Minutes Cable Teleprog 10 1 02MINUTES OF CABLE COMMUNITY TELEPROGRAMMING COMMISSION MEETING
OCTOBER l, 2002
CITY HALL ANNEX CONFERENCE ROOM # 2
MEMBERS PRESENT: Sr. Carol Hoverman, Paul Kohl, Jennifer Tigges, Dan Wilant
MEMBERS ABSENT: Throe seats romain vacant on the Commission
OTHERS PRESENT:
Jim Barefoot, Mediacom
Merrill Crawford, Cable Franchise Administrator
Ms. Tigges called the meeting to order at 5:34 P.M.
Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Sr. Hoverman, seconded by Mr. Wilant, the agenda was
accepted as published.
Approval of the Minutes of the September 3, 2002 Meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Wilant, seconded by Mr. Kohl, the Minutes of the
September 3, 2002 Commission meeting were approved as distributed.
3. Public Comment.
There was no one present to address the Commission. Sr. Hoverman shared
comments of Craig Schaefer from Loras College expressing frustration that a
decision regarding the roplacement of the aging mobile van has not yet been
made.
Ms. Tigges described a number of contacts that she has received via e-mail
regarding out-of-town producers or suppliers of video programming hoping to
submit it for cablecasting on Dubuque's access channels.
4. Access Equipment Expenditures.
There was no new information to report nor any requests or proposals from
Commissioners.
5. Access Programming.
Mr. Barefoot reported that officials from Wahlert High School had expressed
concern regarding portions of the DCW (Dubuque Championship Wrestling)
show which included footage shot on the Wahlert campus. He had also received
a call from a Wahlert staff member whose image was included in the program
most recently cablecast. Mr. Barefoot said that both parties had indicated they
would be reviewing their options for legal action against the producer of the
show.
Mr. Barefoot told Commissioners that a new series called "EDW" (Extreme
Dubuque Wrestling) would begin aidng later this evening.
Sr. Hoverman commented upon the poor quality of the taping of the recent press
conference of the Archbishop, which was edited and is being cablecast by local
members of the group Voice of the Faithful.
Mr. Crawford distributed copies of an article from Joe Estrella's Journal, a
national on-line newsletter, reporting on the efforts of a man in Des Moines to
videotape women entering the Planned Parenthood Clinic, for cablecasting as a
public access program. Mediacom in Des Moines had refused to air the footage
showing the women's faces.
Commissioners bdefly discussed the talk show with community arts activist Ruth
Nash, which was produced by Central High School students a few days before
her death. The Commissioners also discussed plans for videotaping her
memorial celebration at the Dubuque Museum of Art later in October.
Mediacom Cable Franchise Renewal.
Mr. Crawford told Commissioners he had seen draft reports of the surveys and
consultants' recommendations as they pertained to PEG access equipment and
noted a couple of interesting items, including the indication of good community
support for PEG access in the citizen survey, particularly correlating to those
persons in the survey who tended to rate cable company overall performance
toward the more positive end of the rating scale. He told Commissioners he
expected a rather extensive and detailed access equipment recommendation
going forward, including replacement schedules, and a migration fairly quickly to
digital formats. He told Commissioners to be prepared for policy decisions to be
made regarding several items, including how to support access users faced with
rapid and substantial change and technology, responding to recommendations of
the consultant for significant equipment for the Dubuque Community Schools
(and considering how to be able to channel comparable resources to other
educational institutions if they demonstrate similar investment and ability to
produce access programming.) Also, the question on exactly how to meet the
mobile need still needs to be decided (van? trailer?, components that plug
together?.), and although there is no such indication at this point, Mr. Crawford
suggested the Commission needs to prepare to deal with the question of what is
our preferred operation alternative in the event cable company hosted public
access does not continue in the new franchise.
Mr. Crawford also distributed pdnted copies of a story from the October 1 edition
of the Telegraph Herald explaining that the Prairie du Chien, WI City Council had
approved a franchise renewal with Mediacom, containing a provision for $40,000
of audiovisual system support by Mediacom in exchange for the waiving of
franchise fees by the City for seven years.
Mr. Crawford also reported briefly on his meetings with the consultants at the
NATOA in Chicago and told Commissioners that he expected the draft
=
information from the consultants regarding the institutional network and technical
advice within the week. He also bdefly reported on his attending a municipal
broadband workshop in San Francisco earlier in the month.
Mediacom Cable Report.
Mr. Barefoot distributed written copies of the facility's use reports for the months
of August and September 2002 and highlighted a few of the items, He
particularly called the Commissioners attention to the Loras College
implementation of video and audio streaming of their programming, both on
campus and on the website.
Commissioners discussed possible training opportunities, including equipment
specific recorded or interactive training materials, the bringing of outside
expertise in for several days of training workshops, etc.
Cable Franchise Administrator Report.
Mr. Crawford had nothing additional to report.
Future Agenda Items.
There were no additional items to be added to the agenda of the next
Commission meeting.
102. Adjournment.
Upon a motion by Sr. Hoverman, seconded by Mr. Wilant, the meeting was
adjourned at 6.27 P.M.
MC/cj