CABLE ACCESS ADVISORY COMMISSION
October 30, 2006
PRESENT: Ernie Bedford; Jason Brown; Don Deibert; Bob
Granstra, Linda Malekadeli;
Norm Neher
ABSENT:
ALSO PRESENT: Melissa Barnard – Library; Brandi Pfohl –
Secretary
I.
CALL To Order
By
Malekadeli at 7pm
II.
WELCOME New
Members
Jason
Brown, Video Professional, and Norm Neher, MPS representative, introduced
themselves.
III.
APPROVAL - of
September 13, 2006 Minutes
Minutes
approved as submitted. Neher abstained.
IV.
PUBLIC Hearing
Ordinance
and Rule Change
Beacom
reviewed the proposed changes to the MCTV Fees Ordinance and Rules and
Procedures as submitted to the commission (agenda packet). Malekadeli opened the public hearing for
public comments.
Cynthia
Chilcote, director of the Midland Volunteer Center, stated her organization is
in support of the $25 message board fee.
Beacom
reviewed the comments that were sent to MCTV (agenda packet). Two were opposed, two were in favor, and one
proposed not charging a fee for students.
Deibert
suggested parents could pay the students fee. Neher proposed the idea of a
scholarship for students who can’t afford the fee. Beacom said if the Friends
of MCTV are successful, perhaps they could provide scholarships.
Regarding
the opposition to the fees from some message board users, Neher asked whether
it would be possible not to charge a fee for the first five messages submitted.
Beacom said that would be difficult to track.
Approximately 2, 500 messages were submitted last year.
Deibert
commented that $25 is a small amount for an organization to pay if they want to
use MCTV. It would cost more to put an ad in the Midland Daily News. Deibert said he was sympathetic to the
persons opposed to the fees but the reality is the funds for MCTV are going
down and MCTV needs to raise revenue.
At
the November 8 meeting, the Commission can approve the proposed revisions and
recommend the changes to Council, oppose the proposed revisions, or revise them
and hold another public hearing.
V.
OLD Business
1.
CAAC Goals,
2006-07
Beacom
reviewed the goals. He stated that a joint meeting with City Council has not
been scheduled for December.
2.
CAAC Annual Report,
2005-06
Beacom
stated the annual report was accepted by City Council on the consent agenda
without comment.
3.
Friends of MCTV
Update
Beacom
stated that the $5,000 needed to open an Operating Fund under the umbrella of
the Midland Area Community Foundation has been raised. Malekadeli added that the Friends group is
working on the Honors Night fundraiser. Sponsorship letters were sent out. Access users will receive a letter asking
them to become members and make a donation. A silent auction will also be held
at Honors Night.
Beacom
stated the Articles of Incorporation were filed by Attorney Drummond Black. He
thanked Don Deibert for his work on the legal aspects of setting up the
Friends.
Officers
were elected: Ann Kerns-President, Linda Malekadeli-Vice-President and
Treasurer, Judy Kuehl-Secretary. Don
Deibert, Jim Malek and Robert Clark are
Board members.
A
show will be taped on November 14 to introduce the Friends of MCTV and their
goals to the public. Next Friends
meeting will be on November 15 at the MCTV studio. Malekadeli encouraged people to attend.
4.
Legislation
Update
Beacom
reviewed the status of the video franchise legislation being discussed at the
state and federal level. Besides the
loss of some of the franchise fees, Beacom said the proposed legislation would
require MCTV to pay for the equipment needed to send the access channels
signals to the phone company when it starts to provide video service. Deibert
asked what will the cost be. Beacom
stated that it depends on the technology but it could be up to $15,000 per
channel.
Beacom
also said that this legislation still allows the phone company to “cherry pick”
which customers they want to serve, while the cable company is currently
required to pass by every home in the city.
Neher
voiced concern about the reduction in the franchise fees because the schools
receive a portion of that for MPS-TV’s operation.
VI.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
A reception will be held for Brandi Pfohl, Wednesday,
November 1, 4-5:30pm. Pfohl has accepted
a position as the Library’s Technical Secretary.
ACM Fall Conference will be held in Lansing, November
16-18. There is a one-day rate if
commission members would like to attend on that Friday.
VII.
ADJOURNMENT –
Next Meeting, November 8, 7:00pm
Granstra
moved to adjourn, Deibert seconded.
Meeting adjourned at 7:40p.m.
SUMMARY REPORT TO CABLE ACCESS ADVISORY
COMMISSION
for
Commission Meeting of November 8, 2006
SUBJECT: Proposed
Revisions to MCTV Fees Ordinance and Rules and Procedures
RESOLUTION SUMMARY: THIS RESOLUTION WILL RECOMMEND TO CITY COUNCIL THE ADOPTION OF THE
PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE MCTV FEES ORDINANCE AND THE MCTV RULES AND
PROCEDURES.
