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Minutes Cable Telep. 10 4 05 MINUTES OF CABLE COMMUNITY TELEPROGRAMMING COMMISSION MEETING OCT. 4, 2005 CITY HALL ANNEX - 2ND FLOOR BOARD ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Maria Araeipour, Sr. Carol Hoverman OSF, Jennifer Tigges, Pauline Maloney MEMBERS ABSENT: Burton Everist, George Herrig One seat remains vacant on the Commission OTHERS PRESENT: Jim Barefoot, Mediacom Randy Gehl, City of Dubuque Public Information Officer Ms. Tigges called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. 1. Acceptance of the Agenda. Upon a motion by Sr. Hoverman, seconded by Ms. Araeipour, the agenda was accepted as published. 2. Approval of the Minutes of the Sept. 7, 2005 Meeting. Upon a motion by Ms. Maloney, seconded by Sr. Hoverman, the Minutes of the Sept. 7, 2005 Commission meeting were approved as distributed. 3. Public Comment. Ms. Maloney discussed the second "Quilts and Quiltmakers" marathon which aired recently. She said she received comments on the high quality of the program and on how well the program was promoted/publicized. Mr. Barefoot also explained what Tim McClain has done with local footage and the access schedule to make some of the bulletin board announcements. 4. Access Equipment Expenditures. Mr. Gehl reported that City of Dubuque Video Production Specialist Doug McCallum has placed the CityChannel8 equipment order and Tom DeGree with Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School is preparing to order the school equipment soon. Mr. Barefoot said he thought Mr. Gehl was going to order Mediacom's equipment and Mr. Gehl thought Mr. Barefoot was placing the order. The matter was resolved after some discussion and it was decided that Mediacom's equipment and the equipment for the Dubuque Community School District would be ordered soon. Mr. Barefoot discussed plans to purchase chroma-key paint for the access studio. He said the current paint does not work and new paint will be needed as more digital filming and editing is done. Mr. Barefoot said he is also working with a Mediacom IT person from Moline who is creating a network for all the access equipment. This will allow all non-linear editing computers to be connected to other computers, equipment and servers to allow direct file transfers. Mr. Gehl asked if the commission would like to begin establishing a more formal process for access equipment grants. After some discussion, it was determined that the issue needs additional discussion regarding criteria, etc. is needed and "Access Equipment Grant Process" will need to be an agenda item for the next several months. Ms. Tigges asked that Mr. Gehl bring some example materials to the next meeting. Ms. Tigges asked how the access equipment grant would be affected if franchise revenues were lower than expected. The franchise agreement was referred to, but an answer was not located. Mr. Barefoot said franchise fees are estimated and pre-paid and said he would look into it and report at the next meeting. He was asked to also report at the next meeting regarding the chroma-key paint and future needs. Sr. Hoverman asked for an update on the access programming server. Mr. Barefoot said it is currently being worked on and the various feeds are being sorted out. There is some question as to who will be responsible for the Loras feed. Mr. Barefoot said it will be operational shortly and the network operational. Ms. Araeipour asked about an open house and Mr. Barefoot said it is being considered. 5. Access Programming. Mr. Barefoot brought a copy of the "Esther" program, an hour and 15-minute production Mr. Herrig was involved in which was filmed in the access studio and aired on the access channel. He explained how the piece was produced and edited and then played portions of the program on his laptop computer. Ms. Araeipour suggested that such productions should include a notice in the credits that they were produced in the Dubuque access studio. Mr. Barefoot said the program is being distributed by the group who produced it, Cornerstone Video and Media, to missionaries in several countries. Ms. Araeipour suggested it be marketed to school theatre departments as a way to demonstrate the production quality and capabilities of the access studio. She said some schools might be interested in creating sets for the studio as a school project. She also asked about potential needs for props and other equipment for the studio. 6. Continuing Education Opportunities for Commission Members Mr. Gehl summarized the costs of the current subscriptions to Multichannel News and provided costs for membership to the Alliance for Community Media. Members discussed the value, or lack thereof, of the Multichannel News subscriptions. Mr. Barefoot and Ms. Tigges will bring samples of free publications to the next meeting. Mr. Gehl will check into how the subscriptions were handled in the past. Ms. Tigges recommended the ECS open house, if it is rescheduled. 