidy Ithaca Equipment Rental 1/27/22 Fee $10.00 $10.00 Current Total $471.81