Rutland Cable Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes – January 31, 2018
Members present: Chairman Paul Mattson, Jim Kelley, Peter Craine, Christian Santillo.
Members absent: Addison Redfield
Guests present: None
Meeting was called to order by chair at 6:00 PM.
Meeting Minutes
Meeting minutes from December 12, 2017 accepted at 6:07 PM. Jim moved; Christian 2nd; vote was unanimous.
Bills and Accounts
Paul presented a Treasurer’s report. Total expenses were $2,218.15, including salaries, since the December meeting.
The charges to Camera Company were for the two replacement microphone kits (one for the kits, proper, the other for the shipping fees).
The “Paul Reimb.” Item was a payment for membership in Mass Access.
Financial report was accepted as presented at 6:11 PM. Peter moved; Jim 2nd; vote was unanimous.
Old Business
New Dell Computer
Dell field sales has reorganized recently. Paul is waiting for a new contact to continue pursuing this purchase.
Microphones
The new microphone kits have arrived and been used for the budget meetings.
Shall we fix the old microphones? Red has a problem with the receiver. Yellow has a problem with the cable. Consensus is to repair the old mics and put them into the studio, depending on how much the repair would cost. Paul has authority to spend up to $500.00 without the Committee’s preapproval. Committee agreed that seems like a good repair cost limit, given the cost of new microphones.
Paul will try to get the receiver repaired and replace the two cables (with new cables that are shorter than 6 feet).
Website and Streaming
Christian has been looking into the technical requirements to stream our channels live on the Internet, by connecting equipment to our current Nexus.
Leightronix sells a unit that will connect to our current Nexus. That unit has a one-time cost of $4,000 for the rackmount box. There is also a recurring $1,800/month cost for the service, assuming Rutland hosts the Internet streaming connections. This subscription level allows 2,100 hours of viewership per month. Viewership hours can be increased by increasing the subscription, with a maximum of about $5,000/month.
Connecting the new box is simple, splitting the connection between the Live Stream and Internet Streaming device.
We (Rutland) can host the streaming on our website by embedding the streaming applet. We can choose to have Leightronix host the applet (and Internet bandwidth) for an extra cost.
Do we need to explicitly offer an “on demand” service? We decided that YouTube is an adequate service level.
Quick discussion about Holden Community Television’s website, which is not the same as the Town’s website. [Peter learned after the meeting that hctv11.com is hosted by GoDaddy while holdenma.gov is hosted by Virtual Town and Schools (vt-s.net)].
Christian also learned that our Nexus device is old enough to be out of support. Leightronix will sell us a new HD-capable unit for $8,000.
Jim suggested convincing Leightronix to offer a “bundled” price to include all services. Peter also suggested getting an equivalent quote from Tightrope and play the two companies off each other.
If we need to choose between Live Streaming and On-Demand viewing, which should we choose? Paul has been asked for Live Streaming and considers this service a requirement.
From the Floor:
Paul said he will talk to Charter to find a way to grant remote access to the Nexus.
Peter noted that there will be a Special Town Meeting at 7:00 in the Blair Room of the Library to vote on the Temporary Marijuana Moratorium. Peter will post a notice on the two channels.
New Business:
YouTube Posting Policy
Peter had approached Paul with the idea of writing a policy describing what RCTV will, and will not, post on YouTube. Peter believes this policy should be written and published before or concurrently to announcing the YouTube channel.
Peter suggested the policy include not posting programs (RCTV recordings) where children are an “important part” of the proceedings. The elementary schools have different policies about supplying children’s names in the DVDs; a number of parents are concerned with posting content with their children.
Christian asked if we should be getting some form of “release” from people? We don’t think that’s necessary. Recordings take place in public places where, the courts have ruled, there is no expectation of privacy.
It seems likely that RCTV would only post its own productions (not from third parties, certainly not without their consent).
Christian mentioned creating playlists as well as posting the programs.
Peter will submit a first draft at the next meeting.
Peter has been posting Select Board and Budget meetings to the channel since the beginning of the year. Peter will consider posting older meetings to flesh out the channel.
Phone service for the Committee
The Committee currently pays Charter more than $100/month for phone and Internet service.
Plans to upgrade the Town’s phone service are not yet gelled and no new numbers will be added to the current system until decisions are made, so the Committee can’t go that route.
Peter spoke to the Town Administrator about the Internet connection. She agreed that the Committee may use the Town’s connection. This can be reconsidered when streaming services are offered.
Committee discussed options, including getting a Cell Phone. The phone is currently used sparingly. Perhaps a VOIP service like Vonage or MagicJack?
The committee decided to stay with Charter phone for now and cancel the Internet subscription.
Job Descriptions
Jim asked about the status of posting? That is still the intent. Paul has been busy with other issues. Committee will discuss these next time.
Paul also needs to get the latest OAD pay charts to make sure our proposed pay is in line.
This brought up a brief discussion of Paul’s stipend. This will be discussed at the next meeting.
Next Meeting
The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for 6:00 PM on Wednesday, February 21, 2018.
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned, unanimously [Motion: Peter; 2nd Jim) at 7:18 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Craine
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