Minutes_Cable TV Commission 8 5 15 MINUTES OF CABLE TV COMMISSION MEETING
August 5, 2015
CITY HALL ANNEX— 1st FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM #1
MEMBERS PRESENT: Kathy McMullen (Chair), Ron Tigges (Vice-Chair), Jennifer Tigges,
Pauline Maloney, Sr. Carol Hoverman
MEMBERSABSENT: Alan Vincent. One seat is vacant.
OTHERS PRESENT: Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque
Jim Barefoot, Mediacom
Felicia Carrier, Dubuque Community Schools
Michael McCarty, Dubuque Community Schools
Mike Cyze, Dubuque Community Schools
McMullen called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m.
Acceptance of the Agenda
Upon a motion by JTigges, seconded by Hoverman, the Agenda was accepted 5 - 0.
Approval of the Minutes of June 3, 2015
Upon a motion by Maloney, seconded by JTigges, the Minutes were approved 5 - 0.
Oaths of Office
Commissioners McMullen and JTigges took and signed their oaths of office.
Public Input
There was no public input.
Requests for Funding
Carrier and McCarty from Dubuque Community Schools played a short video highlighting the variety
of programming they have produced for the district's cable channel. They are requesting additional
production equipment so they can do simultaneous field productions without having to borrow
equipment from another source. The new equipment also provides redundancy. RTigges moved to
approve up to $14,500 for the equipment. The motion was seconded by JTigges and approved 5 - 0.
Cyze thanked the Commission for its support and noted that the school district recently received an
Award of Merit from the National School Public Relations Association and three national Hometown
Media Awards.
Nowack presented a request for funding for a drone with which to shoot aerial photos and video for
various City projects. He showed a short video of drone footage of the riverfront shot during a recent
technology conference at the Grand River Center. Hoverman moved to approve up to $2,500 for the
purchase. The motion was seconded by RTigges and approved 5 - 0.
Channel Analog Replacement Test
Nowack briefly discussed his preliminary findings from the replacement of CityChannel Dubuque
programming with a special announcement from July 22 to July 28. He received 33 phone calls. Only
three did not have the necessary equipment to receive digital television signals. Others needed help
in finding the digital channels; some needed service calls. He is still waiting for results from the
service calls. Nowack noted that any Mediacom subscribers who use a converter box or digital
adapter would have been unable to see the special announcement because those devices
automatically showthe digital signal when Channel 8 is selected.
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Mediacom Cable Report
Barefoot initiated a discussion on workflow at the public access studio because he is running into
problems with programming being submitted in a variety of formats that can take him quite a long time
to process. After a short discussion, McMullen suggested that this be its own agenda item for the
September meeting.
Cable TV Report
Nowack reported on the various projects now being worked on in the Cable TV Division, notably the
activity related to the new bus routes scheduled to begin with the opening of the Intermodal
Transportation Center in the Historic Millwork District. He also handed out copies of the City
ordinance related to the Cable TV Commission which was modified at Monday's City Council meeting.
Adjournment
Upon a motion by Maloney, seconded by McMullen, the meeting was adjourned at 4:46 p.m.
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