Minutes Cable TB Regulatory 11 14 07MINUTES OF CABLE TV REGULATORY COMMISSION MEETING
November 14, 2007
CITY HALL ANNEX CONFERENCE ROOM #3
MEMBERS PRESENT: Walt Webster, Ron Tigges, Kevin Stevens.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Charles Ellis. One seat remains vacant on the Commission.
OTHERS PRESENT: Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque Cable TV Coordinator
Kathy McMullen, Mediacom
Mr. Webster called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m.
1. Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Mr. Stevens, seconded by Mr. Tigges, the agenda was approved
unanimously as distributed.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the September 12, 2007, Meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Stevens, seconded by Mr. Tigges, the Minutes of the
September 12, 2007, meeting were approved unanimously as distributed.
3. Public Comment.
No one was present to address the Commission.
4. Status of Telecom Projects in Dubuque.
No one had anything to discuss on this topic.
5. Franchise.
Mr. Nowack opted to discuss franchise-related matters during the Legislation
portion of the agenda.
6. Legislation
Mr. Nowack reported that the FCC issued its Second Report and Order on the local
franchising process on October 31. In it, as expected, the FCC applied many of
the provisions of its First Report and Order -issued on December 20, 2006, and
released in March 2007 - to incumbent video providers. He said that the City's
legal advisors are now studying the FCC order. The City has joined a coalition of
communities to oppose the orders.
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7. Mediacom General Manager's Report
Ms. McMullen informed the Commission of a Citizen Advisory Board the company
has started in Dubuque. It is a company-wide initiative in order to generate
feedback on the company's services and subscribers' concerns and wishes. The
Dubuque commission meets over lunch.
When Mr. Nowack asked her about the two new HD channels she had mentioned
during the September 12 meeting, she responded that she had received no word
about them as yet.
8. Staff Report
Mr. Nowack informed the Commission that Video Production Assistant Doug
McCallum had resigned in October and that he was now aone-person department.
He said that he plans to replace Doug, but he wants to modify the position
somewhat to bring it more up to date. It is also now a Civil Service position, and
although he is not exactly sure what this entails, it is likely to delay the hiring
process somewhat.
Mr. Nowack reported that the camera upgrade at the Dubuque County Courthouse
is now complete. There are now four cameras there, one brand new and three just
a couple of years old, which should improve the quality of the Supervisors
meetings. He also reported that work at the Federal Building is mostly complete.
After undergoing training for the Echolab switcher in the Media Room, he is
requesting a grant to upgrade the equipment in order to make that room a small
studio. The grant would enable the switcher to be upgraded to 16 inputs (from 8),
re-wire the room to provide camera inputs and monitoring capabilities for three
studio cameras, and provide built-in lighting. Coupled with money from the Federal
Building project, this would mean the equipment has an opportunity to be used for
more than just City Council meetings. It will also significantly reduce the set-up
and tear-down time for productions. He hopes to have City Council approval for
the grant next week.
Finally, Mr. Nowack reported that he is in the thick of budget preparations for FY09.
He had his meeting with the City Manager last week to discuss the CATV budget.
He is requesting apart-time position and the Granicus web-streaming solution to
make CityChannel 8 programming available online.
9. Future Agenda Items/Comments & Concerns
There was no discussion.
10. Adjournment.
Upon a motion by Mr. Tigges, seconded by Mr. Stevens, the meeting was
adjourned at 5:57 p.m.
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