HomeMy WebLinkAboutAOC Minutes 2024-01-01 1
MINUTES (as approved March 5, 2024)
Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
Tuesday, February 6, 2024 at 5 PM
The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing
Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken,
member Paul Smith, City of Ithaca Common Council liaison Margherita Fabrizio; Access
Coordinator Alex Wiers, Lauren Kelly (Director of Government Affairs – Fingerlakes
Region, Charter Communications), Karen Heck (Senior Manager for PEG Areas (NY,
NJ, CT), Charter Communications), member of the public Tony Ingraham
01. Call to Order 5:04 by DePaolo. Introductions. Welcome to new member Margherita
Fabrizio (Fifth Ward), liaison from City of Ithaca Common Council.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions. DePaolo: re 07d, we'll discuss the present
update to the Manual; at the next meeting we'll take up suggested modifications
submitted by Heck. Van Leuken: add 07i: Ministudio surplus equipment.
03. Public Comments. Ingraham: would like Monday afternoon hours rather than
evening hours (not only Wednesday). Concerned also that when a reservation is made
for two mini-studio hours in the middle of the four opening hours, there is no two-hour
time slot left for others.
04. Comments by AOC members. Fabrizio asks about negotiations on updating the
franchise agreement. DePaolo: no action in past couple of years, when the last draft
was submitted by the negotiating committee, Charter responded with a draft resembling
an older version, "a disconnect." Former City Attorney Ari Lavine used to represent the
city, not clear who does now. Lavine is a consultant to the City now. Fabrizio: is
Common Council represented on the Committee? DePaolo: no.
Kelly introduces herself; hasn't been able to meet the City Attorney; wasn't here for the
negotiations on the current franchise agreement. Please connect her with new City
Attorney and Mayor. DePaolo: I will lead that conversation.
Fabrizio: notes that fees have not changed since 2003, but fees for recording City
meetings go up 4% per year; wonders about fees in other communities that have PEG.
DePaolo: the 15 cent PEG Fee was raised at an earlier meeting but Ch arter did not
want to consider it. Fabrizio: will research equitable amounts of money.
Fabrizio: recalls an Ithaca Times article ca. 10 years ago about maintenance issues.
What is Charter's responsibility? And is there an official YouTube Channel?
Browne clarifies: individual producers post their own shows on their own YouTube
channels. DePaolo: there was a volunteer effort to stream PEG programs, but the
people involved are no longer in town.
05. Approval of Minutes of the December 5, 2023 Meeting . Moved by DePaolo,
seconded by Browne. Approved 5-0 without change.
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06. Access Studio Coordinator Report (attached). DePaolo screenshares it.
a. Purchase of Play Back System - update. Van Leuken asks about equipment
being purchased. Wiers: still in process. [See Additional Notes: Week of Feb. 26.] Wiers:
the studio won't be disrupted during installation (it takes 1 or 2 days). DePaolo asks
about transition from old Nexus to new equipment. Van Leuken asks Wiers to notify
producers about any down time; Wiers: will look into it.
DePaolo to Fabrizio: funding for equipment is from the 15 -cent-per-subscriber per
month fee paid by subscribers in the three participating municipalities. He mentions that
subscribers who use the Spectrum App for their TV channels do not get the PEG
channels, even though it's mandated by the franchise agreement that they must;
unjustifiable. The 5% (City) and 3% (Town and Village) Franchise fees go to the
municipalities' general funds.
b. Charter’s report on Monthly Subscriber Fees through 2023 (attached). Kelly is
asked why it is called "Construction Fund": just a name they gave it in that department.
Van Leuken: it fits with my figures, but $2,000.00 of the bill for playback equipment
should have come out of 2023 funds, not from 2024. However, this doesn't change the
final balance. Wiers: all playback equipment has been paid for, no more to be
purchased.
07. Member Reports
a. Election of Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Secretary. Browne nominates
DePaolo for Chair, van Leuken for Vice Chair, and himself for Secretary. There were no
other nominations. Voted: 5-0-0.
b. Adoption of Meeting Time. AOC keeps the same meeting times: first Tuesday of
the month at 5 PM.
c. Staffing Levels and Hours of Operation - annual review. Van Leuken: at present
we have the studio open 16 hours a week plus 4 hours for administrative work. It would
be nice to have it open all 20 hours. DePaolo: Charter hasn't given us the necessary
salary figures for some years. It probably couldn't be discussed publicly; we might need
advice of counsel.
