CTAC Minutes

MINUTES of CTAC of Hamden, New Haven and West Haven

Meeting Date: October 7, 2015

Call to order: A regular monthly meeting of CTAC was held at CTV Offices at 843 State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, on Wednesday, October 7, 2015. President Tad Weinstein presiding. Don Levy Secretary. Meeting called to order at 6:08 p.m.

Members in attendance:

Tad Weinstein, Chair (WH)

Peaches Quinn, Vice Chair (NH)

George Alexander, Treasurer (H)

Don Levy, Secretary (H)

Johnes Ruta, (NH)

Martha Brogan, (NH)

Steve Gemmell, Local Manager, Field Operations, Frontier Communications

Tad reported that Sharon Codeanne will be returning to COMCAST and will once again represent COMCAST at CTAC meetings. COMCAST provided a written monthly report although no COMCAST representative was present.

Johnes noted a news report indicating that COMCAST was planning to establish data caps on its internet subscribers. Johnes took exception to having his data usage restricted by a data cap. Tad reminded the board that CTAC business was limited by law to issues relating to cable television.

After a long discussion regarding the propriety and fairness of allowing internet providers to establish data caps it was decided to ask Sharon Codeanne to report on any COMCAST plans to enforce data caps in the CTAC service area. Steve Gemmell of Frontier indicated that Frontier had no plans to curtail unlimited data usage by its local subscribers.

Steve also reported that as promised he had reached out to CTV in order to begin the process that would allow local Frontier cable subscribers to view programs produced at CTV. It appears that CTV has provided Frontier with the information it needed to proceed to propose a contract to overcome financial and engineering impediments to allow its customers access to CTV. The board officially thanked Mr. Gemmell and hopes the CTV programs will soon be available.

George reported that the links on the CTAC website are no longer operative. George will work with Johnes to establish a newer and more user-friendly platform for the CTAC website. They will report on progress to restore the CTAC website functionality at the November meeting.

The CTAC annual dinner meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 8 in West Haven at App’s Ristorante (283 Captain Thomas Blvd.) at 6:00 pm. Don will make reservations for 10 people.

A discussion concerning initiating the CTAC Grant for Local Video Production was tabled until the November meeting.

The minutes for the September regular meeting of CTAC were approved as submitted.

The October regular meeting of CTAC was adjourned at 7:18 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by D. Levy, CTAC secretary

MINUTES of CTAC of Hamden, New Haven and West Haven

Meeting Date: September 2, 2015

Call to order: A regular monthly meeting of CTAC was held at CTV Offices at 843 State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, on Wednesday, September 2, 2015.  President Tad Weinstein presiding. Don Levy Secretary. Meeting called to order at 6:03.

Members in attendance:

Tad Weinstein, Chair (WH)

George Alexander, Treasurer (H)

Babz Rawls Ivy (NH)

Don Levy, Secretary (H)

Johnes Ruta (NH)

Steve Gemmell, Local Manager, Field Operations, Frontier Communications

The newest board member, Babz Rawls Ivy, attended the meeting and introductions were exchanged.

The minutes for the August meeting as corrected were approved.

The board discussed the delay in overcoming the legal, financial and technical hurdles which have made it impossible for Frontier cable subscribers to access programs produced by CTV. Steve Gemmell of Frontier indicated that he had anticipated being able to discuss how to overcome these problems with Joe Schofield prior to or immediately after the CTAC meetings which Steve attends. Board members noted that Mr. Schofield had not attended a CTAC monthly meeting in a number of months. Members were given a letter from Mr. Schofield explaining that his absence at the CTAC meetings was caused by a scheduling conflict. Members asked Mr. Gemmell to reach out to Mr. Schofield and Mr. Gemmell promised to call Mr. Schofield to get the ball rolling on Thursday, September 3.

The board passed a motion asking the Secretary to send a letter to the CTV board requesting that a representative of CTV be present at each of our meetings.

