Minutes Cable TV Telepro 10 7 3MINUTES OF CABLE COMMUNITY TELEPROGRAMMING COMMISSION MEETING
OCTOBER 7, 2003
CITY HALL ANNEX CONFERENCE ROOM # 2
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Sr. Carol Hoverman, Jennifer Tigges, Paul Kohl, Burton
Everist
MEMBERS ABSENT: Dan Wilant. Two seats remain vacant on the Commission.
OTHERS PRESENT:
Jim Barefoot, Mediacom
Merrill Crawford, Cable Franchise Administrator
Mr. Evedst called the meeting to order at 5:40 p.m.
1. Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Sr. Hoverman, seconded by Mr. Kohl, the agenda was
accepted as published.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the June 3, 2003 Meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kohl, seconded by Ms. Tigges, the Minutes of the June 3,
2003 Commission meeting were approved as distributed.
3. Public Comment.
There was no one present to address the Commission.
4. Access Equipment Expenditures.
Mr. Barefoot told Commissioners that pumhase ordem had been submitted
through Mediacom to purchase the camera cables and automation equipment for
the educational access channel as previously approved by the Commission. In
the meantime, some repair work and modifications had been made to the
automation system and to the van and everything is operating satisfactorily
awaiting ardval of the new purchases.
5. Access Programming.
Mr. Barefoot informed Commissioners of a recent incident with a local access
producer who had moved out of Dubuque to go to school, but who was still
attempting to submit programming for cablecast. He also distributed materials
he had researched from the FCC website regarding the rights of a cable operator
to refuse to air programming which in the operator's opinion is obscene. The
Commission discussed the later, in the context of the Dubuque Franchise and
current local access rules. Mr. Barefoot also distributed copies of relevant
access roles used by the system in North Liberty, Iowa.
Commissioners also discussed the likelihood of campaign material being
submitted for cablecasting as elections approach, and the fact that the Dubuque
access rules and franchise do not restdct the use of access channels for such
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programming as long as there is not the offering of product or service for sale or
the direct solicitation of contributions.
Mr. Barefoot reported on a vadety of individuals and community organizations
that have been active recently in producing programming for access, including
the YMCA/YWCA, University of Dubuque, Washington Junior High, and
Dubuque Community Schools under the guidance of Gary Olsen.
Also, Wahlert High School, Loras College, and Marina O'Rourke have been
producing new programming for access.
Mr. Barefoot also told Commissioners that defects in the return path from
Dubuque Community Schools to the headend had been repaired to once again
enable live cablecast of School Board meetings.
Mediacom Cable Franchise Renewal.
Mr. Crawford told Commissioners there had not been any meetings face-to-face
between the parties since June, although attomeys had been in touch with each
other and engineers and consultants had been working in the background,
focusing upon the needs and design of an upgraded institutional network. Also,
Mediacom has completed the 550Mhz to 750Mhz distribution system upgrade in
Dubuque and now will begin upgrading headend equipment to begin offering
new services such as high definition television and video on demand in the not
too distant future.
Outreach/Common Interest Communities.
Mr. Evedst led a discussion about ways to generate interest and programming
from or about the larger Tri-state area, or at least those communities that are
technically linked to the Dubuque headend. Consensus was reached to
approach representatives of Dubuque 365 to see if they might be interested in
brainstorming the concept and perhaps playing some future role in generating
such interest or actual programs.
Mediacom Cable Report.
Mr. Barefoot had nothing additional to report.
Cable Franchise Administrator's Report.
Mr. Crawford distributed copies of a number of articles, including one from
Multichannel News about FCC Chairman Poweli recommending that cable
operators place higher emphasis on local programming, an article about special
exceptions the cable industry had been able to insert into the rule which
established the national telephone "Do Not Call" list, an article wherein
Mediacom's financial standing has been downgraded due in part to greater than
anticipated impacts of local broadcast station retransmission by direct broadcast
satellites, and a memo he had written to the City Manager regarding the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals which agreed with the FCC that cable modem service is
not a "cable service".
Mr. Kohl left the meeting at 6:55 p.m., ending the quorum.
MC/cj