Van Leuken: 16 hours seems to fit the producers' needs now. Fabrizio asks about
payment of staff. DePaolo: it's 0.5% out of the Franchise Fee (5% or 3%) that goes to
municipalities.
Have some producers asked for changes in the studio opening times? Wiers: for
some producers evening hours are useful, but others might prefer afternoons. Van
Leuken: I have contacted producers twice and got only one response back from a
producer who prefers more afternoon hours. DePaolo: suggests no change; only
change the mini-studio rules. Smith suggests 2 afternoons and 2 evenings. Not less
than 2 evenings: sooner or later producers will want to do live evening programs. Wiers:
1 regular user always has Monday evenings, but I don't know if he could shift. To
DePaolo: I can't say if I'll be available Monday afternoons. Browne: if we change the
time to Monday afternoon, we should give a month's notice. DePaolo: we'll consider a
change at the next meeting; in the meantime, Wiers can review his schedule.
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d. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual - updates. DePaolo screenshares
the document. He suggests changing reservations for the Mini-Studio so as to only
allow the first 2 hours or the last 2 hours of the 4-hour timeslot.
Browne moved and DePaolo seconded a resolution to amend Sections 4 and 8 of the
PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual of November 7, 2023.
WHEREAS, the Access Oversight Committee ("AOC") wishes to amend Sections 4 and 8
of the current Policies and Procedures Manual for the PEGASYS Community Media
Center ("PEGASYS"); now therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the following changes shall be made to the PEGASYS Policies and
Procedures Manual ("Manual"): added to Section 4.2 will be "and no individual or group
may use it for more than 4 hours per week. Moreover, reservations for a 2 -hour timeslot
must be either for the first or last 2 hours of the 4 -hour daily timeslots."; in Sections 8.1
and 8.2 "This Agreement expires on December 31 of the year that it is signed" will be
replaced with, "This Agreement expires on December 31 of the year for which it is
executed,” added to Section 8.7 will be "(3) No individual or group may use the Mini
Studio for more than 4 hours per week; (4) A single 2 -hour timeslot can only be reserved
for the 1st or last 2 hours of the four-hour daily timeslots"; and added to Section 8, as
8.10, will be the "Usage Privileges Request Form"; and now be it further
RESOLVED, that this amended Manual will be known as the PEGASYS Policies and
Procedures Manual of February 6, 2024 and will go into effect immediately.
Resolution passes 5-0-0.
Van Leuken: we also need to change the mailing address in sec. 1.2. because of
the fence blocking the "612 W. Green Street" entrance, no mail can be delivered there.
Wiers suggests using Charter’s 519 W. State Street address. Heck: go with 519 W.
State for now, and I'll confirm it.
e. City of Ithaca Website/AOC section - update. The City's website no longer posts
the AOC's minutes and agendas. The most recent agenda is from May 2, 2023 and the
most recent minutes are from June 6, 2023. it also lists a non-existing vacancy. Fabrizio
will check with the Clerk’s office to find out where the problem is and get the City's
website updated with info about AOC + agendas + approved minutes.
f. Common Council meetings on Government Channel 15 - update. Kelly has not
heard back from City; will reach out again. Fabrizio: the City streams meetings live and
puts them on YouTube. DePaolo: Channel 15 is just another platform to be used. The
Government channel isn't showing much else at the moment. Fabrizio asks if there
would be additional cost. Van Leuken: staff used to be paid $15/hour, increasing 4% per
year, for recording meetings.
DePaolo: let's consider this next month. Obviously, viewership is limited by the fact
that channels 13-15-16 aren't watchable on the Spectrum App.
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g. PEGASYS Website - update. Smith: no new reports: it is a work in progress.
Wiers and I will have a follow-up meeting soon.
h. Showcasing PEGASYS awards and photographs at PEGASYS -update. Van
Leuken: Some plaques were found and now hang on the wall. But I want the record to
show that sometime after April of 2022 Charter Staff removed all historical records from
PEGASYS. This was done without notification to or permission from the AOC and, in
the case of the awards, without permission from the producers whose property it was,
and so far without any apology or remedy offered by Charter. I would like to hear from
Charter that it won't happen again.
DePaolo solicits comments from Charter. Heck: this was done by Mike Montesano.
Nothing should have been discarded after the walls were painted. It was unintentional.
We apologize for what happened. Van Leuken: appreciates Heck's words
i. Mini Studio surplus equipment. See list attached. Smith: has looked at all items;
the studio should keep 4 of them and dispense with the rest. He separately identified
items that should be donated to producers and those that should be given to the Reuse
Center.
DePaolo moved and Browne seconded a resolution to approve the disposition of surplus
Mini Studio equipment.
