Rutland Cable Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes – May 16, 2018
Members present: Chairman Paul Mattson, Jim Kelley, Peter Craine, Christian Santillo.
Members absent: None
Guests present: None
Meeting was called to order by chair at 6:05 PM.
Meeting Minutes
Amended meeting minutes from April 9, 2018 accepted at 6:12 PM. Christian moved; Paul 2nd; vote was unanimous.
Bills and Accounts
Paul presented a Treasurer’s report. Total expenses were $612.12, including salaries, since the April meeting.
The $25.67 payment to Rutland Hardware was for purchasing batteries.
The Charter Comms payment has now stabilized at $16.63 for phone service.
Financial report was accepted as presented at 6:14 PM. Peter moved; Christian 2nd; vote was unanimous.
Old Business
New Broadcast Equipment
Two questions came up almost immediately:
- Is our channel feed to Charter analog or digital? We strongly suspect digital because it’s Charter’s fiber line.
- Can we convert to High Definition channels? No answer yet. Need to contact Charter to see what it would take.
We re-reviewed Unique Media Systems’ (UMS) quote of a Tightrope-based system. Lengthy discussion about many components. Interesting questions:
- How much storage do we need on the VOD server? Assume we broadcast, on average, 14 hours of programming every day. Also assume we will broadcast a higher quality signal than we currently could with our programming/conversion approach. Furthermore, assume we will use a high quality/bandwidth reducing CODEC (e.g., H.264). Someone (perhaps UMS) needs to do some math.
- 1 or 2 Bulletin Board servers? It sounds like having 2 would make some administration easier, but some administration would be harder/duplicated. We need more information from UMS about this before making a decision.
- This led into a discussion about what organizations would have permission to administer their own Bulletin Board information? The Committee has always wanted Public Safety to have access. Some on the Committee have proposed letting the Town Clerk, Library, and, perhaps, Council on Aging have access; these three organizations represent the majority of announcement posting and some feel the Committee does not have the resources (at least not yet) to be as responsive as necessary to these groups. We will have more discussions about this at future meetings.
Peter will draft a set of questions for UMS.
Leightronix is ready to demonstrate their latest system (UltraNexus? Something else?) to the Committee. The Committee’s chosen date is June 12 at 6:00 PM.
Paul is working with TeleVue for a demonstration.
Job Descriptions
Peter noted that all the OAD wage tables were updated at the Annual Town Meeting. We assume these changes take effect July 1 (start of new fiscal year).
Paul will adjust budget based on new tables.
The two positions (Camera Operator and Production Assistant) will be part time non-benefitted positions. May need to add the “non-benefitted” part to the descriptions when they are formally written.
Should we add “… and access to a vehicle to transport self and equipment”, or something like this, to the descriptions? Paul will consider.
Motion to create described positions and begin hiring process accepted at 7:04 PM. Peter moved; Jim 2nd; vote was unanimous.
Salaries
When Paul’s stipend was created, it was based on a fair wage of $10/hour with a usual work week of about 10 hours/week.
The Committee feels that the hourly wage should be increased as this position is now part of a management structure, based on hiring and managing at least two people. The Committee feels it would be better if the stipend were based on the MTP chart (MTP1 step 1).
Furthermore, Paul has been tracking his working time. He has put in an average of 18 hours/week in the past year.
Motion to raise Paul’s stipend to MTP1 step 1 with 18 hours/week at 7:25 PM. Peter moved; Jim 2nd; vote was unanimous, with Paul abstaining.
Budget
Paul may need to work through the Fall Town Meeting to adjust the budget based on new salary structure. It will depend, mostly, on actually hiring people to fill the positions. Paul will keep us informed.
Internet Posting Policy
Internet Posting Policy was reviewed. Christian found a small issue on second page section heading. Peter will fix.
Motion to accept Internet Posting Policy at 7:32 PM. Christian moved; Jim 2nd; vote was unanimous.
Peter will edit the policy and send it to the Town Clerk to be posted on the Committee’s web page.
Peter will also write a public announcement to inform people of the presence of our YouTube channel.
Old microphones
Microphone cable information is now straightened out.
Paul is working with Sennheiser about Red’s repair and finishing acquisition of Yellow’s cable.
Website and Streaming
The committee believes it will be best to use a streaming service created by the provider of our broadcast equipment, rather than creating and managing a web site of our own.
Next Meeting
The Committee’s next meeting is scheduled for 6:00 PM on Wednesday, June 28, 2018.
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned, unanimously [Motion: Peter; 2nd Jim] at 7:32 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Craine
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