Cable Advisory Council Area 2

Bridgeport, Fairfield, Milford, Orange, Stratford, Woodbridge

November 9, 2006

Present at Orange Town Hall Fairfield – Gerry Speno, Bob Greenberger, Jody Eisemann; Milford – Phil Kearney, Dennis Guaglianone, Mike Manente, Paula Patterson; Orange – Ron Davis, Marlene Silverstein; Stratford – Heather Siano, Kent Miller, Bruce Alessie; Woodbridge – Laurence Grotheer; Cablevision – Gary Shaw

Call to order at 7 p.m. A motion was made and seconded to approve the October minutes.

Membership Action Committee Bruce announced that Stratford has appointed an education rep to the council, Natalie Carrigan.

Treasurer’s Report The opening balance is $5,146.04 with disbursements of $395.54 for clerk, postage, copies and refreshments, leaving a closing balance of $4750.50. Paula added that this balance does not include the check due from Cablevision. Ron asked Gary to check on the status of the money due from Cablevision and he stated that they do not recall processing the request. Ron responded that both Paula and Howard have sent requests to Cablevision and Howard’s was acknowledged at the last meeting.

Agenda, Ron Davis, presiding officer Ron reported that Howard Jacobson, in absentia, has asked the membership to consider by a single motion these concerns raised by the council which were ignored by the DPUC in the Docket 05-04-09 summaries or remain unresolved in its relationship with Sound View: Notice to the DPUC of requests unanswered: (1) to require SV to use sub-ledger accounting for PEG; (2) to require regular attendance of a SV representative knowledgeable on producer and subscriber issues at all CAC meetings; (3 )to null section 1.5 of the interconnection agreement between Cablevision and SV; (4) its I-Net mandate within Sec. 7.1 and 7.8 of Cablevision’s franchise agreement.

After discussion and clarification on some points, Gerry made a motion that all four points be filed with the DPUC and to have Howard draft the document on behalf of the council. Vin Marino, Orange town attorney, asked to address the council. He wanted the members to be aware that if they file paperwork with the DPUC, the only purpose the documents may serve is to be noted on the record, He said the DPUC may choose to ignore the documents further. Dennis felt the council should go ahead with the motion “just to emphasize a point.” The motion was on the table, seconded and all members voted in favor.

Old Business Bob wanted to inform the members that in this weeks CT section of the NY Times, an article appeared about the Milford seniors losing the Turner Classic Movies Channel (TCM). Bob added that he sent the author an email explaining how the council was just discussing the same situation and the author of the article expressed disappointment that he did not know about the council’s plight prior to writing the article. Mike said he also has heard from elderly citizens about the channel’s removal from the family package. A question arose as to what happened to the signed petitions that were presented to Cablevision at the last meeting. Gary replied that all 68 petitions were forwarded to Cablevision’s corporate offices.

New Business Gerry said Fairfield is preparing an equipment list and intends to submit a request for funds with SV. He asked Tom Castelot, SV president, in attendance at the meeting, how the process worked to obtain a grant. Tom replied that Sound View has not drafted a form yet. He said Sound View is prepared to put aside the money for the towns once there is a final decision. Jody proposed that each town get a percentage of the grant money; there are 6 towns therefore each town should get one sixth. Tom replied that the goal of the grant is to get local programming. Jody asked how long it would take after a grant proposal is submitted before a town could receive a grant. Tom explained that no process or committee is yet in place to obtain funding so he cannot answer that question at this time.

Jody and Ron asked Tom if he would look to the council for advice and what would the committee formed be charged to do. Tom said the committee would put together a process and incentive plan for the towns for funding and that they would certainly look to the council for advice. Tom said he would take any suggestions or drafts submitted by council to such a committee.

Gerry made a motion, which he said was addressed to Cablevision as well, that sometime early in January, Sound View and the council should meet to discuss funding parameters, including the committee’s makeup, the distribution of funds and any conditions for town specific allocations. In the discussion which followed, Marlene said a motion was fine but premature because Cablevision is still under the old franchise requirements. Dennis felt it would be a good idea to request that a meeting be called once the process is announced. Bruce suggested that the council ask Gerry to withdraw his motion and ask Tom to bring the process to the December meeting. (Bruce was unaware that the council did not meet in December.)

Tom said that he was sure a process would not be in place by December. Most likely a plan could be finalized shortly after January 1. Gerry withdrew his motion and Bruce made a motion that Sound View present a process, once the final decision is rendered, through the CAC chair and to each of the represented communities by January 1. This motion was seconded by Kent. In the discussion which followed, Ron suggested conducting a Delphi poll as to the council’s thoughts which could be sent to Tom. Marlene suggested that any recommendations go through the GATA committee. Dennis disagreed with the timeline and suggested the council ask for something in writing about the funding process by Dec 8. Tom added that Sound View will be getting feedback from each individual town as well as from the council.

Ron asked Tom for his best estimate for a date where he could have a one page outline ready. Tom replied that he was unable to make any time commitment. Several staff and board members from Sound View are involved and each town is at a different level of programming. They have the entire year of 2007 to develop a plan. Bob insisted that Fairfield is looking for funds now and they will not wait 12 calendar months.

A vote was taken on Bruce’s motion on the floor – all present members voted in favor with one abstention from Mike and one opposition from Dennis. Dennis stated he would like to amend Bruce’s motion and request the information from Sound View by Dec 8. Dennis’s amendment was seconded by Gerry. A vote was taken with Bob Gerry and Dennis in favor, Ron Jody and Mike abstained, and Phil, Paula, Marlene, Laurence, Heather, Kent and Bruce opposed. In summary, Bruce’s motion carried without amendments, 11 in favor, one abstention, one opposed.

Cablevision Gary summarized Cablevision’s position on local E and G channels. Cablevision had sided with the council in their town specific quest. CV has filed some exceptions and will await the final decision.

Towns Gerry reviewed with members connectivity issues in Fairfield raised at an earlier meeting. The town so far has indicated it will re-establish the feed in one high school. FairTV will have a municipal partner, the historical society, whose director said he is willing to provide access and equipment storage for the town’s production unit within the Jacky Durrell Meeting Hall for education and municipal meetings. FairTV would provide live coverage locally or taped coverage systemwide.

Public Comment Tom reported that SV held its sixth annual Tommy awards. He said he awaits the final decision, now on schedule for November 22. Ron asked Tom for an update on Area 9. Tom said he has been awaiting a decision for three weeks.

Adjournment to executive session was at 7:55 p.m. The next regular meeting will be held March 8, 2007 in Milford at Platt Tech. An agenda will be mailed two weeks prior to the meeting. Directions to Platt will be mailed with the agenda.

Executive Session Public attendees were excused. Vin Marino, an attorney for Orange, was invited to remain. No motions were brought to the table for a vote during discussions. With no further actions, the meeting was adjourned.