Mr. Gemmell presented the Frontier report highlighting the company’s service projects in the each of the municipalities represented by the CTAC board. The report also noted that Frontier is boosting the internet speeds for its customers at no additional charge. Frontier is still looking to hire new employees for several positions. Job applicants are advised to research current Frontier openings and to apply online at the Frontier web site

Comcast was not represented at the meeting but its representative submitted a report outlining COMCAST’s service to the local communities including a $25-thousand grant which will be awarded to the Urban League of Southern Connecticut.

Secretary Levy provided a first draft of an announcement for the CTAC’s upcoming Pubic Service Video Grant program. He sought a volunteer to produce the actual online grant application form but no volunteers came forward. Levy indicated he would contact the Arts Council of New Haven to seek its input on promoting the grant program. Chairman Weinstein reiterated his call to ask members to seek candidates in their municipalities to fill empty board seats.

The May regular meeting of CTAC was adjourned at 7:08 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by D. Levy, CTAC secretary

MINUTES of CTAC of Hamden, New Haven and West Haven

Meeting Date: August 5, 2015

Call to order: A regular monthly meeting of CTAC was held at CTV Offices at 843 State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, on Wednesday, August 5, 2015. President Tad Weinstein presiding. Don Levy Secretary. Meeting called to order at 6:05 p.m.

Members in attendance:

Tad Weinstein, Chair (WH)

Peaches Quinn, Vice Chair (NH)

George Alexander, Treasurer (H)

Don Levy, Secretary (H)

Johnes Ruta, (NH)

Martha Brogan, (NH)

Steve Gemmell, Local Manager, Field Operations, Frontier Communications

John Bairos, Manager, Government & Community Relations, COMCAST

Steve Gemmell of Frontier provided the monthly Frontier update. The report indicated public service projects and other community outreach. Steve reported that Frontier is currently hiring. Potential candidates should apply through the Frontier web site. Steve indicated he would reach out to CTV to restart the process to make sure CTV channels are available to Frontier subscribers in the three municipalities which comprise CTAC. Joe Schofield was not at the meeting. George Alexander said he was dissatisfied with the paucity of information provided with regard to movies available on Frontier.

John Bairos reported that COMCAST was continuing its Internet Essentials program which offers internet service to low-income subscribers at a steep discount for a fifth year.

Johnes Ruta initiated a discussion regarding the criteria COMCAST uses to add and drop channels. COMCAST’s John Bairos indicated that COMCAST focused on measures of popularity or of massive customer interest along with the cost involved. Johnes suggested that COMCAST also consider using the quality of content or the public service value of potential additional channels as factors to consider.

It was discovered that nobody had fulfilled CTAC’s commitment to send flowers to Sharon Codeanne as approves in the June meeting.  Peaches Quinn volunteered to get in touch with John Bairos to secure Sharon’s address so that this token of CTAC’s appreciation for Sharon’s fine work as COMCAST representative to CTAC could be provided.

Peaches noted that the CTAC bylaws indicates that each town should be represented by a member with an education background. Members present indicated that they would reach out to the education communities in their municipalities to seek new members.

Don noted that he did not hear from the International Festival of Arts and Ideas regarding his contact with the group. He indicated he would produce a rough draft of a flyer promoting the CTAC’s Public Service Video Grant program.

The minutes for the June meeting were approved.

The August regular meeting of CTAC was adjourned at 7:11 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by D. Levy, CTAC secretary

MINUTES of CTAC of Hamden, New Haven and West Haven

Meeting Date: June 3, 2015

Call to order: A regular monthly meeting of CTAC was held at CTV Offices at 843 State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. President Tad Weinstein presiding. Don Levy Secretary. Meeting called to order at 6:05.

Members in attendance:

Tad Weinstein, Chair (WH)

Peaches Quinn, Vice Chair (NH)

Don Levy, Secretary (H)

Johnes Ruta, (NH)

Steve Gemmell, Local Manager, Field Operations, Frontier Communications

John Bairos, Manager, Government & Community Relations, COMCAST

The minutes for the May meeting were approved.

