Minutes Cable Teleprogram 5 1 07
MINUTES OF CABLE COMMUNITY TELEPROGRAMMING COMMISSION MEETING
May 1, 2007
MEDIACOM CONFERENCE ROOM
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Jennifer Tigges, George Herrig, Pauline Maloney, Burton Everist.
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Sr. Carol Hoverman. Two seats remain vacant on the
Commission.
OTHERS PRESENT:
Jim Barefoot, Mediacom
Craig Shaefer, Loras College
Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque Cable TV Coordinator
Ms. Maloney called the meeting to order at 4:20 p.m.
1. Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Ms. Tigges, seconded by Mr. Herrig, the agenda was accepted
unanimously as published.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the March 12, 2007, Meeting
Upon a motion of Mr. Everist, seconded by Mr. Herrig, the Minutes of the March 12,
2007, Commission meeting were approved unanimously.
3. Public Comment
Ms. Maloney stated that she is the producer of a series of programs called The
War Years in which she interviews people who served in the military in World War
Two and the Korean War. The availability of the public access studio makes it
possible for her to produce these programs. She said that she is providing copies
of these programs to the Center for Dubuque History at Loras College. Today she
received an e-mail from Mike Gibson at Loras who indicated that Bob Niemeyer at
the Grout Museum in Waterloo is also interested in having a copy of these
programs.
These programs, Ms. Maloney stated, are oral histories of people in this area. Her
guests often tell her that nobody is interested in their stories, that sometimes their
own family members are not aware that they served overseas. Her programs give
these people a voice and an audience who listens.
Lastly, Ms. Maloney expressed her appreciation for the welcome that her guests
receive at the public studio. It is only because they feel comfortable on the set that
they are able to tell their stories.
4. Access Equipment Expenditures
Mr. Shaefer, noting that Loras College Media Studies students are some of the
most active content producers on Dubuque’s access channels, requested
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$37,934.00 for 1) an EZ News Newsroom Software System; 2) a Compix character
generator; 3) Vari-Zoom Pro-Lite System; 4) two Sennheiser shotgun microphone
systems; 5) a Panasonic HVX-200 camera; 6) a Miller DS-20 tripod; 7) a Matthews
Light Kit; and 8) an Arri Fresnel Light Kit. Mr. Everist moved to table the request so
he could further study it. The motion was seconded by Mr. Herrig and passed
unanimously.
Mr. Barefoot requested $31,200.00 for equipment to satisfy three needs: 1) a field
package for the mobile production van, including a sports replay system, a video
deck, wireless and shotgun microphones, an audio mixer, and monitors; 2) an
encoding station, including an 8x8 routing switcher, a video deck, an audio mixer,
and monitors; and 3) transport gear to allow real-time transfer of video to the video
on demand server in Des Moines. Mr. Everist’s motion to approve this request,
seconded by Mr. Herrig, passed unanimously.
Mr. Nowack said that he will have requests for funding in the future as he continues
upgrading the government rooms where meetings are televised. As the City
continues work on the new City Council chambers in the Federal Building, he
wants to get funds to purchase an additional three new cameras and controller
rather than move the three old cameras and controller from the Library Council
chambers. He wants to take those, purchase one additional camera, and have
those installed for the Supervisors at the Courthouse. He indicated he may make
that request in advance of next year’s money coming on July 1.
5. Access Programming and Promotion
In the interest of time, nothing was discussed on this topic.
6. Mediacom Cable Report
In the interest of time, Mr. Barefoot made no report.
7. Cable TV Division Report
Mr. Nowack stated that the City will begin airing Zoning Advisory Commission
meetings tomorrow night, and will begin its parade coverage of the Memorial Day
and Labor Day Parades at the end of the month.
Mr. Nowack reported on the statewide cable franchise bill, SF 554, which passed
both the House and the Senate and which now sits on the governor’s desk for
signing. He said there were both for and against factions within the governor’s
office, but that the bill passed the House and Senate with such strong margins that
it could probably withstand a veto. Because the bill legalizes the franchise fee, the
City has not requested a veto, even though there is not much else that is good in
this legislation. He told the commission that while PEG channel capacity and
financial support are preserved in the bill, PEG operational support is not.
The meeting concluded at 5:08 p.m. when Mr. Everist had to leave and the quorum
was lost.
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