ITEMS ATTACHED:
1.
Letter of
transmittal to the Cable Access Advisory Commission
2.
Proposed
revisions to MCTV Fees Ordinance and Rules and Procedures.
3.
Resolution to recommend to City Council the adoption of the proposed
revisions.
COMMISSION ACTION:
1.
4 votes required
to approve resolution.
MCTV Network
November 1, 2006
Cable Access Advisory
Commission
City of Midland
Dear Commissioners,
To review, in May 2006, City Council
approved a $106,100 General Fund subsidy for the Cable Communications Fund
budget. This action kept MCTV’s services and staff whole for the 2006-07 fiscal
year. Major cuts in staff and services had been proposed because a deficit in
the fund is projected in the current five-year plan.
City Council instructed City
staff, the Cable Access Advisory Commission and supporters of Midland Community
Television to study options to help alleviate the projected deficit. Three options discussed at the Commission
level during the budget process were user fee, revisions to the fees now
charged for video duplications, and more fees for training.
User Fees
The City has never charged a
user fee for the use of MCTV’s facilities and equipment.
An annual fee of $25 per
individual is now proposed by City staff.
If collected from the current list of access users involved in video
production and from individuals and organizations who submit messages to the
community message board channel, the projected revenue would be $2,500-$3,000
annually.
Duplication Fees
MCTV currently charges a
video duplication fee of $10 per 30 minutes of content. However, the MCTV Rules
and Procedures allow producers to receive one free copy of a program. City
staff proposes a revision in the duplication fee and the end of the free copy
program.
The proposed fee is $10 per
60 minutes of content with a maximum fee of $30 for programs over two hours in
length. The goal of this revision is to generate more requests for copies of
popular programs including high school sports and concerts. Current fees are
often over $40 for those programs that discourages the public from buying
copies.
The proposed elimination of
the free copy program would eliminate staff time used to make these copies.
Almost half of the requests processed by staff are for the free copies.
The goal of these revisions
is to raise more revenue from duplications. Total revenue generated in 2005-06
from video duplications was $2,800. In fiscal year 2004-05, the total was $900.
In 2003-04, the total was $1,300.
Training Fees
MCTV currently charges a fee
of $10 for the beginning access user training. At your September meeting, the
Commission voted to recommend raising that fee to $20. No fees are charged for advanced training.
Staff is proposing a fee of $10 per each advanced training course.
Potential additional revenue
is $500-$600 annually.
For the past five summers,
MCTV has offered a four-day video camp for children, ages 12-17. The fee
charged in July 2006 was $40. Staff proposes a fee of $50 for the video camp.
Class size is limited to 12. Projected revenue for each camp is $600.
Ordinance and Rules Revisions
The proposed revisions in the
MCTV Fees Ordinance and the MCTV Rules and Procedures are included in this
document. New language is shown in italics,
while proposed deleted language is shown in strikethrough font.
Commission Action
The Commission held a public
hearing on October 30th. One person voiced support in person for the
access user fee. The Commission also received written correspondence with three
persons voicing support, two voicing opposition and one suggesting no fee for
students or young people under the age of 25.
A resolution has been
prepared for Commission at the November 8 meeting. It’s shown below.
Respectfully submitted,
MCTV Network
City of Midland
CITY OF MIDLAND CODE OF
ORDINANCES
ARTICLE VII.
MIDLAND COMMUNITY TELEVISION (MCTV) FINES, FEES AND OTHER CHARGES*
Sec. 21-120.
MCTV fines.
The
fines for MCTV services are as follows:
(1) Late equipment returns:
a. Late return of equipment, five dollars
($5.00) per day, starting after the first hour late.
Sec. 21-121.
Use fees.
The use
fees for MCTV services are as follows:
(1) Annual access user fee $25.00
(2) Training
fees:
a.
Access user training course
(initial) $20.00
b. Access user training course
(advanced) 10.00
c, Video camp 50.00
(3) Videotape duplication fees:
a. 0-60 30 minutes of content 10.00
b.
61-120 minutes of content 20.00
c.
Over 120 minutes of content 30.00
(3) Videotape duplication processing
fee:
a. Processing fee . . . . 5.00
MCTV Rules and Procedures
Use of MCTV Equipment
2.1 MCTV
facilities and equipment are available for use by residents of the City or
County of Midland. A resident of the city
or county shall be determined to be a “qualified access user” and provided with
the privilege of utilizing certain MCTV equipment provided that person has:
a. Paid the user
fee established in Article VII, Chapter 21 of the City of Midland
Code of Ordinances.
b. Taken the training course provided by MCTV as
specified in paragraph 1.1; or
c. Demonstrated production capability and competence in
using the production equipment to the MCTV staff
d. Completed the access user application from, which
includes a statement of compliance with these rules. Any violation of these rules may result in
the qualified access user being temporarily or permanently restricted or
prevented from the use of MCTV equipment facilities at the discretion of the
MCTV Coordinator.
8.3 A qualified access user may purchase copies of his or her program on a video format purchased from
MCTV. obtain one copy of his or her program for which there will
be no duplication or processing fee.
MCTV will provide the qualified access user the copy on either a new
videotape supplied by the qualified access user or on a videotape purchased
from MCTV. Additional copies will
be made upon request at the rates established in Article VII, Chapter 21 of
the City of Midland Code of Ordinances.
8.4 Members of the public may also purchase request copies of a program on a video format purchased from MCTV videotape. at the
rates copying and processing fees established in Article VII,
Chapter 21 of the City of Midland Code of Ordinances. will be charged. New videotape(s) may be provided by the
person submitting the request or a videotape may be purchased from MCTV.
ARTICLE II
MIDLAND COMMUNITY TELEVISION
(MCTV)
ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD
RULES AND PROCEDURES
17. Electronic
Bulletin Board Messages.
Messages submitted for cablecasting may be submitted
by any resident of the City or County of Midland, who has paid the user
fee established in Article VII, Chapter 21 of the City of Midland Code of
Ordinances.
Messages must meet the criteria of Section
15-132 of the City of Midland Code of Ordinances.
BY COMMISSIONER
WHEREAS, City of Midland
staff have presented to the Cable Access Advisory Commission proposed revisions
to the MCTV Fees Ordinance and MCTV Rules and Procedures; and
WHEREAS, these revisions are
proposed to help reduce the projected deficit in the Cable Communication Fund;
and
WHEREAS, the Commission has
received input from the public through a formal public hearing and written and
electronic correspondence;
WHEREAS, the Commission has
deliberated this issue at two regularly scheduled meetings and one special
meeting; now therefore
RESOLVED, that the Commission
recommends to City Council that the proposed revisions to the MCTV Fees
Ordinance and the MCTV Rules and Procedures be adopted.
YEAS:
NAYS:
ABSENT:
I, Ron Beacom, MCTV Director,
City of Midland, Counties of Bay and Midland, State of Michigan, do hereby
certify that the foregoing is true and correct copy of a resolution adopted by
a yea vote of all the Commission
members present at a regular meeting of the Cable Access Advisory Commission
held Wednesday, November 8, 2006.
______________________________
Ron
Beacom, Staff Liaison
Below are two
e-mails we received after the Cable Access Advisory Commission meeting on
October 30 regarding the proposed fees:
My name is
Kathleen Dolan, 1211 Timber Drive. I produce
and host two public access shows on MCTV - One for The Arc of Midland and one
for MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland.
I serve on The Arc of Midland Board as president. I am also on the Management team for Midland
area Special Olympics. In each of these capacities – and for each of these
organizations - I have used the outstanding services of MCTV, whether it is the community calendar or
producing an informative program for the benefit of the community. Although I cannot speak for everyone in the
organizations to which I belong, I can tell you I believe that the fees that
MCTV is proposing are fair. The people
who are employed by MCTV as well as the volunteers are dependable,
knowledgeable and professional. In fact, I believe that if annual fees are
imposed, it would not only help reduce the projected budget deficit, but I would utilize the services of MCTV even
more to make sure that each organization gets its “money’s worth”. That would be just be sound business
practice. I support MCTV and the Cable
Access Advisory Commission’s recommendation. And I applaud MCTV for their
efforts.
________________________
Dear
Mayor Johnson and Councilmen:
On
behalf of Northwood University, I would like to tell you that the increases
proposed by MCTV and addressed at a meeting last evening have the approval of
Northwood University. Northwood University benefits in many ways from the
services of MCTV and the proposed prices are reasonable.
It
would be a disservice to our community to abandon MCTV. We hope this
station will continue to provide service to our Midland area community.
Northwood students are also getting involved with MCTV and learning how to
produce shows, edit, and video tape. This will be very useful to them in
the future as businessmen and women of the world.
Thank
you for your continued support of this wonderful station and its employees.
Sincerely,
Char
Rosin
Char
Rosin
Public
Relations Director
Northwood
University
Cable Access Advisory Commission
Goals for 2006-07
1.
Review proposed changes to MCTV Ordinances and Rules, hold public
hearings, and make recommendations to City Council.
2.
Review Cable Communications Fund Budget Response Plan for 2007-08 and
make recommendations to City Council
3. Increase awareness among access users and
the public about the challenges and opportunities facing MCTV
4. Hold a joint meeting with City Council to
discuss Budget Response Plan and Friends of MCTV organization
5. Participate in
MCTV’s “Honors Night 2006.”