Orion Community Cable Communications
Commission
Minutes of Regular Meeting
December 10, 2009
Orion Neighborhood Television Studio
Members Present: Ralph Painter, Brett Saunders, Joseph P.
Belanger, John Ranville,
Lucy Koscierzynski, Sarah Paine, John Steimel, JoAnn Van Tassel
Members Absent: Michael Toth
Also Present: Administrator Diane Griffiths, Granicus
Representative Nathan Schmidt,
Orion Township Clerk Penny Shults
Budget Public Hearing opened at 7:02 PM by Chair R. Painter. There were no comments received. Moved by J. Ranville, seconded by J. Belanger to close the public hearing. Motion carried. Public Hearing closed at 7:09 PM.
1. Call to Order
Regular meeting called to order at 7:09 PM by Chair R.
Painter.
2. Call to Public
None
3. Approval of Agenda
Moved by B. Saunders, seconded by J. Belanger to approve the
agenda as amended, moving agenda item 5F Administrator's Evaluation (closed
session) to the end of the agenda, 11C.
Motion carried.
4. Approval of Minutes
A. Regular Meeting of October 8, 2009
Moved by J. Ranville, seconded by B. Saunders to approve the minutes of the
October 8, 2009 Regular Meeting. Motion carried.
B. Special Meeting of
November 19, 2009
Moved by J. Ranville, seconded by B. Saunders to approve the minutes of the
November
19, 2009 Special Meeting. Motion carried.
5. Commission Business
A. Webstreaming Channels - Granicus
Presentation
N. Schmidt is
the sales representative for Granicus for Michigan and Ohio. Depending on budget
and staff, about 80-85% of Granicus clients use indexing. The content of the
streaming is owned by the client, and can be retrieved upon termination of the
contract. There are three media centers, providing redundancy for backup. The
centers are located in San Francisco, Canada, and Virginia. J. Steimel reminded
Commission members that the video is not the permanent record, that is still the
clerk's minutes. Granicus also offers a UVerse compatible encoder, so that we
could stream and send a signal to ATT simultaneously. We would still need T1
lines. RSS is available, if a resident subscribed, they could be notified when a
meeting became available on the website. J. Van Tassel brought up several
concerns with the contract. These concerns will be taken up with the appropriate
person at Granicus. N. Schmidt assured the commission that the standard
agreement can be modified. Granicus is offering service with no monthly fees
through April, 2010 if the contract is signed before December 31, 2009.
B. Grant Review: #091201 Charter
Township of Orion
The grant
request of $25,572.29 is for audiovisual and lighting upgrades for the Orion
Township Board Room. P. Shults wants to provide the same information to people
at home
and people in the audience at the township hall. Low lighting needs to be fixed
with additional
lights. J. Ranville pointed out that it is a conflict of interest to use the
Orion Township electrical
inspector for the installation. J. Van Tassel recommended having the job
inspected by Oxford, Waterford or Clarkston if the Orion inspector performs the
work. R. Painter asked about training, and was assured by P. Shults that the
cost of training was included. Moved by J. Belanger, seconded by S. Paine to
honor Orion Township's request for $25,637.29. Motion carried.
C. Building Search
R. Painter
stated that there are now five sites to be considered. Orion Township is
considering constructing a building for a community/senior center behind Kmart,
and has offered to share the building with ONTV. ONTV would pay for the
construction of their share of the building. In answer to B. Saunders' question
on the time frame, J. Van Tassel said that the plan is to construct one year
from now. The building would be owned by the township, except the part
designated for ONTV, which would be owned by OCCCC. There would be shared
maintenance fees. The building would be 27,000 square feet total on three
floors. Our share would be approximately 4,500 square feet. J. Ranville pointed
out that the location has no visibility. Moved by J. Belanger, seconded by B.
Saunders to revisit this issue in February, when more information may be
available.
D. Resolution
Regarding Community Access Preservation (CAP) Act
Moved by J.
Ranville, seconded by J. Belanger to change the wording of the document provided
by Meridian Township to apply to the cable commission, and pass it on to the
Village of Lake Orion and Orion Township after being reviewed by the Chair.
Motion carried.