John Bairos, who is the Manager of Government and Community Relations for COMCAST in Connecticut, attended the meeting and said he would be the COMCAST representative to CTAC going forward. John presented the COMCAST report. He provided additional details about the X-1 platform, saying it is able to respond to voice commands. John indicated in response to a customer complaint that in the future COMCAST will be more careful with regard to sending letters to its customers. In this case a customer was informed by letter that he would be losing some channels whereas in fact he later learned he would not be losing any channels.

Steve Gimmell, local manager of field operations for Frontier Communications, told the commissioners that Frontier has recently acquired new customers in Los Angeles, Tampa and Dallas. This addition to Frontier’s customer base was five times as large as the recent takeover here in Connecticut. He anticipated that the experience of these new customers would be smoother than that experienced here in Connecticut. Steve also said that he anticipated being able to work out all the technical and financial arrangements with CTV shortly so that Frontier customers would finally have access to the unique programs produced at CTV for which they have provided funding over the years.

Speaking on behalf of the nominating committee, Johnes said that the committee had recommended that all current officers be put forward for another one-year term. The commission voted to accept this recommendation.

Don provided a quick review of the plans for the updated CTAC grant program. After a brief discussion. the commission decided to delay action on the new program until the July meeting.

Members expressed their appreciation for the excellent work and customer responsiveness of former COMCAST representative Sharon Codeanne. As a token of the Commission’s appreciation, members voted to send Sharon a dozen yellow roses along with a note of thanks for the years of service she provided to COMCAST customers in the three-municipality area.

The June regular meeting of CTAC was adjourned at 6:53 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by D. Levy, CTAC secretary

MINUTES of CTAC of Hamden, New Haven and West Haven

Meeting Date: May 6, 2015

Call to order: A regular monthly meeting of CTAC was held at CTV Offices at 843 State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, on Wednesday, May 6, 2015. President Tad Weinstein presiding. Don Levy Secretary. Meeting called to order at 6:06.

Members in attendance:

Tad Weinstein, Chair (WH)

Peaches Quinn, Vice Chair (NH)

George Alexander, Treasurer (H)

Don Levy, Secretary (H)

Johnes Ruta (NH)

Martha Brogan (NH)

Steve Gemmell, Local Manager, Field Operations, Frontier Communications

The minutes for the April meeting were discussed. Johnes wanted the minutes to reflect a discussion relating to internet service. Tad said CTAC is only authorized to act on issues relating to cable television. Minutes approved.

Tad indicated that New Haven Mayor Toni Harp sent him a letter with regard to her appointment of a new Commissioner to represent the City of New Haven. Tad said he would reach out to the new Commissioner and report on her status at the June meeting.

Steve Gimmell, local manager of field operations for Frontier Communications, was invited to update the Commission on issues relating to start-up and continuing operations of Frontier Communications, which took over from AT&T as statewide cable operator earlier this year.

Steve acknowledged that during the first two months after Frontier took over from AT&T cable customers experienced severe customer service, billing and cable access problems. He said these problems had not been anticipated by Frontier. Steve said the signal delivery problem was the result of radically different signal management protocols between Frontier and AT&T. He said these problems have been identified and addressed and that Frontier customers are reporting many fewer customer complaints.

Steve said he would work with CTV to make sure that local programs produced at CTV would be available to local Frontier cable subscribers. He also said that Frontier is considering installing FiOS at new multi-unit residential developments in our area.

Commissioners decided to hold a special meeting on Wednesday, May 13 at 5:30 p.m. at DiMatteo’s Restaurant at Hamden Plaza to discuss how to reshape what had been the CTAC junior high school TV production contest.

The May regular meeting of CTAC was adjourned at 7:18 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by D. Levy, CTAC secretary

Notes on Special Meeting of CTAC of Hamden, New Haven and West Haven

Meeting Date: May 13, 2015

A special meeting of CTAC concerning the reshaping of the CTAC video production contest was held at DiMatteo’s Restaurant, 2100 Dixwell, Ave. Hamden, Connecticut on Wednesday, May 13, 2015. President Tad Weinstein presiding. Don Levy secretary. Meeting started at 5:30 p.m.

