Minutes_Cable TV Commission 7 1 14MINUTES OF CABLE TV COMMISSION MEETING
July 1, 2014
CITY HALL ANNEX — 1st FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM #1
MEMBERS PRESENT: Ron Tigges (Chair), Jennifer Tigges, Alan Vincent, Kathy McMullen, Sr.
Carol Hoverman, Pauline Maloney.
MEMBERS ABSENT: One seat is vacant.
OTHERS PRESENT: Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque
RTigges called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m.
Acceptance of the Agenda
Upon a motion by Vincent, seconded by Hoverman, the Agenda was accepted 6 - 0.
Approval of the Minutes of June 4, 2014
Upon a motion by Vincent, seconded by Hoverman, the Minutes were approved 6 - 0.
Election of Interim Vice -Chair
RTigges stated that with the resignation of Vice -Chair Stevens last month, an interim vice -chair needs
be named for the remainder of this calendar year and asked for volunteers. Maloney noted that
several people have served in that capacity and perhaps someone who has not yet served should
volunteer. Hoverman volunteered for the position. RTigges moved to appoint Hoverman as Vice -
Chair. The motion was seconded by Vincent and approved 6 - 0.
Public Input
There was no public input.
PEG Channel Proposal
Nowack presented a proposal to combine the two public access channels into one and use the vacant
channel as a second government channel to display around the clock the City's bulletin board
graphics coupled with audio from the local NOAA weather radio station. He had received positive
feedback for this proposal from some of the frequent public access channel producers the City had
contacted this spring. JTigges wondered if it would be possible to broadcast special shows to both
government channels simultaneously. Nowack said it could be done manually, but the Cablecast
automation software is not configured for two channels. Hoverman wondered if at times special
programs could be run on the new government channel. Nowack said that that was unlikely to
happen since this is being created as a graphics only channel and that other channels existed to air
such shows. Vincent moved to approve the proposal. The motion was seconded by McMullen and
approved 6 - 0.
Access Equipment & Expenditures
Nowack presented a request by the City of Dubuque for $47,769 some projects related to the PEG
Channel Proposal. Noting that some work needs to be done in the Annex TV Control Room to create
the second government channel, Nowack said that an opportunity exists to upgrade the routing
system to handle digital signals. With the installation of a digital router, changes need to be made at
the Dubuque County Courthouse, Historic Federal Building, and Five Flags to provide digital signals.
Additionally, the Municipal Services Center and Fire Training Facility, locations which serve as
Emergency Operations Centers, should be capable of sending live digital signals back to the Annex to
air on CityChannel Dubuque. The router upgrade will cost $24.279 and the fiber optic connectivity
portion will cost $20,490. He added in $3000 for shipping and contingencies to arrive at the total cost.
1
JTigges moved to approve up to $48,000 for the request. The motion was seconded by Vincent and
approved 6 - 0.
Mediacom Cable Report
No one was present from Mediacom to provide a report.
2
Cable TV Report
Nowack informed the Commission that at 5:30 p.m. today CityChannel Dubuque would premiere a
program on the new airport terminal facility which was recorded inside the terminal building. He also
brought everyone up to date on programs in production, including the process the Cable TV Division
has started to up -convert the first three years of Art on the River footage to HD for a tenth anniversary
show planned for next year. He also noted that assuming the City Council approves the PEG
Channel Proposal and router upgrade, he will be spending a fair amount of time getting everything
coordinated. RTigges requested a behind -the -scenes look at the control room at the completion of
the project.
Adjournment
Upon a motion by JTigges, seconded by Maloney, the meeting was adjourned at 4:48 p.m.
3