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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-28-08 Information and Technology Committee~' >' °" : = Information and Technology Committee 2008 South Bend Common Council Th_e January 28, 2008 meeting of the Information and Technology Committee was called to order by its Chairperson, Council Member David Varner, at 3:45 p.m. in the Council Informal Meeting Room. Persons in attendance included Council Members Dieter, Henry Davis, LaFountain, Puzzello, Varner, Rouse, Kirsits and White; Mayor Stephen J. Luecke, City Clerk John Voorde, Deputy City Clerk Janice Talboom, Public Works Director Gary Gilot, Sylvester Poindexter, Mrs. Kopola, Martha Lewis, Nancy Sulok of the South Bend Tribune and Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand, Council Attorney. Dr. Varner noted that the meeting was called to receive an update from Public Works Director Gary Gilot on the taping of the South Bend Common Council meetings. Update on the Taping of South Bend Common Council Meetings: Public Works Director Gary Gilot noted that the State of Indiana pre-empted local control in this area. As a result of a Comcast notice to the Mayor last August, the Common Council requested the Board of Public Works to prepare request for proposals (RFP) so that the Common Council meetings would continue to be tapped and aired. Three (3) firms responded with WNIT being selected as the lowest responsible response to the RFP. WNIT tapped the last three (3) South Bend Common Council meetings in 2007, and are currently operating under a "meeting to meeting" basis. Mr. Gilot stated that there has been satisfaction with the service and pricing of WNIT to date, noting that the costs for their services have been absorbed by the Public Works budget. He noted that if the Council desires to re-do the proposal, that new RFPs will have to be developed. He noted that with regard to minority participation, that he has had discussions with Angel Hernandez of WNIT who stated that they are proud of their record and are willing to work with minority videographers. Council President Rouse noted that at least one (1) minority videographer was present, and that their concerns should be discussed. Council Member White noted that she shares the same concern as President Rouse and that there is a "need to have a level of conversation with minority vendors so that every one is given an opportunity". In response to questions from Dr. Varner, Mr. Gilot stated that if the Council desires to develop new RFPs that the turn-around time would be a minimum of seventeen (17) days once the RFPs are received, reviewed, modified if necessary and then advertised. Mr. Gilot noted that there is no broadcast headend, an alternative pathway is needed. He noted that the Council Attorney provided to him and the Council example of other City Councils and how Information and Technology Committee January 28, 2008 Page 2 their meetings are broadcast which included such cities as. Madison, Wisconsin, Fort Wayne and Bloomington. He has also worked closely with Brent Cummins, Web Design Technician with the City's Information Technologies. As a result a compressed version from WNIT has been developed. Mr. Gilot stated that in his personal opinion the audio of WNIT is very good and that the only complaint is that when the camera zooms in and zooms out that the picture becomes somewhat grainy. Mr. Gilot noted that the city receives approximately $670,000 annually in cable franchise fees, which is the same amount received under the local franchise. These funds are deposited when received into the City's General Fund. Mr. Gilot stated that in December of 2007, after sending notice, Comcast has dropped the Public, Education and Government (PEG) channel studio, video tapping and broadcasting support. Comcast cited the State of Indiana's preemption of local cable franchise contracts for taking this action. Mr. Gilot stated that "PEG Broadcasting" is not a "city core competency". He added that Mishawaka, Elkhart and South Bend Mayors have all decided that this is not an area which they would like to start a new city program. Mr. Gilot suggested that the Council provide input to the Mayor, but as of this point Mayor Luecke would like to "keep Council Meetings publicly accessible, but does not encourage PEG expansion of services at this time". Utilizing the Common Council's web page link is believed to be satisfactory at this time, since Council meeting playbacks can be accessed through this means on a 24/7 basis. Looking to the future with WNIT public television moving in about a year to the current WSBT downtown building may present future opportunities. Investigation of moving the headend will be necessary; however public access will be a significant challenge. It has also been noted that U-Tube and Google which are available 24/7, have surpassed public channel capabilities. In response to questions raised by Dr. Varner, Mr. Gilot stated that as of December 2007, the Comcast studio has no staff, and that only the channel is available. Mayor Luecke noted that the channel is available however staff persons are needed to manage the operation. Currently they do not do plug-ins, and Mishawaka and Elkhart are not interested, and he does not want to take on plug-ins at this time. In