Members in attendance:

Tad Weinstein, Chair (WH)

George Alexander, Treasurer (H)

Don Levy, Secretary (H)

Johnes Ruta (NH)

Members voted to establish a grant program aimed at encouraging local video production to replace the video contest.

The grant program would provide grants for new video productions in the area of public service.

The following remarks are offered as a rough working outline of how the new CTAC Public Service Grant Pro would be administered. The details of the new CTAC Public Service Grant Program will be crafted and put to a vote at a regular meeting of CTAC.

Members formed a consensus that grants would each be of the same monetary value. The figure of three $1,000 grants during the first year was discussed.

Members felt that a wide cross section of community members should be encouraged to apply for the new CTAC Video Production Grants. Members considered establishing three categories of grants: 1) unrestricted and open to all community members, 2) A category limited to community members ages 15 to 18 and 3) a category for community members ages 14 and younger.

Grants would only be considered for new video projects. Grant applicants would be required to navigate a two-step application process. Step one requires a brief synopsis of the proposed video project. This synopsis could be submitted in writing or by using an electronic medium. These preliminary grant proposals will provide an overview of the public service content to be addressed. They will also identify who is going to participate in the video production, the ages of the participants, their towns of residence, and the approximate length of the finished video.  A small committee of CTAC Commissioners will examine each of these preliminary proposals for appropriateness of its content and the eligibility of producing team with regard to which category of grant (unrestricted, aged 15 to 18, age 14 and younger) is being sought. Only residents of the three municipalities represented by CTAC are eligible to apply for grants.

Once the CTAC committee has considered all of the preliminary proposals only those applicants whose preliminary proposal had been deemed to meet the grant proposal guidelines could be eligible for the award of a grant. The second round of the program awards grants based on the merits of the video submitted for consideration.  A subcommittee of CTAC, perhaps integrating members from the community with expertise in the area of video production or other applicable experience, will make the final determination for the awarding of the grants.

Grants are to be awarded based on the public service value and esthetic merits of the video submitted.

An announcement of the availability of the CTAC Public Service Grants will be widely disseminated in order to reach as broad a pool of potential grant applicants as possible.

Community institutions such as the libraries, arts organizations, government agencies, religious organizations, community service agencies, local print, broadcast, cable and internet providers will be sought as partners in order to reach out to community members as broadly as possible.

MINUTES of CTAC of Hamden, New Haven and West Haven

Meeting Date: April 1, 2015

Call to order: A regular monthly meeting of CTAC was held at CTV Offices at 843 State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, on Wednesday, April 1, 2015. President Tad Weinstein presiding. Don Levy Secretary. Meeting called to order at 6:10.

Members in attendance:

Tad Weinstein, Chair (WH)

Peaches Quinn, Vice Chair (NH)

George Alexander, Treasurer (H)

Don Levy, Secretary (H)

Johnes Ruta (NH)

Sharon Codeanne, COMCAST

Joe Schofield, CTV

Minutes for March meeting approved.

Joe Schofield provided an update on CTV. He said Channel 26 is being reprogrammed and that all locally produced public affairs programs will receive four broadcasts. Schofield also reported on CTV’s first successful use of WiFi to send video from an offsite location to CTV for cablecasting. He also updated the board on financial issues: the CTV audit has been delayed and CTV expects to receive a city property tax exemption on the property at 843 State Street. Joe also noted that Connecticut had included new PEGPETIA funding but that CTV had not received any new money as a result. State funds for the current fiscal year have run out.

Sharon Codeanne gave the COMCAST report. She highlighted the newest high tech COMCAST service, the X-1 Operating Platform. The one-time fee for this service has been lowered from $49.95 to $19.95. Using this service as many as six programs can be videotaped simultaneously for later viewing by customers. It also has a robust search function to locate programs for viewing or for videotaping.

Chairman Weinstein proposed that the Council meet in an extraordinary session between regular monthly meetings to determine how to move forward with CTAC’s initiative to offer incentives for the production of innovative public affairs programs for cablecasting locally. Weinstein also reminded members to seek to fill the many vacancies on the Council.

