November 2, 2016 Minutes
MINUTES of CTAC of Hamden, New Haven and West Haven
Meeting Date: November 2, 2016
Call to order: A regular monthly meeting of CTAC was held at CTV Offices at 843 State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, on Wednesday, November 2, 2016. President Tad Weinstein presiding. Don Levy Secretary. Meeting called to order at 6:00.
Members in attendance:
Tad Weinstein, Chair (WH), Don Levy, Secretary (H), Laurel Coleman (H), Johnes Ruta (NH), Peaches Quinn (NH), Ashley Sklar (NH),George Alexander (H).
Comcast Representative Sharon Codeanne, Frontier Representative Steve Gimmell, CTV representative Joe Schofield.
Minutes from the previous meeting were discussed and will be amended and voted on at the next regular meeting.
Steve Gimmell of Frontier noted that CTV programs had been cablecast on Channel 99 for about three weeks. Any Frontier subscriber in Connecticut can now receive CTV programming by scrolling through the offerings on Channel 99. The CTAC members thanked Frontier for finally securing access to CTV programs for its local subscribers. Frontier is also currently programming a local sports channel and is encouraging high school students to volunteer to cablecast programs featuring their schools. Frontier has agreed with Yale University to become the prime media sponsor of Yale Athletics. Additional home shopping channels have been added to Frontier offerings.
Sharon Codeanne of Comcast said her company has expanded its low-cost “Internet Essentials” program to qualified families receiving HUD assistance. All such families who had not had access to Comcast internet for three months or longer may request the service. Comcast was recognized by the national Points of Light program as one of The Civic 50 companies based on its involvement in improving the quality of life in its service areas. It was also recognized locally by the Boys & Girls Club of New Haven.
Sharon also said with regard to the Comcast equipment upgrade program announced last month that subscribers could request a new cable box and Comcast service reps would install it free of charge.
George noted that the upgrade to the website cannot be completed until the video contest forms have been finalized. The members decided to hold a special meeting on November 9 to put forward a final document outlining the rules of the video contest. The entire Council will vote on this document at its next regular meeting in December. The December 7 monthly CTAC meeting will be held at Carmine’s Restaurant at 1500 Whalley Avenue, New Haven, beginning at 5:30.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Don Levy, CTAC Secretary.