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201703211655;� V P o BEVERLY CABLE TV ADVISORY COMMISSION , o Meeting held September 15, 2016 F 1-Y Members Present Muriel Zaginailoff, Chair; Diane Costa; Al Torsey; Alex Ushakoff, Nathan Skuse BevCam representative: Ex. Director, Walter Kosmowski Recorder: Alex Ushakoff CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by the chair at 7:02 PM The Chair invited ED Walter Kosmowski to present the BevCam quarterly reports. Walter commented that Bob Hobbs was supposed to attend tonight's meeting but took ill at the last minute and could not attend. Walter mentioned that the studio manager Kim Allyn had recently suffered a heart attack but had made a full recovery and was now back at work. Walter reported that the capital upgrades at the BevCam studio are now complete. They include new studio lights, new studio high definition cameras, a new streamlined studio control room and new hi -def camera outfits for BevCam members to check out for their own productions. Many of the upgrades replace equipment that was as much as 10+ years old. Walter presented the June ED report which highlighted some of the programs the station has recently produced and aired including 101 " Airborne Division which does fishing trips and whale watches for area veterans. This year the program took place in a program called Horsemanship for Heroes whereby animals are used in a supportive therapy way to help veterans dealing with a multitude of issues such as fear and anxiety. On June I" the city sponsored an economic development summit and BevCam was thereto cover it. The program.showcased how well Beverly is suited to helping new businesses. BevCam won 5 National ACM awards this year. Walter reported that the station also won 9 regional ACM awards. In June BevCam staff met at the State House in Boston with the legislature to follow up with a proposed bill that would allow cable access stations to broadcast in high definition. At the l l hour the bill was killed which means there will be no new regulations requiring cable providers to carry local programming in hi -def. Walter commented that for some reasons the minutes of the CATV commission are not displaying or printing correctly on the website that the city uses to make such records available. On a technical issue Walter reported difficulty with the new fiber optic city sponsored network with regards to BevCam "plugging- into" the new network and streaming programs live the channel. Of particular concern was the connection at Hurd Stadium because of the Beverly High School Football Season that is now underway. Muriel asked why Paul Earl, President of the BevCam board, does not attend the quarterly joint meetings with the commission. Walter explained that Paul is too busy to attend. Walter brings various board members to the joint meetings when possible. Walter reviewed the regular reports including membership, producers, and programming hours all of which show positive growth. He reported strong continued growth with the new third channel 99. Walter concluded his remarks and the joint meeting adjourned at 7:52 PM. The CTVAC was called to order at 7:57 PM There was a general discussion among the commission members concerning plans to increase the number of commission members and the continuing need to identify and formulate a strategic plan for the future of the commission. Minutes for the June 21, 2016 and July 16, 2016 commission meetings were reviewed, voted on and accepted. The commission did not meet in August. The BevCam annual meeting is on September 19, 2016. Several board members indicated they plan to attend and see the new capital improvements that have been made to the station and meet some of the producers and staff members. Nathan asked Diane Costa who reviews the financial reports that BevCam provides. He raised a question about the elevated salary figure that is reported as a lump sum amount on the spreadsheet. Diane stated that our group monitors the reports at the end of each year during the December joint meeting. The trouble with online minutes formatting was briefly discussed. The minutes are given to City Hall not the library. The minutes are posted on the website minutes(&beverlyma.gov It seems not to be functioned correctly. The responsibility for this issue lies with the City Clerk's office or the website that publishes them, not the commission. Alex volunteered to contact the IT department at City Hall and ascertain why BevCam is having trouble connecting their cameras to the new city fiber network. He will report back to the commission at the October meeting. The next meeting will be at 7 PM on October 20, 2016 at The Beverly Library. The meeting adjourned at 8:46 PM. Beverly Cable TV Advisory Commission '.E'` z�coE Meeting held October 17, 2016 2711M421 Ai1:58 Members Present Muriel Zaginailoff, Al Torsey, Alex Ushakoff, Nathan Skuse. Absent: Diane Foster Recorder: Nathan Skuse CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by the chair at 7:05 PM The Chair mentioned that it may make sense to open discussions in regard to moving the Joint meeting with BevCam usually scheduled for December, to January. The commission could then receive a full year financial reports within the current financial year together with the incoming budget. After discussion it was agreed to put this on the agenda for the next Joint Meeting. Minutes from the September 15 meeting were distributed by Alex and reviewed by the members. Minutes were approved. Alex described the Annual Bevcam meeting on September 19th as well attended with most /all employees, members, and producers present. At the meeting, the new cameras, LED lights and updated equipment were presented. Muriel reported that there