Information about http://www.smctv.tv/MeetingAgenda.pdf
CITY OF SANTA MARIA Santa…
Tags: bob morrison, cellular telephones, chair bob, city council chambers, city hall council, city of santa maria, community television, david cross, director david, east cook street, government code section, meeting agenda, oakwood drive, pagers, profane language, public comment, staff reports, sutterfield, three minutes, van de kamp,Pages: 7
Language: english
Created: Mon Jun 30 12:13:41 2008
Display cached document
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
CITY OF SANTA MARIA
Santa Maria Community Television Board of Directors
REGULAR MEETING AGENDA
July 3, 2008 CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS
6:30 p.m. 110 E. COOK STREET, SANTA MARIA
AGENDA
SMCTV Board Of Directors
Mark van de Kamp Chair
Bob Morrison Director
David Cross Director
Alan Sutterfield Clerk of the Board
Regular Meeting
July 3, 2008
6:30 PM
Santa Maria City Council Chambers
110 East Cook Street
805-925-0951
This agenda is prepared and posted pursuant to Government Code Section 54954.2. Copies of the staff
reports or other documentation relating to each item of business referred to on the agenda are on file at
the Santa Maria Community Media Center, 910 S. Oakwood Drive, Santa Maria. The Station Manager
will answer any questions regarding the agenda.
The City of Santa Maria welcomes orderly participation at its meetings from all members of the public.
Public comment is limited to three minutes per speaker. Orderly participation means speaking only on
items of Santa Maria Community Television Board of Directors business or on subjects within the Board's
control. Though the Board wants to hear your concerns and values your input, it is inappropriate to
defame, yell, or use profane language. All cellular telephones and pagers are to be turned off or set to
vibrate, and signs are not to be displayed in a manner which violates the rights of others or prevents
others from watching or fully participating in the Board meeting.
Participation includes assistance under the Americans with Disabilities Act to provide an equally effective
opportunity for individuals with a disability to participate in and benefit from City activities. To request
assistance, please call the City of Santa Maria at 925-0951, extension 501. For TDD
(Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf) call (800) 735-2929. Notification at least 72 hours prior to the
meeting is required for either City to make reasonable accommodation arrangements for this meeting.
Para que con anticipación la ciudad pueda obtener los servicios de un traductor durante la junta del
Concilio para personas que deseen participar en la junta pero que solamente hablan Español, favor de
notificar a la Oficina del Municipio (City Clerk's) al número 925-0951, ext. 306 el Viernes antes de la junta.
AGENDA
1. Call to Order
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Public Comment
4. Approval of December 20, 2007 MINUTES
5. New Business
a. DIVCA and FCC Updates. (INFORMATION)
b. PEG Ordinance Adopted. (INFORMATION)
c. City of Lompoc payments. (INFORMATION)
d. Proposed amendments to Policies and Procedures. (ACTION)
6. Report from PEG Station Manager (INFORMATION)
7. Adjournment
5d
SANTA MARIA COMMUNITY TELEVISION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AGENDA REPORT
July 3rd, 2007
TO: Santa Maria Community Television Board of Directors
FROM: Alan Sutterfield
PEG Station Manager
SUBJECT: Amendments to Policies and Procedures
Recommendation:
That the Santa Maria Community Television Board of Directors authorize 2
amendments to the Policies and Procedures as proposed by the PEG Station Manager.
Discussion:
1. The Membership Fees section of SMCTV's Policies and Procedures, Page 7, Section
5, states:
Membership fees are $25 per year for individuals, non-profit groups and educational
institutions.
Individuals who otherwise meet the membership requirements are allowed, upon
request, to participate in SMCTV's In-lieu Volunteer Program. Membership fees can be
worked off as volunteer hours at SMCTV at the in lieu compensation rate of $8.33 per
hour. This in-lieu program is available for individual membership only.
The PEG Station Manager proposes to revise this section to read:
Membership fees are $25 per year for individuals, non-profit groups and educational
institutions.
After one year, individuals who want to renew their memberships and who otherwise
meet the membership requirements are allowed, upon request, to participate in
SMCTV's In-lieu Volunteer Program. Membership fees can be worked off as volunteer
hours at SMCTV at the in lieu compensation rate of $8.33 per hour. This in-lieu program
is available for individual membership only.
2. The High-Demand Playback Hours section of SMCTV's Policies and Procedures,
Page 13, Section 13, paragraph 2 states:
Consideration must be given to new programs that wish to access high-demand hours.
If there is less than a 5 percent inventory of timeslots available during those hours for a
31-day period or longer and there are requests from producers of new programs for
access to high-demand hours, then all programs will be limited to 1 high-demand
timeslot and 2 timeslots outside of high-demand hours.
The PEG Station Manager proposes to revise this section to read:
Consideration must be given to new programs that wish to access high-demand hours.
If there is less than a 10 percent inventory of timeslots available during those hours for a
31-day period or longer and there are requests from producers of new programs for
access to high-demand hours, then all programs submitted from producers who reside
outside the Santa Maria/Orcutt area will be limited to 1 high-demand timeslot and 2
timeslots outside of high-demand hours.
If there is less than a 5 percent inventory of timeslots available during high demand
hours for a 31-day period or longer and there are requests from producers of new
programs for access to high-demand hours, then all programs submitted by all producers
will be limited to 1 high-demand timeslot and 2 timeslots outside of high-demand hours.
Alan Sutterfield
PEG Station Manager
Santa Maria Community Television
Minutes
SMCTV Board of Directors
Mark van de Kamp Chair
Bob Morrison Director
David Cross Director
Alan Sutterfield Clerk of the Board
Meeting
December 20, 2007
6:30 PM
Santa Maria City Council Chambers
110 E. Cook Street
805-925-9176
1. Call meeting to order
The meeting was called to order by SMCTV Board Chair Mark van de Kamp at 6:30 p.m. Also
present were director David Cross. Director Bob Morrison was absent. The Board Chair stated
that a quorum was present under city guidelines. Also present was SMCTV Station Manager
Alan Sutterfield.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Public Comment
There was no public comment.
4. Approval of June 28, 2007 minutes.
ACTION: Motion to approve by David Cross, seconded Mark van de Kamp. Motion passed
2-0.
5. New Business
a. INFORMATION ONLY: Comcast P.E.G. fees now listed separately on cable bills
Station Manager Alan Sutterfield informed the board that PEG fees are now listed as a
separate item on Comcast Cable subscriber's monthly billing statements and that some
subscribers might think this is a new fee, when in fact it is just reported separately from
the City of Santa Maria's franchise fee. It is listed as P.E.G. access support at $1.32 per
month, per subscriber. Mr. Sutterfield stated that he had inquired of Comcast Cable why
they began listing the fee separately but had not yet received a reply.
Mr. Cross asked when the fee had begun to be listed separately and was informed it was
October of 2007. Mr. van de Kamp stated he had received two inquiries from the public
asking if the P.E.G. fee was a new item.
b. INFORMATION ONLY: DIVCA and FCC updates
Mr. Sutterfield informed the board that DIVCA is the Digital Infrastructure and Video
Competition Act, a result of Assembly Bill 2987, which became law in January 2007,
impacts video programming supplied via a cable or telephone wire, rather than a wireless
system and that AT&T and Verizon are entering into competition with cable TV
suppliers under DIVCA state issued franchise agreements. He stated that Verizon was
most likely to be the new competitor in Santa Maria, as Verizon is the current telephone
service provider and can use its existing phone lines and that Comcast must continue to
meet their P.E. G. obligations under DIVCA, though a new competitor would have to
contribute a pro-rata share of that support. Mr. Sutterfield recommended that the City of
Santa Maria, prior to a new competitor entering the market, pass an ordinance to
reinforce P.E.G. support requirements for video program suppliers. Mr. Sutterfield
informed the board that some video service providers in some parts of the country are
trying to move P.E.G. channels off the basic tier of service to higher numbered digital
tiers, often requiring several steps to access the channels which are delivered in a less
than broadcast quality signal. Mr. Sutterfield informed the board that the Federal
Communications Commission had recently passed administrative rules that might trigger
a national franchise structure that would override DIVCA provide for no P.E.G. fees. He
stated that the rules are being challenged in the courts and in Congress. Mr. van de Kamp
inquired if the FCC decision was on a 3-2 vote and Mr. Sutterfield confirmed that it was,
and that large media companies are behind the changes proposed by Chairman Kevin
Martin, despite overwhelming opposition from the public. Mr. Cross asked for
clarification on the recourse options for P.E.G. and Mr. van de Kamp inquired about the
length of the terms for the FCC members.
c. INFORMATION ONLY: Program playback issues resolved
Mr. Sutterfield informed the board that SMCTV programs defaulting to black, a problem
dating back to August of 2007 had been resolved by the staff and vendors. Mr. Cross
asked if the vendor guaranteed that these problems would not reoccur and was informed
that no guarantee was forthcoming, but the vendor had provided a deep discount for
extended warrantee over the coming year.
d. ACTION: Proposed amendments to Policies and Procedures
Mr. Sutterfield informed the board that the first proposed change allows SMCTV
community program series producers to submit a repeat program every six months or for
every six programs submitted. He stated that this has been an informal policy and
mirrors policies of TapTV Lompoc, and provides flexibility for program series producers
who may not be able to produce a new program every 30 days. The second change
allows a program or series to be submitted for playback by one community producer
only.
This would limit any given program to the current 3 allowable cablecasts per week.
Mr. Cross made a motion to approve the revisions. Mr. van de Kamp seconded the
motion. Motion passed 2-0.
6. Report from SMCTV Station Manager
Mr. Sutterfield reported on the number of local nonprofit agencies that had taken advantage of
SMCTV resources in the last 6 months. He also reported that at the most recent SMCTV
membership forum, members agreed to volunteer to crew studio tapings in support of nonprofit
groups who would otherwise lack the resources to make a program. Mr. Sutterfield stated that in
September of 2007 a twice-a-week advertisement had been running adjacent to the TV guide
section of the Santa Maria Times, intended to educate Santa Maria residents of SMCTV's
mission and channel placement. He also informed the board that SMCTV's Sunday afternoon
Spanish language block had expanded from 2.5 hours to 4 hours, that overall program hours had
increased modestly over the past 6 months, and that the programmable Comcast cable radio
service was now used as a music background for community bulletin boards. Mr van de Kamp
asked about the impact of expanded evening hours at SMCTV's media center and Mr. Sutterfield
indicated that the new evening hours had resolved potential studio reservation conflicts for
Friday evenings.
7. Adjournment
Mr. van de Kamp adjourned the meeting at 7:46 PM.
END