7. Revision of Public Access Handbook Mr. Gehl provided copies of the document to the commission. Members discussed the history of the document and revision process. Mr. Barefoot talked about the need for insurance for access equipment and the issues of obscenity and profanity. Mr. Gehl will e- mail a copy of the document to the commission members and bring a copy on his laptop to the next meeting. Ms. Tigges suggested that the commission spend 15 minutes per meeting working on editing the document. 8. Mediacom Cable Report. Mr. Barefoot reported that he spoke with Kathy McMullen regarding the remaining $2,000 from last year's budget. She is looking into it and it will be discussed at an upcoming meeting. He reported that he is spending much of his time on educational access. He installed some equipment at Wahlert that allows them to record/broadcast school assemblies and other events in their gymnasium. He has also been working at Roosevelt Middle School in getting their equipment set up. He has had discussions with Gary Olsen regarding programming on the new school district channel as well. Mr. Barefoot also explained how the new channel will be initiated and explained that it must be carried on a channel between 2 and 22, which means one channel must be eliminated from the current lineup. Details are being worked out. Last month the Washington school principal and another staff member visited the studio and discussed their equipment and future needs for broadcasting student news casts. Mr. Barefoot said he also did some work recently with Loras College, which recently picked up Mediacom cable. Mediacom now provides return feeds from various campus sites to the Loras studio to allow live broadcasts of campus events on the campus system. Last weekend, after several subscriber requests, Mediacom aired the Latter-Day Saints Conference on an access channel. He is also working on getting a switcher bid for the I-Net, as part of the franchise agreement. Mr. Barefoot also shared his new cell phone number: 563-451-2643. 10. Cable Franchise Administrator Report. Mr. Gehl gave a summary of the NA TOA conference he attended last month and said that the third of four finalists for the cable television coordinator was interviewed recently. He said Doug McCallum has ordered the equipment for the City Council Chambers 11. Future Agenda Items. Access Equipment Grant Application Process and Revision of Access Handbook. 12. Adjournment. Upon a motion by Sr. Hoverman, seconded by Ms. Araeipour, the meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. RG MINUTES OF CABLE COMMUNITY TELEPROGRAMMING COMMISSION MEETING OCT. 4, 2005 CITY HALL ANNEX - 2ND FLOOR BOARD ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Maria Araeipour, Sr. Carol Hoverman OSF, Jennifer Tigges, Pauline Maloney MEMBERS ABSENT: Burton Everist, George Herrig One seat remains vacant on the Commission OTHERS PRESENT: Jim Barefoot, Mediacom Randy Gehl, City of Dubuque Public Information Officer Ms. Tigges called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. 1. Acceptance of the Agenda. Upon a motion by Sr. Hoverman, seconded by Ms. Araeipour, the agenda was accepted as published. 2. Approval of the Minutes of the Sept. 7, 2005 Meeting. Upon a motion by Ms. Maloney, seconded by Sr. Hoverman, the Minutes of the Sept. 7, 2005 Commission meeting were approved as distributed. 3. Public Comment. Ms. Maloney discussed the second "Quilts and Quiltmakers" marathon which aired recently. She said she received comments on the high quality of the program and on how well the program was promoted/publicized. Mr. Barefoot also explained what Tim McClain has done with local footage and the access schedule to make some of the bulletin board announcements. 4. Access Equipment Expenditures. Mr. Gehl reported that City of Dubuque Video Production Specialist Doug McCallum has placed the CityChannel 8 equipment order and Tom DeGree with Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School is preparing to order the school equipment soon. Mr. Barefoot said he thought Mr. Gehl was going to order Mediacom's equipment and Mr. Gehl thought Mr. Barefoot was placing the order. The matter was resolved after some discussion and it was decided that Mediacom's equipment and the equipment for the Dubuque Community School District would be ordered soon. Mr. Barefoot discussed plans to purchase chroma-key paint for the access studio. He said the current paint does not work and new paint will be needed as more digital filming and editing is done. Mr. Barefoot said he is also working with a Mediacom IT person from Moline who is creating a network for all the access equipment. This will allow all non-linear editing computers to be connected to other computers, equipment and servers to allow direct file transfers. Mr. Gehl asked if the commission would like to begin establishing a more formal process for access equipment grants. After some discussion, it was determined that the issue needs additional discussion regarding criteria, etc. is