had been positive developments with the Task Force and that Ting and the city had resumed discussions. Muriel mentioned that there is a Task Force meeting with Kevin on the 10t of November at City Hall. Alex mentioned that he had discussed with Russ Fisk of the city Inet, the Exec.Director's complaint that the drop at Hurd Stadium did not work. Alex reported that apparently, Bevcam was trying to use equipment that is incompatible with the new Inet interface. Bevcam received new equipment that is being tested and if all goes well, it should be able to live broadcast the Panthers Football game shortly. Nathan suggested that Bevcam may need extra training on using this hook up. Al brought up for discussion again the fact that for some time the city had not received a Comcast report on service and complaints. This report is recognized as a good measuring tool. During discussion Nathan asked if it makes sense to request outage and complaint reports from Comcast on a quarterly basis at this time and it was recommended that the commission ensure that this report be incorporated into the next Comcast agreement. The meeting adjourned at 7:46 PM. f: R 0 BEVERLY CABLE TV ADVISORY COMMISSION Minutes of Meeting November 17, 2016 A ll : �g Members Present: Muriel Zaginailoff, Chair, AL Torsey, Alex Ushakoff, Nathan Skuse Absent: Diane Costa Recorder: Muriel Zaginailoff The meeting was called to order at 7:10 P.M. The meeting was opened by guest Sean Leach of the Task Force who updated the commission regarding recent research and contacts. Information has continued to be exchanged between the city and Ting. Sean spoke about a recent contact he had made with a new company called Axia in the same field as Ting and who worked on similar criteria and said the Task Force was expecting to develop more information in the near future. The problem of attaching a wire to exiting power poles in Beverly continues, as do the considerations of ownership and costs. The Task Force will continue research in all aspects and leads. After the update discussion and questions followed. Sean will continue to update the commission on a regular basis. The regular meeting of the commission was called to order at 7:40 P.M. Minutes of October 20, 2016 were presented for acceptance and were so voted. Unanimously. It was noted that current terms of office for Alex Ushakoff and Muriel Zaginailoff would expire January 31, 2017 and upon their decisions paperwork would be submitted to Mayor Cahill. There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 8 :05 P.M. Next meeting on December 15, 2016 ,)F Pl VERO BEVERLY CABLE TV ADVISORY COMMISSION Joint meeting with BevCam Q F I t' Meeting of December 15, 2016 2 1 A g Members Present: Muriel Zaginailoff, Chair, Diane Costa, Nathan Skuse, Alex Ushakoff Members Absent: Al Torsey BevCam: Walter Kosmowski Recorder: Diane Costa The joint meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. The Executive Director of BevCam presented reports from October and November, 2016. In his report for October, Walt highlighted some of the city's events taped by BevCam. In particular, the local US Coast Guard conducts regular interactive presentations to young audiences. This month, they made a presentation to a group of Boy Scouts at the Dane Street Church on boating safety using a remote control boat called "Coastie ", the talking Tug. A new series, Go Green, produced by Richard Mullen, has gotten off to a good start, and Walt announced that The Beverly Council on Aging has been taping their "Livin' the Good Life" series for about 10 years and just taped its 100th show. During November, Walt noted that media students at Beverly High School recently won 3 first place awards from the Alliance for Community Media North East. Justice, a 12 year old boxer, and his owner Paul Konowicz were special guests on the Dog Health News show this month. Justice lost the use of his hind legs, but is able to get around with a specially made wheeled cart that straps on his body On Sunday, November 27, BevCam broadcast the city of Beverly's annual holiday parade, both live and streamed on its web site. Walt highlighted some of the new public producers /shows during 2016. He reported on 3rd quarter memberships and training hours and noted that Robert has more training hours than others because he trains students. In his report on distribution of programming hours on Channel 8, Walt noted that Channel 99 is now purely government programming. BevCam does double up on City Council and School Committee meetings on Channel 8, but these meetings are predominantly aired on Channel 99. In response to a question about the progress made at Hurd Stadium, Walt confirmed that everything has been completed. BevCam's quarterly budget as of 12/9/ 16 was reviewed by the Commission. Walt reported that there were no changes in operating procedures. Diane asked about BevCam's fiscal year, and Walt responded that it runs from January to December. Discussion followed regarding the possibility of moving the quarterly meeting from December to January so that this report will reflect year end figures in keeping with BevCam's fiscal year. It was agreed by all to make this change in the future, beginning in January 2018. Nathan asked about BevCam's internet service provider. Walt reported that Comcast provides internet access which allows a 3rd party to stream for BevCam. There wasn't an entry for this on the budget for 3rd quarter. Walt explained that this is because the amount is now paid directly from their bank account. In a follow -up email, he reported that the amount paid is $185.78 and noted that the line item for this will be adjusted to reflect that cost. The joint meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.