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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSBCCF Min 1993-09-20 ',' " . . . . SEAL BEACH CABLE COMMUNICATIONS FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES FOR SEPTEMBER 20, 1993 The Board of Directors for the Seal Beach Cable Communications Foundation met September 20, 1993 at 7:00 pm at the Mary Wilson Library in Seal Beach California. Mr. Mueller called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The pledge of allegiance was led by Laird Mueller. ROLL CALL Mr. Mueller, Mrs. Dahlin, Mr. Rowland, Mr. Clow. Mr. Palmer was absent. Marla Kreps from Comcast was present. CONSENT CALENDAR REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM AUGUST 16, and August 25, 1993 Mr. Clow moved the minutes of August 16, and August 25 be accepted and filed, Mr. Rowland seconded the motion. AYES: NAYS: MOTION Mr. Clow, -0- PASSED: 4-0 Mr. Rowland, Mrs. Dahlin, Mr. Mueller FINANCIAL REPORT & CHECK REQUEST Mr. Mueller stated that the Board is still solvent. Ms. Kreps advised the Board that the C.P.A.'s are going through records with a fine tooth comb for the audit. They are checking every piece of equipment from the inventory lists, going through minutes from previous minutes, and checking check requests against the invoices paid. Mrs. Dahlin moved the financial report and check request be accepted and placed on file. Mr. Clow seconded the motion. AYES: NAYS: MOTION Dahlin, Mr. Clow, Mr. Rowland, Mr. Mueller Mrs. -0- PASSED: 4-0 . . . '\ pg. 2 SBCCF 9/20/93 ACCESS FEES - ELAINE ALLBEE The Board members questioned the $10.00 duplication fee whether that is a cost they should incur. Ms. Kreps pointed out that the Board use to pay for duplication fees but when the new budget was implemented it was eradicated. Mr. Mueller asked how the Board felt about the issue. Mr. Clow responded.by stating the need to stick to the policy set forth. Mrs. Allbee explained the contents of her show to the SBCCF. Mr. Clow motioned to pay the access fee of $35.00, Mrs. Dahlin seconded the motion. AYES: NAYS: MOTION Mr. Clow, -0- PASSED: 4-0 Mrs. Dahlin, Mr. Mueller, Mr. Rowland OLD BUSINESS LOCAL ORIGINATION UPDATE Ms. Kreps informed the Board that the 3rd quarter L.O. news review show has not been done and something else will be done instead. Mr. Guzetta has been absent because he has been at Court T.V. In addition, the rough water swim has not been edited yet. Mr. Mueller asked if there were any questions and there were none. BOARD OF DIRECTORS INSURANCE Pollman insurance received the financial report from Roy Pritchett C.P.A. but the SBCCF has not heard from the insurance company. Mr. Mueller said this will need to be carried over to the next meeting and by then the audit report should be finished. Also there should be something from Pollman by then. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION Pete Arnold, former SBCCF chair, expressed some concerns. He was concerned about cable reregulation as well as how this will effect channel lineup. Mr. Arnold advised the Board to "hang tough" because it is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. There will be tremendous technological changes within the next five years between fiber optics with the phone company, compression, as well as digital which will make television much different from today. . . . pg. 3 SBCCF minutes 9/20/93 He urged the Board to pullout thl original agreement that Joanne Yeo has and skim through it for relocation possibility of the studio. Mr. Arnold expressed concern over downsizing the existing quality of the studio facilities. The Foundation needs to make sure that according to the contract the cable operator could not substitute inferior equipment and call it a studio. They should also watch their three channels. Ms. Kreps informed the Board and Mr. Arnold that only some of the Local Origination employees were going to leave Seal Beach, not Comcast. Comcast will honor their agreement to provide studio facilities to Seal Beach per the franchise agreement. Mr. Arnold spoke of renegotiating the franchise agreement in 94 and that the Foundation should contact the city manager. It is a formal franchise agreement which means you go out to bid. Local cable companies do not want to do that. Mr. Arnold stated again the concern about the studio and the existing building could go away probably in a couple of years, particularly if Comcast gets out from under the lease. If that happens the Board might want to move to the space by the head end and the space by the city council chambers. At the same time, the Board might want to consider where the head end goes as far as access to the channel he thinks it would be nice if the Foundation took complete charge of the channel. The 'police department or school could be options for relocation. Mr. Arnold went on to say he has been reading the c.g. messages from Dave Barford and that cable reregulation "would never have happened unless the cable company hadn't been raping the country for ten years." It is a fact, service is not one of their strong points and if it gets all the way to congress and the senate then something has to be wrong. NEW