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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSBCCF Min 1987-11-23 e SEAL BEACH CABLE COMMUNICATIONS FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING November 23, 1987 The Board of Directors of the Seal Beach Cable Communications Foundation met in regular session at 7: 30 p.m., with Vice-Chairman Mr. Jay Covington calling the meet- ing to order and leading the Salute to the Flag. Roll Call Present: Mr. Covington, Mr. Clow, Mr. Stein Absent: Mr. Arnold, Mr. Looney Introduction of Mr. Jim Clow Mr. Covington introduced and welcomed Mr. Jim Clow to the Board of Directors, Mr. Clow has been appointed to the Board to fill the vacancy created by the recent resignation of Mrs. Teresa Jones. Mr. Clow, as a former President of the Leisure World Portapak Club, is well known and respected by his fellow Board members, and they welcomed him to his seat. Minutes of October 26, 1987 Due to a lack of quorum of Board members who were present at this meeting, approval of these minutes were held over until the Board's next regularly scheduled meeting. OLD BUSINESS---Foundation Audit--Staff Staff explained that the Foundation's audit was being delayed because of an unreceived statement for the Foundation's checking account at the Seal Beach Bank of America branch office. This report was to be sent to the auditor from the Bank of America's Main Office in San Francisco, but had not yet been received by the auditing firm. It was expected that the completed audit would be ready by early January. . Foundation/City Financial Arrangements Staff reported that City Manager Mr. Bob Nelson had indicated that the letter of October 12, 1987, from Dan Joseph the the Foundation, would not necessarily be the final comment from the City concerning the Foundation's financial arrangement with the City. Mr. Nel- son said that he would be sending another letter to the Board within a week. Mr. Stein then proposed that the Board pay the City $4,000.00 per year for the responsibilities associated with the Foundation's bookkeeping. Mr. Covington seconded for the purpose of discussion. A lengthy discussion followed, which included Mr. Covington's brief review of the arrangements brtween the Foundation and the City, and staff read into the minutes a letter from Mr. Looney expressing his opinions concerning this arrangement. (This let- ter is attached to these minutes.) Mr. Stein felt that the funding of $4,000.00, which was th original amount proposed by City Financial Director Denis Thomas, ,was ,an adequate and proper amount for compensation. He felt that the Board's previously approved proposal of $3,000.00 and a yearly audit provided by the Foundation (a proposal which was rejected by the City) was causing the problems between the City and the Board, and he was in favor of the $4,000.00 proposal in order to create a more positive relationship between the two parties. After a full discussion, and in consideration of the absence of Mr. Looney and Mr. -Arnold, Mr. Covington withdrew his second, and asked that this item be placed on the Board's next agenda. . QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT This report was received from the City, and was included for the Board's information. Miss Lisa Yale of Comcast Cableoffered to supply the Board with an example of a financial re- port from another city, so that the Board could compare the reports. Mr. Covington stated his dissatisfaction with the Foundation's report, noting that it was a cumulative state- ment, with no other information included; he felt that this type of statement does not meet the needs of the Foundation. Comcast/SBOC Channel Change---Staff This item was included as a reminder to the Board that Comcast would be considering com- bining SBOC Channel 10 with KSBC Local Origination Channel 6 into one channel, which would be channel 3. Comcast had earlier indicated that this change would perhaps take place in January, 1988. - SHOC Banner---Miss Suzan Grab Miss Grab asked the Board for their recommendations concerning the wording of a banner to be palced across Main Street on various occassions. After a discussion, Mr. Covington moved that the banner read: "Channel 3 SBOC---Your Access to Community TV---Call 493-4561- --Seal Beach Cable Foundation." Mr. Stein seconds. AYES: Mr. Stein, Mr. Claw, Mr. Covington Noes: None Motion Carried Library Tapes---Staff/Miss Grab Miss Grab reported on the success of the Board's program to place copies of SBOC programs in the Mary Wilson Library, for check-out by library patrons. She also reported that the other two libraries in Seal Beach were initially willing to accept similar tapes, and the Board discussed this information, eventually agreeing that over a period of time such cop- ies of almost all public access programs should be put in the local library system. Mr. Clow expressed his concern that programs by, for, and about Leisure World be properly and rightfully included in this system. NEW BUSINESS---Letter to Andre Dupuy This item, a letter of reprimand to public access producer Andre Dupuy, was included for the Board's information. No action was needed or taken. . Funding Request---Mike Melton Mr. Stein moved that the Board approve $117.00 for Mr. Melton's public access program "Theater Street #4: Nutcracker Ballet." Mr. Claw seconds. AYES: Mr. Claw, Mr. Stein, Mr. Covington Noes: None Motion Carried The Board then considered amending the agenda to include two funding requests from access producers; staff had hoped to include these proposals at this meeting to prevent any un- reasonable delay due to the Christmas holidays occuring during the Board's next scheduled meeting date. The Board decided to not amend the agenda, nor to take any action on either proposal, but allowed Mr. Steven Bruce to present his thoughts and comments on his pro- posal, as he was in attendance. , Board Communications Mr. Stein then asked about the succes of the editing intern program; Mr. Covington asked about the upcoming SBOC Newsletter, and Miss Grab to~d the Board the the Newsletter was currently being compiled and would be available in early January. . Audience Communications Mr. Tom Kezar, the General Manager of the Comcast Cable Seal Beach system, had distributed to the Board, the City Council and the City Manager's office a brief overview of the pro- posals concerning the renewal and changes in a three-year agreement with the City (as part of the larger Cable Franchise Agreement) that would be expiring shortly. The basic pro- posal put forth by Mr. Kezar, who empahisized that htis is a preliminary proposal, in- cluded a change of location of facilites from the Seal Beach Old City Hall to other lo- cations in Seal Beach. The $75,000.00 annual grant from Comcast to the City would not take place, but Comcast would honor the intent of that $75,000.00 in spirit and in writing, con- tinuing to provide local origination programming, City Council coverage and Planning Com- mission coverage, and maintaining a public access studio in Seal Beach. There were other aspects of the proposal, mostly concerning technical and customer service obligations, and Mr. Kezar mentioned these in his remarks. Mr. Kezar explained that the nrasons for ~ . . for Comcast to move out of the Old City Hall included, among others, the high lease (near- ly $12,000.00 per month) and the low number of employees at that office (4). The Board understood these reasons, but further discussed the necessity and burdens of relocating the studio facility. Mr. Covington stated the importance of any new studio location having a comparable level of technical excellence, and questioned the set-up cost of creating such a studio elsewhere in Seal Beach. Mr. Kezar reiterated that Comcast intends to con- tinue to meet and exceed the quality and quantity of local origination programming and public access responsibilities. A full discussion of this proposal followed, with Mr. Covington emphasizing the need and importance of duplicating the technical quality of the current studio facility when it is relocated, and the Board fully agreed with that asses- ment. There was also concern that if the new facility was located at the McGaugh School Campus, the availability to all Seal Beach residents be guaranteed. Mr. Kezar responded to the Board's questions and concerns, and said that Comcast had no desire to compromise the quality of studio equipment or the location of the studio. At the close of this discussion, the Board thanked Mr. Kezar and Mlss Yale for their time and Mr. Kezar reminded the Board that this proposal and discussion was to inform the Board of the general ideas of the proposal. Due to the upcoming Christmas holidays, Mr. Covington suggested that the Foundation's next meeting be Tuesday, January 5, 1988, and directed staff to make proper arrangements. It was the consensus of the Board, and so ordered, to adjourn the Seal Beach Cable Com- munications Foundation at 9:45 p.m. Ray Allebaugh Foundation Staff ,"