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Home My WebLink AboutICTC Agenda and Packet 2018-05-21 Agenda Iowa City Telecommunications Commission City Cable TV Office, 10 S. Linn St., Tower Place Parking Facility, Level 3A May 21, 2018, 5:30PM 1. Call to order 2. Approval of minutes 3. Announcements of Commissioners 4. Short public announcements 5. Community Internet Project 6. REPORTS Consumer Issues Mediacom Report Local Access Reports City Cable TV Office Report 7. Adjournment If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this program/event, please contact Ty Coleman at 319-356-5454 or ty-coleman@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. PRELIMINARY Telecommunications Commission 04/23/2018 Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 4 Minutes Iowa City Telecommunications Commission April 23, 2018 – 5:30 P.M. City of Iowa City Cable TV Office, 10 S. Linn St. - Tower Place, Level 3A Call to Order:Meeting called to order at 5:32 P.M. Members Present:Derek Johnk, Paul Gowder, Laura Bergus, Matthew Brenton, James Pierce Members Absent: Staff Present:Ty Coleman Others Present:Gerardo Sandoval, Chelsea Bacon, Bill Harshbarger Recommendations to Council: None Approval of Minutes: Brenton moved and Bergus seconded a motion to approve the March 26, 2018 minutes as presented. The motion passed unanimously. Announcements of Commissioners: The Commission and cable TV access channel representatives exchanged introductions with James Pierce, the newly appointed member of the Telecommunications Commission. Short Public Announcements: Bacon provided an update on The Community Internet Project presented at an earlier meeting. She said the group working on the project had tentatively decided to pursue an approach that features mesh networks around schools. Bacon said the primary reason for the project is that only 80% of students have reported they have Internet at home. She noted that in this statistic there is no differentiation between a student who has an Internet service provider and one who simply has a cell phone with a data plan and that it is likely even fewer students have service at home from a traditional provider. Bacon said members of the group had met with Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) information-technology staff who expressed interest in the project. Bacon pointed out that the group’s long-term vision is for community-wide access to the Internet, but said working with the schools will present fewer obstacles. She said the school district staff did not have concerns about security or bandwidth. Bacon said that in order to ensure that the Internet service offered through the school district would be used for school-related purposes, students would log into the network using their school logins. Bacon said that a pilot school would be chosen based on population density and concentration of free and reduced lunches. Bacon said the group is developing a survey for students in order for the group to assess the status of student Internet access. Gowder asked if the group had a sense about access to a computer for students. Bacon replied that the survey asks whether a student uses a desktop, laptop, tablet, or other mobile device to access the Internet. Bacon said the group was encouraged to hear that the ICCSD staff with whom they met did not seem to have any objections to the project and said that the ICCSD plans to purchase a backup Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the future, which would not require the use of the service to be school-related and therefore create the potential for use by the general community. PRELIMINARY Telecommunications Commission 04/23/2018 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 4 Harshbarger commented that if Iowa City was considering a municipal Internet service, using the same ISP that the ICCSD chooses for a backup provider would be ideal. Johnk said that there was not currently a plan by the City to pursue a municipal network. Gowder said the Commission has offered to be a resource to the City Council in the event that they would have increased interest in municipal broadband. Brenton asked if the Commission would be able to suggest to the Council that they move forward with investigating the idea of municipal broadband service. Gowder said the Commission could take the initiative to provide information to the Council. Bacon suggested that the Commission connect with the University of Iowa Student Government (UISG), which is working on a plan to express interest in municipal broadband to the City of Iowa City. Brenton noted that the more people who express an interest in the topic to the Council, the more likely the City Council might be to investigate it. Johnk said that one of the biggest logistical barriers is that the City does not own its own electric utility, noting that many others who have started a municipal broadband utility already had its own electric utility. Johnk said that the group’s approach of using a mesh network gets around this issue. Johnk said he liked the idea of getting information to the City Council and also said it would be good to reach out to the UISG and to invite them to a Telecommunications Commission meeting. Pierce noted that the leadership in UISG had recently changed hands and that this could be a good time to connect with newly-elected officers to talk about interest in municipal broadband. Pierce said he is willing to contact UISG. Bergus said she wants to be sure that any initiative of the Telecommunications Commission does not interfere with the progress the Community Internet Project group has made. She commented that she would like to see the group’s efforts succeed and hopes that it could be used as a model when the time comes to approach the Council. Bacon said she would stay in contact with the Commission and would continue to attend its meetings. Bacon said that the group will be getting the Internet access survey to students before the end of the school year. Bacon presented the survey questions to the Commission for its feedback. Questions included: the student’s grade, the student’s race/ethnicity, the student’s school, the number of hours per day spent using the Internet, the amount of time spent per day using the Internet for homework, whether the student has Internet access at home, what devices the student uses to access the Internet at home, and how often the student goes to a location outside of his or her home to use the Internet. Brenton suggested that a question be added to ask whether the student has homework that requires him or her to access the Internet. Bergus wondered if some students would understand what “the Internet” means, given that many now think of things in terms of apps like YouTube or Snapchat. Gowder wondered if students would have a clearer conception of “online” than “Internet.” Harshbarger said that if a student does not have Internet service at home, the group should be able to tell by the survey responses. Gowder suggested that the survey could ask whether a student engages in particular activities using the Internet at home, such as checking email or watching videos. Bacon said that a question could list several potential uses and ask students to check all activities that apply. Consumer Issues: No discussion. Mediacom Report: Coleman said he had not received any information from Mediacom. Local Access Reports: PRELIMINARY Telecommunications Commission 04/23/2018 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 4 Sandoval said that in the past it had been a challenge to get PATV users and guests to sign in upon arrival, but that PATV now uses a tablet to allow for easier counting of visitors. He reported that PATV had 1,700 people come to its facility last year to be part of a show, to produce a show, to use the edit bays, check out equipment, etc. Sandoval said that there continues to be an interest in and desire for public access television here in Iowa City and across the nation. Sandoval said PATV continues to have support from the community and that it recently held an “I Drag for PATV” fundraiser at Studio. City Cable TV Office Report: Coleman referred to the report the Cable TV Office had submitted in the meeting packet. Adjournment: Gowder moved and Brenton seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously. Adjournment was at 5:55 p.m. PRELIMINARY Telecommunications Commission 04/23/2018 Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 4 TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 12-MONTH ATTENDANCE RECORD Gowder Bergus Kilburg Johnk 05/22/2017 x x x x vacant 06/26/2017 o/c x x x vacant 07/24/2017 Meeting not held due to lack of quorum. Brenton 08/28/2017 x x x x vacant 09/25/2017 x x x x vacant 10/23/2017 x o/c x x vacant 11/27/2017 x x x x vacant 11/30/2017 Special meeting x o/c x x vacant 01/22/2018 Meeting not held due to lack of quorum. 02/26/2018 x x x x vacant 03/26/2018 x x x x vacant Pierce 04/23/2018 x x x x x (x) = Present (o) = Absent (o/c) = Absent/Called (Excused) May 18, 2018 To: Iowa City Telecommunications Commission From: Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator (MPSC) Re: Cable Complaints April 2018 1.) Date: 04/10/2018 Method of contact: Phone call to MPSC Complaint/Comment Summary: The daughter of a resident at an apartment complex said she was having difficulty getting service installed in an upper level apartment, noting that a technician had come out to get the customer connected and found the wiring was not complete. Service was reported to have been connected and working on the first floor of the complex. Resolution Summary: MPSC contacted Mediacom’s Rick Karnes to investigate. Karnes said his crew was working with the building owner to get the internal wiring completed so that Mediacom could complete the installation. Karnes reported later that the building is now serviceable. Date of Resolution: 04/13/2018 PATV Report to Iowa City Telecommunications Commission May 2018 It is not quick summer yet but things are warming up at PATV with new shows like Joe’s Gaming Shack, the return of Call-in Mockery, Mo’s Sudanese Cultural Show, The Donna Show Interview’s Fun Friends and our Open Studio Student Day were we invited local students to come learn all about PATV’s services. PATV also was fortunate in capturing and participate as part of this years Iowa Dance Week. PATV Board Meetings PATV Board of Directors next meeting June 21st, at 6 pm. Intro Workshop Guidelines orientation is the ﬁrst Thursday of every month, 6 pm at PATV or online @ www.patv.tv Next Guidelines is Thursday, June 7th at 6 PM. Video Workshops Schedule Studio Training – The second Tuesday of the month from 5 – 7 pm. HD Camera – The third Thursday of the month from 6 –8 pm. Digital Editing – The fourth Thursday of the month from 6 - 8 pm. Current and upcoming staff supported productions The Donna Show Joe’s Gaming Shack Call-In Mockery Diez is Punk! KNHB Live PATV Underground We are Iowa City PATV Presents: Prairie Lights Education Exchange GreenFire The Lyle Harris Show PATV Presents: Thursday Night Live at Uptown Bills Tom’s Guitar Show Submitted by Gerardo Sandoval 5/16/18 206 Lafayette St. • Iowa City, Iowa 52240 • Phone 338-7035 Fax 338-8456 • contact@patv.tv • http://www.patv.tv Date: May 17, 2018 To: The Iowa City Telecommunications Commission From: Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator, City of Iowa City Cable TV Office Re: City of Iowa City Cable TV Office report for the May 2018 meeting Media Production Services Submitted by Jack Brooks, Special Projects Assistant, and Toni Ugolini, Media Production Assistant Recent production activities: ●Produced PSA videos on the new Voter ID Law and the Summer Library Bus Program. ●Produced weekly Iowa City Update program. Topics included fire hydrant flushing, Ped Mall construction, Safety Village Camp, and RAGBRAI housing options. ●Produced Community Highlights videos on STEAM Fest, World Climate Simulation, and Fired Up About Reading. ●Recorded the Annual Human Rights Youth Awards at the Englert Theater, celebrating multiple students for their actions that help promote and/or contribute to Human Rights. ●Recorded four workshops for the Building Business Basics Program that took place at Kirkwood Community College. ●Produced the Meet the Candidates series for the upcoming primary election. Candidates for Johnson County Board of Supervisors, Iowa Senate District 37, and Governor came to the City Channel 4 studio to record statements to be distributed on TV, www.citychannel4.com/mtc, InfoCast on Channel 5, and made available to candidates for sharing on social media sites. 100% of the candidates for Supervisor and District 37 participated, while six out of nine candidates for Governor chose to participate. Upcoming productions: ●Working on a new Iowa City In Focus program that will feature the Gateway Project, the Pedestrian Mall Improvements Project and the 100th anniversary of the Iowa City Municipal Airport. ●Upcoming Iowa City Update programs will feature a Family Sports Night, Iowa Arts Festival, and new organic carts. ●Working on a fun dog park PSA that is narrated through a dog’s perspective. We are talking about the rules and regulations for the dog parks and other parks in Iowa City. ●The Friday Night Concert Series has begun and staff will be covering concerts throughout the summer, including concerts held at the Wednesday evening Farmers Market. Programming and Interactive Services Submitted by Kevin Crawley, Communications Technician Recent and Upcoming Projects: My most recent projects have been setting up this year’s Meet the Candidates webpage and working with the ICPD and the Airport to get them set up with the same digital signage that I’ve been managing in the City Hall Lobby for the last two years. Website: In April, we had 1,281 users access 2,693 pages in 1,791 sessions. Our most popular pages were Mediacom's channel lineup page, our home page, Mediacom's channel rates, our video page, the program about the Ped Mall updates, and our program schedule page. Our old streaming media provider, EarthChannel, reports 13,400 total hits, which includes 4,077 Events (player window was loaded), 1246 Sessions (media was played), and 4729 OnDemand Hits (media was scrubbed or index point was clicked). 3212 podcasts were downloaded, and our HQ media was accessed 130 times. Our live stream was accessed 1,105 times. We've turned off our 24/7 livestream on May 1, 2018, so this will probably be the last month we include numbers from our old provider. On YouTube, we had 8,464 video views account for 23,193 minutes (386 hours and 37 minutes) of watch time. We added 22 more subscribers, and our current total is 368. Our most watched videos by views were the Welcome to Iowa City! video, our Mazahir Salih interview , the "Called to be Bald" promotional video, the short video "Iowa Voter ID Law", and the current episode of Iowa City In Focus, while the most watched videos by time were the Welcome to Iowa City! video, the current episode of Iowa City In Focus, the Mazahir Salih interview, and the NAMI program on the CIT officer-training program. Programming: We cablecast 136 programs produced in-house 700 times for 537 hours of programming, 40 locally-produced (DITV, Senior Center, Hoover Library, Task Force on Aging, JC Board of Supervisors, Coralville, North Liberty and University Heights) programs 111 times for 129 hours of programming, and 22 imported programs 66 times for 29 hours of programming. We also showed 87 PSAs 1148 times for 29 hours of programming. Programs Completed by the Cable TV Office in April 2018 ●2018 STEAM Fest ●Bike Shorts PSA: Safety for Kids ●Community Forum on Partnerships to Address Hate Crimes ●Community Highlight: Called to be Bald ●Community Police Review Board Annual Community Forum 2018 ●Fair Housing Training 2018 ●Iowa City City Council Meetings ○April 2, 2018 ○April 17, 2018 ○Special Formal Meeting of April 17, 2018 ●Iowa City City Council Work Sessions ○April 2, 2018 ○April 17, 2018 ●Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Presents ○Political Conflicts Among Ethnic Minorities in China ○South African Politics and Their Constitution: 20 Years Plus After Apartheid ○The Basque Country - Language, Culture, and Politics: A View from the Inside ●Iowa City In Focus ○Waste Characterization Study ○Utility Assistance Fund ○City Park Historic Cabin Restoration - Part 2 ●Iowa City RAGBRAI 2018 Theme and Logo Reveal Video ●Iowa City RAGBRAI 2018 Theme and Logo Reveal Event Coverage ●Iowa City Updates ○Fire Hydrant Flushing ○Pedestrian Mall Construction Begins ○Pedestrian Mall Open House ○Police Community Forum ●Pedestrian Mall Improvements Project Presentation - April 2018 ●Reading between the Messaging: Cultivating Critical Media Literacy and Practicing Cultural Competence to Prevent Racial/Ethnic Bias ●Schools, Racial Segregation and Social Justice - A Community Discussion with New York Times Reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones ●Sustainable Iowa Land Trust - Spring Thaw Benefit Concert ●Voter ID Law Informational Video