Minutes of the Wednesday, December 15, 2004 PEG Advisory Committee:
Members Present: Andy Dunn
Ed Newman
Jim Parr
Ross Perry
Also Present: Ann VanTine, PEG Program Coordinator
Lew Halprin
Bob Mong
The meeting was called to order at 7:38 PM at the Stow Town Building.
Those present discussed the following:
Perry summarized several items from the December 14 Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting:
· The BOS interviewed Dunn and appointed him to the PEG committee, for an unexpired two year term ending June 30, 2006.
· The BOS reviewed the PEG Committee annual report to Comcast and approved the report. VanTine will sign and forward to Comcast
Perry summarized his discussion with the Town Administrator regarding the requirement for PEG to request bids from multiple suppliers for purchase of equipment associated with equipping the Warren Room for cablecast. Wrigley recommended that the committee develop a set of specifications and send to several suppliers.
On motion from Perry, seconded by Newman, minutes from the November 4, 2004 meeting with revisions were approved, with three votes in the affirmative and Dunn abstaining from voting.
On motion from Perry, seconded by Newman, minutes from the December 1, 2004 meeting, as printed, were approved, with three votes in the affirmative and Parr abstaining from voting.
On motion from Perry, seconded by Newman, minutes from the December 7, 2004 meeting, with revisions, were approved, with three votes in the affirmative and Parr abstaining from voting.
VanTine reported that she has delivered a copy of PEG meeting minutes for 2004 to the Town Clerk.
VanTine reported that on December 8th she had cablecast several minutes of the December 7th PEG meeting using camera and recording equipment that was available during the Great Northern Video demonstration. The committee noted that the video quality was very good, the best we have observed to date.
Halprin provided an alternative proposal for equipment recommendations for the Warren room and Control room. Halprin’s list of recommended equipment uses a different camera configuration, microphones, and other items. He indicated that he would need to test this configuration to confirm.
Mong left the meeting.
On motion from Perry that PEG request proposals from at least three firms to procure and install equipment in the Warren Room and PEG control room required to record meetings, seconded by Parr, was unanimously approved.
Perry was asked to advise the BOS about PEG’s proposed plan to install cameras and microphones in the Warren room as part of plan to record or cablecast meeting in the future. The PEG committee wanted to be advised of any BOS issues before prior to issuing requests for equipment and installation quotes.
VanTine advised the committee of pending space issues in the PEG control room when additional equipment (racks, monitors, etc.) are installed to support cablecast activities. Perry will discuss with the BOS additional space options available in the Town Building for the PEG control room.
Parr and Newman were asked to create a document draft for review at the next PEG meeting that could be sent to companies requesting a quotation for cablecast equipment.
On motion from Perry that PEG purchase a Leightronix Mini-T-Net event controller with interfaces, installation services and training, and a Panasonic DVD, for up to $2,300.00, , seconded by Dunn, was unanimously approved.
On motion from Parr that PEG purchase a software license for Adobe Photoshop to be used for non-linear video editing for up to $700.00, seconded by Perry, was unanimously approved.
Perry noted that PEG would not have one of twelve seats on the Virtual Town Hall (“VTH”). Any input to VTH would be provided to the BOS Administrative Assistant.
The committee reviewed the proposed FY2006 operating budget that VanTine had prepared. The committee made a number of changes to the budget line items and requested that VanTine send the revised budget to the Town Administrator by December 31, 2004.
VanTine noted that she has done some research on portable cameras for use by PEG to record events outside of the Warren Room. VanTine stated that she had assisted with the recording of the recent “Sounds of Stow” concert at the Hugh Mill Auditorium, using a single camera. According to VanTine, panning and zooming with the single camera reduced the quality of the recording. Based upon this experience, VanTine suggested that PEG acquire two cameras and a mixer so that panning and zooming could be minimized. VanTine and Dunn will prepare information for camera options for the next PEG meeting.
Perry requested that VanTine continue work to begin accepting video input for cablecast. Perry requested that PEG be positioned to accept video input in January, 2005.
The next PEG meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 6, 2005 at 7:30 at the Stow Town Building.
On motion to adjourn from Perry, seconded by Parr, unanimous vote, the Committee adjourned at 10:55 PM.
Prepared by: _________________________________
Ed Newman
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