BUSINESS Ms. Kreps stated the need to have an engineer examine the equipment at Leisure World, the Council Chambers, and Old Town. There is a problem with the equipment at Leisure World which needs to be fixed and there are a couple of problems in Old Town. We have had the equipment for a while now and it has never been serviced so it needs to get done. This is a small investment to keep it running for years to come. . . . pg. 4 SBCCF 9/20/93 '. Mr. Clow added that Mr. Gray said Evan Guyer would check over our equipment periodically and clean it at no charge to the Foundation. Mr. Rowland expressed the need to have a maintenance contract for the equipment. This should have been negotiated back when the equipment was purchased. Mr. Clow asked what could be done, Comcast promised it would be done and it has not been. Ms. Kreps stated she did not believe that Mr. Gray had meant that Comcast would repair or do all the servicing for the Foundation. It is the Board's responsibility to have the equipment serviced and repaired, not the cable company's. Mr. C10w reiterated that Mr. Gray said he would see to it that the heads were cleaned, not that the equipment would be fixed or serviced. Mr. Arnold said that Mr. Gray is gone. The one year warranty is past. Good or bad, wrong or right, the equipment needs to be looked at. He recommended Don Anderson to examine all of the equipment. For a couple hundred bucks Mr. Anderson can give an evaluation of all three areas. In Leisure World the proper color is being lost, added Mr. Rowland. Mr. Arnold said Mr. Gray or Evan should not be blamed. that for two hundred dollars the Board will be surprised things are working. He added how well Mr. Clow said there has been a mistake, he did not blame Evan, Comcast does not give Evan the time to do it. It is not Evan's fault. "I want that cleared up." Mrs. Dahlin commented that it would be a prudent expenditure of the Board's funds. Mr. Mueller agreed with Mrs. Dahlin and added that after Don looks at the equipment then maybe the Board can come back to Comcast and have Evan periodically check the equipment. Don Anderson would have a vested interest in saying the equipment needs to be fixed whereas Evan would not. Mr. Rowland made the motion that Ms. Kreps be given the authorization to contact Don Anderson have him check the two edit bays as well as the city council chambers but that the price should not exceed $200.00. If the cost goes over that he should speak with Pete Arnold before submitting a bill. Mrs. Dahlin seconded the motion. . . . pg. 6 SBCCF minutes 9/20/93 AYES: NAYS: MOTION Mr. Rowland, -0- PASSED: 4-0 Mrs. Dahlin, Mr. Clow, Mr. Mueller PUBLIC ACCESS REPORT Ms. Kreps gave an update about having SBTV-3 as an intern site for Fullerton college. The college needs to supply paper work insuring that the student is covered under their insurance policy. It is Comcast corporate policy not to accept students unless they are enrolled in the internship program and have insurance through the school. Mr. Clow asked if it could be covered under workers compo It can not be covered under this because the intern is not on payroll and workers comp is for payroll employees. By the time the paperwork red tape is cleared up the semester will be over. Mr. Arnold asked how many public access shows are in progress. Ms. Kreps responded she did not have the exact number but probably around lO shows. Ms. Kreps will be doing a show Thursday night. Most of the shows are ENG shoots rather than studio shoots. Leisure world put together about 15 shows in the last 4 months or so. Mr. Arnold asked about the educational opportunities and their availability. Ms. Kreps stated she is in the middle of teaching a port-a-pak class, she's in the midst of teaching an editing class in Leisure World, and just finished a studio class a few weeks ago. There will probably be another studio class in November. Mr. Arnold asked about the possibility of contacting the cable company to see if a small bill stuffer about public access could be included in the bills. Mr. Arnold said it would not cost them anything. Ms. Kreps said she would check into it. CORRESPONDENCE None. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS Mr. Clow stated that the entire amount of access fees should be refunded. Mrs. Dahlin said that is why there are all the checks. A refund will be implemented once the records are checked. Mrs. Dahlin asked about the figures for tape cost and tape rental. Ms. Kreps said she would have it for next month since all the records are tied up in the audit right now. . . . pg. 7 SBCCF minutes 9/20/93 Mr. Clow asked about the high phone bill. The check is actually for $22.61 not eighty two dollars. There was a 3 to 4 month period in which a phone bill was not received, hence, the high phone bill. Mr. Clow commended Mrs. Dahlin for her fine job of composing the minutes for the special meeting in August. He thanked her for doing such a good job. ADJOURNMENT Mrs. Dahlin moved the meeting be adjourned at 7:57 pm. Mr. Rowland seconded the motion. AYES: NAYS: MOTION Mr. Clow, -0- PASSED: 4-0 Mr. Rowland, Mr. Mueller, Mrs. Dahlin Joseph Palmer, Chairman Marla Kreps, PA Coord. ,