needed and "Access Equipment Grant Process" will need to be an agenda item for the next several months. Ms. Tigges asked that Mr. Gehl bring some example materials to the next meeting. Ms. Tigges asked how the access equipment grant would be affected if franchise revenues were lower than expected. The franchise agreement was referred to, but an answer was not located. Mr. Barefoot said franchise fees are estimated and pre-paid and said he would look into it and report at the next meeting. He was asked to also report at the next meeting regarding the chroma-key paint and future needs. Sr. Hoverman asked for an update on the access programming server. Mr. Barefoot said it is currently being worked on and the various feeds are being sorted out. There is some question as to who will be responsible for the Loras feed. Mr. Barefoot said it will be operational shortly and the network operational. Ms. Araeipour asked about an open house and Mr. Barefoot said it is being considered. 5. Access Programming. Mr. Barefoot brought a copy of the "Esther" program, an hour and 15-minute production Mr. Herrig was involved in which was filmed in the access studio and aired on the access channel. He explained how the piece was produced and edited and then played portions of the program on his laptop computer. Ms. Araeipour suggested that such productions should include a notice in the credits that they were produced in the Dubuque access studio. Mr. Barefoot said the program is being distributed by the group who produced it, Cornerstone Video and Media, to missionaries in several countries. Ms. Araeipour suggested it be marketed to school theatre departments as a way to demonstrate the production quality and capabilities of the access studio. She said some schools might be interested in creating sets for the studio as a school project. She also asked about potential needs for props and other equipment for the studio. 6. Continuing Education Opportunities for Commission Members Mr. Gehl summarized the costs of the current subscriptions to Multichannel News and provided costs for membership to the Alliance for Community Media. Members discussed the value, or lack thereof, of the Multichannel News subscriptions. Mr. Barefoot and Ms. Tigges will bring samples of free publications to the next meeting. Mr. Gehl will check into how the subscriptions were handled in the past. Ms. Tigges recommended the ECS open house, if it is rescheduled. 7. Revision of Public Access Handbook Mr. Gehl provided copies of the document to the commission. Members discussed the history of the document and revision process. Mr. Barefoot talked about the need for insurance for access equipment and the issues of obscenity and profanity. Mr. Gehl will e- mail a copy of the document to the commission members and bring a copy on his laptop to the next meeting. Ms. Tigges suggested that the commission spend 15 minutes per meeting working on editing the document. 8. Mediacom Cable Report. Mr. Barefoot reported that he spoke with Kathy McMullen regarding the remaining $2,000 from last year's budget. She is looking into it and it will be discussed at an upcoming meeting. He reported that he is spending much of his time on educational access. He installed some equipment at Wahlert that allows them to record/broadcast school assemblies and other events in their gymnasium. He has also been working at Roosevelt Middle School in getting their equipment set up. He has had discussions with Gary Olsen regarding programming on the new school district channel as well. Mr. Barefoot also explained how the new channel will be initiated and explained that it must be carried on a channel between 2 and 22, which means one channel must be eliminated from the current lineup. Details are being worked out. Last month the Washington school principal and another staff member visited the studio and discussed their equipment and future needs for broadcasting student news casts. Mr. Barefoot said he also did some work recently with Loras College, which recently picked up Mediacom cable. Mediacom now provides return feeds from various campus sites to the Loras studio to allow live broadcasts of campus events on the campus system. Last weekend, after several subscriber requests, Mediacom aired the Latter-Day Saints Conference on an access channel. He is also working on getting a switcher bid for the I-Net, as part of the franchise agreement. Mr. Barefoot also shared his new cell phone number: 563-451-2643. 10. Cable Franchise Administrator Report. Mr. Gehl gave a summary of the NA TOA conference he attended last month and said that the third of four finalists for the cable television coordinator was interviewed recently. He said Doug McCallum has ordered the equipment for the City Council Chambers 11. Future Agenda Items. Access Equipment Grant Application Process and Revision of Access Handbook. 12. Adjournment. Upon a motion by Sr. Hoverman, seconded by Ms. Araeipour, the meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. RG