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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSBCCF Min 1988-04-25 SEAL BEACH CABLE COMMUNICATIONS FOUNDATION Board of Directors Meeting April 25, 1988 . The Board of Directors of the Seal Beach Cable Communications Foun- dation met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., with Chairman Mr. Peter Arnold calling the meeting to order and leading the Salute to the Flag. Roll Call: Present: Mr. Arnold, Mr. Stein, Mr. Looney, Mr. Clow Absent: Mr. Covington Minutes of March 28, 1988 Mr. Clow moved that the minutes be approved as written. Mr. Looney seconds. AYES: Mr. Stein, Mr. Arnold, Mr. Clow, Mr. Looney Noes: None Motion Carried OLD BUSINESS--Minutes of March 14, 1988 Mr. Looney moved that the minutes be approved as written. Mr. Clow seconds. AYES: Mr. Stein, Mr. Arnold, Mr. Clow, Mr. Looney Noes: None Motion Carried Local Origination ProRram Update Mr. Arnold said that he had recently met with Comcast staff members to discuss 'increasing the amount of yearly local origination programs to 35, in order to eate a more cost-effective amount of programming for the Foundation's ex- ense of $25,000.00 to Comcast each year for such programming. There was a brief discussion over whether or not each individual program actually costs Comcast $1,000.00 per program, and the Board also discussed the need for a more clear definition of how public access and local origination can produce such high-profile programs (such as sporting events) that would fall into the category of an I/o program. After a full discussion of these issues, the Board asked if Comcast could provide the Foundation with a budget for each program on the list. Comcast agreed that such a listing of expenditures was possible, but the Board ultimately did not take action on this request, and asked that this item continue on the next agenda. Studio Information/Old City Hall--Comcast_Staff Miss Lisa Yale of Comcast Cable told the Board that Monogram Entertainment Cor- poration was continuing to move into their leased space, and that no difficultie! had been encountered. Since this was an informational item for the Board, no action was necessary or taken. Mr. Arnold did say that he thought it was imper- ative that the issue of Comcast haling access to the studio a minimum of nine days per month be explicity spelled out in any agreement between Comcast and Monogram Corporation. Miss Yale assured the Board that such wording does exist in the lease signed by both parties. Proposed Channel Lineup Changes--Cgmcast Staff Mr. Doug Montandon of Comcast Cable appeared before the Board to re-explain the ~a~s of Comcast to restructure the channel lineup. During his presentation, he ~id that the existing channel 6 (local origination) and channel 10 (public ac- cess) would be combined into channel 3, with channel 19 remaining the same (as the Community Bulletin Board.) Mr. Arnold then said that this arrangement would leave community programming with only two chanaels, not the three agreed upon in the Franchise Agreement; and he expressed his dissatisfaction with this pro- posal, and said that the City Council would probably share that opinion. There was a full and complete discussion that follower!, with both the Board and Mr. ~tandon hoping to resolve this problem in a way that would benefit both the "'undation's responsibility to community television and the needs of Comcast Cable. During the discussion, it was suggested that Comcast take this proposed channel lineup to the City Council for their input; eventually, Mr. Montandon suggested that community television utilize channels 3 and 19, ~s previou~ly propose~, and share channel 48 with character generated information. Mr. Montan- don reminded the Board that at some future date Comcast may need to realign the lineup again, and may need to use channel 19 and relocate the community bulletin board from that channel. After further discussion, and with the agreement of Mr. Montandon, Mr. Looney moved that the Board approve the choices of channels 3, 48, and 59 as designated community programming channels, with the understan- ding thatthese channels will be available for use. Channel 48 will share char- acter-generated information with Comcast. This motion was meant as a recommen- dation to the City Council, if they desire such a recommendation. Mr. Clow seconds. AYES: Mr. Clow, Mr. Stein, Mr. Looney, Mr. Arnold Noes: None Motion Carried Senior Citizens Access Fee--Staff Mr. Clow moved that the Board endorse a policy that will allow senior citizens who reside in or work in Seal Beach, and who qualify under access guidelines, to create access programs with an access fee of only $10.00. The age limit for this policy will be 55 years of age. Mr. Looney seconds. .~YES: Mr. Arnold, Mr. Stein, Mr. Looney, es: None Motion Carried Mr. Clow Financial Report from City--Staff During the brief review of the Financial Report received from Finance Director Denis Thomas, Mr. Arnold asked staff to find out if it was possible for the Foundation could be receiving a higher interest rate. Mr. Arnold gave staff a copy of a financial document form the Pasadena Community Access Corporation, which receives an interest rate of 9.03%. Mr. Stein asked staff to supply a monthly total of money issued from the Foundation in the form of checks, and Miss Lisa Yale of Comcast indicated that she would try to meet with Mr. Thomas to clarify some of the items listed in the Financial Report. NEW BUSINESS--Funding ReQuest--Penny Granafei Mr. Clow moved that the Board fund $21.00 to Mrs. Granafei for her public ac- cess program "Spring Sing." Mr. Looney seconds. AYES: Mr. Arnold, Mr. Stein, Mr. Clow, Mr. Looney Noes: None Motion Carried Funding ReQuest--Mark Hoover The Board asked thatthis request be held over until their next meeting as Mr. Hoover was unable to attend the meeting, Funding ReQuest--Mark Hoover ~he Board asked that this request be held over until their next meeting. as ..,r. Hoover was unable to attend this meeting. Funding Request--Mark Hoover The Board asked that this request be held over until their next meeting, as Mr. Hoover was unable to attend the meeting. uest--Miss Suzan Grab ring the discussion of this proposal, Mr. Arnold asked Comcast staff to make every attempt to arrange that this production be videotaped in the best possible lighting, to insure that the quality of the production will be worth the ex- pense. Mr. Looney then moved that the Board fund'$425.00 to Comcast for costs associated with the public access program "McAuliffe Choir Concert." Mr. C10w seconds. AYES: Mr. Arnold, Mr. Stein, Mr. Clow, Mr. Looney Noes: None Motion Carried FundinR ReQuest--Miss Suzan Grab Mr. Clow moved that the Board fund $471.59 to Sir Sppedy for the costs of prin- ting the upcoming SBOC Newsletter. Mr, Looney seconds. AYES: Mr. Arnold, Mr. Stein, Mr. Clow, Mr. Looney Noes: None Motion Carried Letters from Access Producers This was an informational item for the Board; no action was necessary or taken. Board Communications Mr Stein asked staff to supply the Board with an updated listing of public ac- cess programs funded by the Board, and Mr. Arnold gave staff a copy of documents form the Pasadena Community Access Corporation concerning an insurance policy obtained for that corporation. Mr. Arnold also mentioned the legal problems .rrently existi,ng between the City of Santa Ana and Comcast Cable, and expresse( e opinion that Comcast's tactic of informing subscribers that a large part of their monthly bill (approximately $4.50) was because of public access costs was unprofessional, and, in his words, "tacky." It was the opinion of the Board, and so ordered by the Chair. to adjourn the Seal Beach Cable Communications Foundation at 9:30 p.m. Ray Allebaugh/Foundation Staff .