Minutes Cable Teleprogra 6 1 04
5.
MINUTES OF CABLE COMMUNITY TELEPROGRAMMING COMMISSION MEETING
JUNE 1, 2004
CITY HALL ANNEX CONFERENCE ROOM # 2
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Maria Araeipour, Sr. Carol Hoverman OSF, Paul Kohl, Jennifer
Tigges
MEMBERS ABSENT:
OTHERS PRESENT:
Burton Everist. Two seats remain vacant on the Commission
Jim Barefoot, Mediacom
Merrill Crawford, Cable Franchise Administrator
Ms. Araeipour called the meeting to order at 5:40 p.m.
1.
Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Ms. Tigges, seconded by Mr. Kohl, the agenda was accepted as
published.
2.
Approval of the Minutes of the May 4, 2004 Meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kohl, seconded by Sr. Hoverman, the Minutes of the May 4, 2004
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 of the steps he had taken to establish the vendor
setup with Mediacom so that he could purchase the new playback server and interface
device equipment. He discussed with Commissioners the functioning of the Leightronix
event controllers, device controllers, and the new digital video servers which would be
installed for access channel playback.
Mr. Barefoot also told Commissioners about work he had done to correct problems
some access users had experienced using off camera microphones with camcorders.
He has also replaced some of the camera headsets and has sent two of the Hitachi
cameras in for repair. He has also acquired a new JVC consumer mini-DVD
camcorder.
Access Programming.
Mr. Barefoot distributed copies of the facility use report showing 100 programs having
been produced the past month. He talked about activities of some Emmaus Bible
College students and told Commissioners there had been an upsurge in interest in FM
radio production now that it's possible to burn CDs of entire programs for playback.
9.
10.
MC/cj
6.
Mediacom Cable Franchise Renewal.
Mr. Crawford told Commissioners that the City Council would be asked to extend the
Mediacom franchise to December 31, 2004, and that progress was being made on both
the tasks of the formal franchise renewal process and in informal franchise renewal
negotiations. He distributed copies of a cover memo to the City Manager regarding the
proposed franchise extension.
7.
Mediacom Cable Report.
Mr. Barefoot told Commissioners that he has installed the firewire cable in the small
production studio to connect to the Media 100 computer, and had replaced the Channel
17 modulator and added a time-based corrector to improve the playback signal on that
channel.
8.
He posed some questions as to whether political equal time regulations apply to public
access channels. Mr. Crawford offered to ask City legal counsel regarding this.
Cable Franchise Administrator Report.
Mr. Crawford told Commissioners he had been informed that the UHF TV Channel 40
station in the Tri-States known as KFXB, a FOX network affiliate would be changing
within the year. The most likely scenario seems to be that the station will be sold and
will remain on the air broadcasting Christian programming and that Mediacom will
import the FOX affiliate signal of sister station KFXA from Cedar Rapids by optical fiber
in its place on the Dubuque cable system. Timing and other details are not known at
this time.
Future Agenda Items.
There were no additional items suggested for the agenda of the next meeting which will
be scheduled for Tuesday, July 6, 2004.
Adjournment.
Upon a motion by Ms. Tigges, seconded by Sr. Hoverman, the meeting was adjourned
at 6:44 p.m.