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2015-01-22 (2)BEVERLY CABLE ADVISORY COMMISSION JOINT MEETING JANUARY 22, 2015 Cable Advisory Commission: Muriel Zaginailoff, Donald Berman, Diane Costa, Eric Overberg, Al Torsey, Alex Ushakoff BevCam John Augeri; Kim Alyn; Walter Kosmowski Beverly Council on Aging Mary Ann Holak Beverly Public Library Pat Cirone; Anna Langstaff Beverly City Information Technology Dennis Greenleaf The meeting was called to order by Muriel who called upon each participant to identity themselves after which she made introductory remarks regarding the purpose of the meeting. She noted that there was great interest and support expressed by the mayor and his chief -of -staff. She then called on Mary Ann to express her interest and position regarding video capabilities at the BCOA. Mary Ann noted that she appreciated the support given by BevCam and felt it was a good partnership. She was concerned that she could not spare the already stretched staff with any additional burdens and also that she did not have the space in which to store expensive equipment and was not positive about the additional responsibility entailed. Pat made similar points about having limited staff that she could not expect to take on additional responsibilities. She also thought the relationship with BevCam was good. She realized the potential for capturing lectures and civic meetings in better serving the stay - at -home community. Walter expressed appreciation for the positive comments on the relationships with BevCam and pledged continued support for requested program coverage. He pointed out that BevCam had never had to refuse a request and expected that with expanded staff and additional volunteers that the situation as presently handled would only improve. The demand had never been very high and did not present problems. He also pointed out to Pat that a robotic system was not easier but harder to operate by a novice. And finally, he said that even if such a system were decided upon, it could not be installed for 2 to 3 years due to budget constraints. Al Torsy wanted to know where was the money that was dedicated to these installations having been included in the renewal proposal to Comcast. Walter's response was that he was required to get approval from his board for all expenditures and that `mission critical' equipment purchases for a server for the anticipated third channel, new studio cameras and studio lighting had to take priority. Alex proposed a compromise to provide coverage during such a delay involving BevCam providing equipment at the library for volunteers to use whenever requested for coverage of lectures and events. Walter agreed this could be done. Muriel pointed out that while it certainly sounded like current conditions did not allow for additional responsibilities that in the future the situation could change and that the past history of infrequent use could change with time as additional capability was made available. Don explained the thinking behind the library robotic installation as a response to lack of volunteers who found the coverage requirements onerous since equipment needed to be picked up on Fridays, kept over the weekend, set up early Monday morning and returned that day. It was thought that having a turn-key system permanently in place would encourage greater coverage with more frequent usage. John Augieri thought that volunteers could be encouraged to provide coverage without any additional incentive. He did not think it took much effort to set up for lectures. Alex mentioned that with the additional fiber line drops at each school it would now be increasingly possible to originate live programming. This would provide a gradual approach to an installed robotic system and Walter agreed. Mary Ann continued to express doubt as to the popularity such equipment would enjoy. Once again she thought the present relationship of the senior production crew of'Livin' The Good Life' was highly dependent on BevCam support and did not want to become independent of that. Muriel called for Walter to provide an equipment budget for a robotic system for the library to serve as a starting point for further discussion. Walter replied that he had such a quote at $48,000 and that he was already over $35,000 over budget for capital equipment for the year. Dennis mentioned that the city's new fiber network was available and Walter stated that transceivers that enable usage by translating optical signals to electrical digital signals would be available by the end of March. Muriel concluded the meeting by calling on all to reflect on the discussion and consider meeting again for a conclusion. Meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM.