05-01-2016 SWCSR MIN Minutes of the Sherburne/Wright County Cable Commission
• Thursday, May I, 2014, 1:00 p.m.
Maple Lake City Hall
Present: Chair Tina Allard, and Commissioners Mert Auger, Jim Bart, Terry Boese, Phil
Kern, Don Levens, Cathy Schuman, Gina Wolbeck, and Lee Ann Yager.
Absent: Commissioners Terri Boese.
Also present: Technology Consultant Bill Bruce, Attorney Bob Vose, Video Production
Coordinator Mark Davis, and Nick Hagenmiller from the City of Howard Lake.
1. Call to Order
Chair Tina Allard called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes—October 3,2013 and January 16,2014
Commissioner Shuman motioned to approve the October 3, 2013 and January 16, 2014
Sherburne Wright Cable Commission Meeting Minutes as presented. Seconded by
Commissioner Levens,unanimous ayes, motion carried.
3. Treasurer's Report
• Mert Auger presented the financial statements as outlined in the staff report. Discussion was
held on the IDS PEG fee payments which will be getting back on track. Commissioner Kern
suggested that the Commission hire an Intern in the production field to assist Mark. It was
suggested that the Personnel Committee discuss further. Auger also discussed reimbursement
of Charter PEG Fees to all member cities.
Commissioner Shuman motioned to authorize investigating the need for a
production writer. Seconded by Commissioner Levens, unanimous ayes, motion
carried.
Commissioner Kern motioned to approve the Financial Statements as presented.
Seconded by Commissioner Wolbeck, unanimous ayes, motion carried.
Commissioner Kern motioned to approve payment to member cities for their
proportional Charter Franchise Fees for the previous and upcoming settlement for
reimburse of cable related expenses. Seconded by Commissioner Shuman, unanimous
ayes, motion carried.
4. Attorney's Report
Commission Attorney Bob Vose informed the Commission that Charter and Comcast have
reached a tax efficient transaction agreement that is contingent on approval of the Time
Warner/Comcast merger. This agreement will allow Charter to acquire 1.4 million existing
Time Warner customers,which will make Charter the largest cable company in Minnesota and
the 2nd largest cable company nationwide. Vose noted that the pending franchise approval for
• this merger could open up an opportunity to negotiate the needs of the Commission and
member cities.
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Meeting Minutes from 05-01-14
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5. Equipment Report
Bill Bruce presented the equipment report. Bruce also discussed Windows XP replacements,
upgraded workstations, member city equipment repairs/upgrades, and the Twitter Crawl
System. Bruce also noted that SCALA Bulletin Board Software upgrades have been started in
some member cities, and that HD Equipment transition efforts and new 4K technology has
brought HD equipment prices down to a reasonable cost. Bruce discussed upcoming
equipment phases and recommended equipment purchases. Discussion was held that cities
and companies are at a point where they have to go to High Def as SD equipment is
becoming unavailable.
Commissioner Auger motioned to approve the purchase of Sony HD-SDI interface
cards and parts in the amount of$21,900 from authorized Sony Professional dealer AVI
System of Eden Prairie, MN. Seconded by Commissioner Levens, unanimous ayes,
motion carried.
Commissioner Auger motioned to approve the purchase of the NewTek TriCaster
workstations from AV Solutions of Minneapolis for the cities of Buffalo, Delano, Elk
River, Monticello, and the SWTV production trailer. Seconded by Commissioner
Levens,unanimous ayes,motion carried.
6. Programming Report
• Mark Davis presented the programming report. Davis discussed the recent HD production of
a school play, productions of year-end reports, the status of the City Works video production
project, Community Health topics, and various member City productions. Davis noted that
Movies in the Park will start up soon along with community parades/festival productions.
7. Commission Business
7a. Capital Improvement Plan
Commissioner Kern asked that a 5-year Capital Improvement Plan be approved annually.
Commissioner Kern motioned to authorize the preparation of a 5-year Capital
Improvement Plan to be reviewed and approved by the Commission on an annual
basis. Seconded by Commissioner Levens,unanimous ayes, motion carried.
7d. Other Business
Nick Hagenmiller from the City Howard Lake thanked the Commission for allowing him to
sit in on the meeting and noted that his goal is to educate himself on activities of the
Commission.
8. Upcoming Meeting Dates
The next Commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 26, 2014 at the City of
• Watertown.
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Meeting Minutes from 05-01-14
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9. Adjourn
Meeting adjourned at 2:28 p.m.
Or
Chair,Tina • and
Secretary, Gina Wol t eck
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