Minutes Cable TV Teleprogramming 2 12 08MINUTES OF CABLE COMMUNITY TELEPROGRAMMING COMMISSION MEETING
February 12, 2008
CITY HALL ANNEX -1st FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM #1
MEMBERS PRESENT: Sr. Carol Hoverman, Pauline Maloney, Jennifer Tigges, George Herrig.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Burton Everist. Two seats remain vacant on the Commission.
OTHERS PRESENT: Jim Barefoot, Mediacom
Tom Decree, Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School
Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque Cable TV Coordinator
Mr. Herrig called the meeting to order at 4:42 p.m.
1. Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Ms. Tigges, seconded by Ms. Maloney, the agenda was accepted
unanimously as published.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the January 8, 2008, Meeting
Upon a motion of Ms. Tigges, seconded by Ms. Maloney, the Minutes of the January 8,
2008, Commission meeting were approved unanimously.
3. Public Comment
None.
4. Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School Presentation
Mr. Decree played a DVD produced by students at Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School
thanking the Commission for its help in equipping the school production facilities. The
DVD also featured clips of the students' various productions.
5. Access Equipment Expenditures
Mr. Nowack reported an account balance of $145,922 in the fund, with $112,589 left to
award.
Mr. Barefoot presented a request for $20,000 for aTightrope/Cablecast automation, event
controller, graphics generator, and server system. This price involves trading in
Mediacom's existing event controller and 360 System servers. He showed the
Commission the way he schedules his three channels now and then discussed how much
easier the Cablecast system will do the same. This system will also allow on-air listings to
be displayed in between programs and enable web listings. Trading in the old servers will
significantly increase his programming storage capacity.
Mr. Nowack spoke on behalf of the ease of use of the Tightrope system as well as its
customer support. He has been using Cablecast automation since August 2006.
Ms. Tigges moved to award up to $20,000 for the requested system. The motion was
seconded by Ms. Maloney and approved unanimously.
6. Access Programming and Promotion
Mr. Nowack reported that his meeting to discuss a community bulletin board and school
district programming with the City Manager had to be re-scheduled and has not occurred
yet.
Mr. Barefoot expressed some frustration with the access telecasts of Loras College
basketball. Over the past weekend he had worked on the production of a game with Craig
Schaefer at Loras, and that Mr. Schaefer relayed a request from the head of the college to
remove the old game from playback as soon as there is a new game. Mr. Barefoot
explained to Mr. Schaefer that these telecasts, which eat up most of a day to produce,
need to have a shelf life of longer than one week. Otherwise, they are not worth the time
to produce them.
7. Mediacom Cable Report
Mr. Barefoot reported that he submitted an article to the Business Times that was recently
published. Production is going well at Mediacom. He has done a couple of games for
Loras, more episodes of Kids in the Kitchen and Maestro and Me. He has also helped
Gary Olsen produce some school board meetings as he makes his transition to new
equipment. .
He suggested that when schools request funding for equipment, that a higher up school
official accompanies the person making the request so the official is aware of what is going
on and the responsibility and liability the school is taking on.
8. Cable TV Division Report
Mr. Nowack informed the Commission that he made his budget presentation before the
City Council last night. The replay of the hearing will begin on Thursday. He said that
there will be a City Council work session on the digital television transition on Monday,
April 21, at 5:30 p.m. to which both Commissions will be invited.
He reported that there will be a public hearing at the February 18 City Council meeting to
amend the cable franchise agreement to add Sageville School to the I-Net.
Friday afternoon Mr. Nowack received the Civil Service tests for the Video Producer
position. He now has to grade them in order to be able to determine a passing grade.
The Media Room upgrade is mostly done. Light-blocking shades need to be installed so
the lights can be set. The background drapes have not yet arrived either.
9. Future Agenda Items
No new items were discussed.
10. Adjournment
Upon a motion by Ms. Tigges, seconded by Sr. Hoverman, the meeting was adjourned at
5:32 p.m.
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