The April regular meeting of CTAC was adjourned at 7:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by D. Levy, CTAC secretary

MINUTES of CTAC of Hamden, New Haven and West Haven

Meeting Date: March 4, 2015

Call to order: A regular monthly meeting of CTAC was held at Di Matteo’s Restaurant, 2100 Dixwell, Ave. Hamden, Connecticut on Wednesday, March 4, 2015. President Tad Weinstein presiding. Don Levy secretary. Meeting called to order at 6:10.

Members in attendance:

Tad Weinstein, Chair (WH)

Peaches Quinn, Vice Chair (NH)

George Alexander, Treasurer (H)

Don Levy, Secretary (H)

Johnes Ruta (NH)

Martha Brogan (NH Library)

The March meeting was held at Di Matteo’s Restaurant in Hamden Plaza because of limited parking at CTV as a result of snow in the parking lot.

New CTAC Member Martha Brogan, the New Haven Library representative, attended.  Introductions were exchanged.  Minutes from the December and February meetings were accepted.

Vice Chair and CTAC contest coordinator Quinn reported that the January 31 deadline for submissions to the CTAC video contest had passed and there were no entrants.  Options for encouraging broader community participation in next year’s contest were debated. Secretary Levy made a motion to broaden the base of possible participants by allowing all community members age 13 to 15 to submit entries. Treasurer Alexander proposed that members vote to cancel the contest in order to reconsider all aspects of the competition. The motion passed.

Chair Weinstein announced that the PEGPETIA funding is now available and that Sacred Heart Academy as well as other local groups are seeking grants to buy equipment. He said it is not clear if the money taken from PEGPETIA grants to support the general fund during the past two years had been restored or if the money now available is the result of the fact that a new budget cycle has begun. The chair also sought input regarding the board’s intention to invite a representative from Frontier Communications to an upcoming meeting.

The March regular meeting of CTAC was adjourned at 7:24 p.m..

Respectfully submitted by D. Levy, CTAC secretary

MINUTES of CTAC of Hamden, New Haven and West Haven

Meeting Date: February 4, 2015

Call to order: A regular monthly meeting of CTAC was held at DiMatteo’s Restaurant, 2100 Dixwell, Ave. Hamden, Connecticut on Wednesday, February 4, 2015. President Tad Weinstein presiding. Don Levy secretary. Meeting started at 6:00.

Members in attendance:

Tad Weinstein, Chair (WH)

Peaches Quinn, Vice Chair (NH)

George Alexander, Treasurer (H)

Don Levy, Secretary (H)

Sharon Codeanne, COMCAST Representative

CTAC’s January meeting was cancelled due to illness. The February meeting was held at DiMatteo’s Restaurant in Hamden Plaza because of limited parking at CTV as a result of snow in the parking lot.

COMCAST representative Sharon Codeanne presented Chair Weinstein with its annual contribution of a check in the amount of $2,000.00 toward covering CTAC’s administrative expenses. Ms. Codeanne also presented the COMCAST report which highlighted the fact that the annual COMCAST Volunteer Day will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at a location to be announced, in New Haven.

Chair Weinstein asked Ms. Codeanne to look into a customer complaint CTAC received in the mail regarding spotty internet service at Tower One in New Haven.

Vice Chair Quinn reported that to her regret no submissions had been made to the CTAC Excellence in Community Video Award contest by the final deadline of January 31, 2015. Members expressed disappointment that the community had turned a deaf ear to CTAC’s attempt to inspire young people to get involved in community cable programming. Member Levy indicated that next year CTAC should open up the submission process to all community youngsters in our target demographic and use its public relations acumen to encourage participation.

Chair Weinstein presented a draft of testimony on behalf of Area 19 Cable Advisory Council Chairman Gregory Davis. Mr. Davis’ proposed to tax all Connecticut internet subscribers to pay for community access cable programming such as is provided in our cable area by Citizen’s Television. Several members pointed out that many internet-only subscribers would be thereby paying for a cable television service they could not receive.

The February regular meeting of CTAC was adjourned at 7:06 p.m..

Respectfully submitted by D. Levy, CTAC secretary