response to questions raised by Council Member Kirsits, Mayor Luecke noted that costs have not been calculated however they would include labor costs for management and review, etc. Dr. Varner then requested Deputy City Clerk Janice Talboom to access the laptop to show a few minutes of the January 14, 2008 South Bend Common Council meeting from the Council's web page. Dr. Varner noted that there still is an issue of needed upgrades to the computers being utilized by the Office of the City Clerk and the Council. Information and Technology Committee January 28, 2008 Page 3 City Clerk John Voorde noted that currently there are seven (7) computers which will need to be assessed. Ms. Talboom then aired a few minutes of the last regular meeting of the South Bend, Common Council In response to a question from Council Member Puzzello, Mr. Gilot noted that WNIT did film the 1St regular meeting in January and will film this evenings Council meeting. Thereafter, WNIT is on a meeting by meeting basis. In response to a question from Council Member Henry Davis, Mr. Gilot stated that the question of public access involves moving the headend, and whether Comcast would permit it to be relocated. Council President Rouse noted that there are many concerns involving public access seeing recorded Common Council meetings, and other public bodies. He recommended that there be separate meetings to discuss all concerns. Sylvester Poindexter [no address given] voiced concerns about public access. Dr. Varner stated that there are basically two (2) major issues: 1. .Taping and playbacks of the regular and special South Bend Common Council meetings; and 2. Public access to the "Public, Education and Government (PEG)" channel studio, video tapping and broadcasts, and the related headend issues. Dr. Varner suggested that perhaps a notice on the water bills could be given of the 24/7 playback access to South Bend Common Council meetings. Dr. Varner then suggested that a series of committee meetings be held so that discussion and updates on these issues could take place. He then set Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 3:30 p.m. as the first committee meeting. There being no further business to come before the Committee, Dr. Varner adjourned the Committee meeting at 4:17 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ' , _ _ ~~~~ L~ i Member David Varner, Chairperson Information and Technology Committee Attachment 1-~-$ -G$ January 28, 2008 Council Information and Technology Committee- Video of Council Meetings 1) WNIT taping -satisfaction with service and price (just need to work out a fund transfer or appropriation in the Council budget to cover the 2008 taping costs---I absorbed the 2007 WNIT bills in Public Works budget to deal with the unplanned drop by Comcast, but we should allocate the 2008 and beyond cost to the user budget) 2) Some Council interest in redoing RFP? I believe we have what we need at a great price and would recommend extending the unit price which WNIT has agreed to for 2008. 3) Interim DVD & web page compressed video of council meetings (credit Brent Cummins in IT) -check it out on Council web page -good audio, decent video of individual Council members speaking on issues, nice titling and subtitle identification of speakers, but wide shots admittedly get grainy with necessary file compression to reduce huge file size. 4) We collect state cable franchise fee of about $ 670,000 per year---same amount as when local franchise authority in South Bend. 5) Funds are deposited in the General Fund which is mostly for public safety support. 6) Comcast dropped Public, Education and Government (PEG) channel studio, video taping & broadcast support in late 2007 citing state preemption of local cable franchise contracts. 7) PEG broadcasting is not a city core competency for South Bend, Mishawaka or Elkhart---there are some better models in Indiana & elsewhere, but timing is not good to start a new city program when property tax reform and local government streamlining may pose significant fiscal issues. Council should provide City service scope input to Mayor, but his policy direction to me has been go cautiously---keep council meeting publicly accessible, but don't encourage PEG expansion of services and related costs at this time. 8) Intention: Looking to keep council meeting accessible while looking at WNIT public television move to downtown South Bend as a strategic opportunity to restore at least community calendar & council meetings to PEG channel---eventually maybe some modest increases in Government & Education programming support through WNIT from those respective budgets. Public access programming may be an outdated approach with Utube and Google video and other Internet outlets surpassing historic cable PEG approach for creative expression that are inherently more cost effective and flexible for niche followings. The City wants to stay out of Public access part with no ability to censor content and potential for offensive material. 9.) Suggestion: Get some publicity that meetings are online. Do media release (perhaps Tom or Mikki can help the Council with this), note in water bill newsletter to public that they can watch Council meetings online through the City web page, etc to get the word out and get feedback on what people think. Regards, Gary