E. 2010 Meeting Schedule
Moved by B.
Saunders, seconded by J. Steimel to accept the 2010 Meeting Schedule as
presented. Motion carried.
6. Treasurer's Report
A. Payment of Bills - NATOA
Renewal 1/1/10
Moved by J.
Van Tassel, seconded by B. Saunders to pay the bills in the amount of $8,942.51.
Motion carried. Moved by J. Van Tassel, seconded by S. Paine to approve
payment in January of the $585 NATOA annual membership renewal and $375
legislative
assessment, for a total of $960.00 Motion carried.
B. AT&T Escrow Account
Treasurer J.
Belanger will deduct $70,118.85, the amount of franchise/PEG fees received
from AT&T, from the checking account and put it in a separate account from
which to pay for the equipment and lines necessary to send AT&T our PEG
channels. This will be on the February agenda and more information will be
available.
C. 2010 Proposed Budget
Moved by J.
Van Tassel, seconded by J. Steimel to accept the 2010 Budget as
presented and to forward it to the Village of Lake Orion and Orion Township.
Motion carried.
D. Franchise Fee Report
Moved by J.
Van Tassel, seconded by J. Ranville to receive and file the report. Motion
carried.
7. Cable Providers' Reports
A. Comcast
1. October 9
letter re: Channel Lineup Changes
2. October 21
letter re: Channel Lineup Changes
3.
Franchise/PEG Fees Received
Moved by J. Ranville, seconded by J. Van Tassel to receive and file the
Comcast correspondence. Motion
carried.
B. AT&T
Franchise /PEG Fees Received
Moved by S. Paine, seconded by J. Steimel to receive and file the AT&T
correspondence. Motion carried.
8. Administrator's Report
A. Subscriber Concerns Log - December
No complaints received for this time period.
B. Legislative Update
There is a possibility that Comcast and NBC will merge. The CAP Act has been
introduced in the house and is still in committee.
9. ONTV Board Report
Moved by J. Van Tassel, seconded
by S. Paine to receive and file the 2010 ONTV Budget. Motion carried. Chuck
Stokes gave a presentation at the last producers' meeting, which was
very well attended. A lot of effort by staff, volunteers, and board members went
into creating
the float for the holiday parade. A trailer was provided by S. Paine's husband
and the float
was built in their pole barn, mostly by J. Belanger and R. Painter. Santa Claus
was
videotaped visiting with children at the Union Church after the parade.
10. Upcoming Conferences and Conference Reports
The Alliance conference will be held
in July in Pittsburgh and NATOA has cancelled plans for their annual conference.
11. Communications Received
A. Thank you Letter from Meridian
Township
B. Michigan Chapter NATOA Report
submitted to National by President
Caren Collins
Moved by J. Van Tassel, seconded by J. Ranville to receive and file the
correspondence. Motion carried.
Regular meeting suspended at 9:55 PM to enter closed
session for agenda item 11C. Administrator's Evaluation. Regular meeting resumed
at 10:02 PM.
Moved by J. Ranville, seconded by L. Koscierzynski to renew the Administrator's
contract for one year with an increase in salary of 1%. Motion carried.
12. Commissioner Comments
B. Saunders is glad that the
information is now on the commission web page but thinks that it is very plain.
He is also glad that the Granicus representative was at the meeting and would
like to see us streaming. Swagit is another company that will offer the same
service for 5%
less than Granicus. B. Saunders received his invitation for the cable commission
holiday
gathering and objected to the request for guests to "wear your gaudiest
holiday duds" on the
invitation. He said that gaudy means tasteless, and he doesn't think the cable
commission
should host a tasteless party. J. Ranville hopes to get somewhere on the
building soon. R.
Painter announced that this is his last meeting for the season, he will be
heading to Florida
soon, and he knows that Brett will do a good job chairing the meetings in his
absence. S.
Paine thanked everybody who worked on the float and felt good about it even
though we
didn't win anything.
13. Adjournment
Moved by J. Van Tassel, seconded by
J. Ranville to adjourn the meeting. All ayes, motion carried. Meeting adjourned
at 10:19 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
John Ranville, Secretary
Diane Griffiths, Administrator