WHEREAS the Mini Studio of the PEGASYS Community Media Center (“PEGA SYS”) was
recently updated; and
WHEREAS a decision must be made on the disposition of the Mini Studio's old equipment;
and
WHEREAS, Section 15.3 - 2 of the Franchise Agreement states that Participating
Municipalities shall approve the use of Public, Educational and Governmental (“PEG”)
access equipment; and
WHEREAS, a detailed list of the surplus equipment and recommendations on their
disposition is attached and part of this resolution; now therefore be it
RESOLVED that the Access Oversight Committee ("AOC") approves the disposition of the
surplus Mini Studio equipment to be carried out pursuant to the attached list; and be it
further
RESOLVED that the AOC directs the studio coordinator and Charter Communications
("Charter") to keep the equipment identified on the list as "keep for PEGASYS for future
dubbing"; and be it further
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RESOLVED that the AOC directs and authorizes the studio coordinator and Charter to
dispose of the equipment identified as suitable to be recycled by donating it to the Reuse
Center; therefore be it
RESOLVED that the AOC directs that equipment identified as suitable for donation should
be donated to PEGASYS producers, after the results of the solicitation of active producers.
Passes 5-0.
08. Old Business
a. Streaming Channel 13. DePaolo: can we reinvigorate the idea? We'd need a
volunteer with proper equipment. Smith: is interested, happy to talk to volunteers.
DePaolo: will put Smith in touch with the earlier interested person.
09. New Business:
Fabrizio: Does AOC ever ask for interns? DePaolo: let's ask Charter. Kelly: A topic to
bring up during franchise negotiations.
10. Next meeting: Tuesday, March 5, 5 pm.
11. Adjournment. 7:05 PM
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
Page on the City website: https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-Oversight-Committee
Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2024- Margaret (Margherita) Fabrizio, mfabrizio@cityofithaca.org.
City of Ithaca: Paul Smith <smithcommapaul@hotmail.com>.
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
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Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html or https://pegasys.yourwebsitespace.com/
studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York
mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
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donate give it away, some specific people would enjoy getting specific items - AOC is handling the donations
future dubbing subcommittee agrees that this item should be retained to become part of an analog -to-digital dubbing station for use by PEGASYS producers
pairs with this item and another item should be kept together
recycle the best place for recycled electronics is the Finger Lakes Reuse, https://ithacareuse.org/
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9
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Ithaca Total Construction Fund Balance
Balance Accrual Spend Balance Accrual
2023
Spend 2023
Balance Accrual
2024
Spend 2024
Balance
12/31/2021 2022 2022 12/31/2022 12/31/2023 1/31/2024
Cayuga Heights
.15/sub
$ 6,140.33 $ 934.80 $ ‐ $ 7,075.13 $ 828.75 $ (4,733.23) $ 3,170.65 $ 63.45 $ (1,867.48) $ 1,366.62
Town of Ithaca
.15/sub
$ 22,436.27 $ 3,241.95 $ ‐ $ 25,678.22 $ 2,795.85 $ (16,176.94) $ 12,297.13 $ 216.30 $ (7,242.87) $ 5,270.56
City of Ithaca
.15/sub
$ 29,214.80 $ 3,884.10 $ ‐ $ 33,098.90 $ 3,308.10 $ (20,680.06) $ 15,726.94 $ 253.50 $ (9,262.98) $ 6,717.46
TOTAL $ 57,791.40 $ 8,060.85 $ ‐ $ 65,852.25 $ 6,932.70 $ (41,590.23) $ 31,194.72 $ 533.25 $ (18,373.33) $ 13,354.64
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PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual
February 6, 2024
PEGASYS Community Media Center
612 West Green Street, Ithaca, NY
Ithaca, NY
a service
of
Charter Communications, Inc.
City of Ithaca
Town of Ithaca
Village of Cayuga Heights
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Table of Contents
1 GENERAL 04
1.1 Public, Educational and Governmental Access Television 04
1.2 PEGASYS Community Media Center and Participating Municipalities 04
1.3 Hours of Operation 04
1.4 Access Oversight Committee (AOC) 05
1.5 Eligibility 05
1.6 Records maintained 06
2 TRAINING OFFERED AT PEGASYS 06
2.1 Training Courses 06
2.2 Training Course Requirements 06
2.3 Certification in Production Skills 06
2.4 Producer Certification 07
3 BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT RULES 07
3.1 Building Rules 07
3.2 Care of and Responsibility for Equipment 07
3.3 Use of Equipment 07
4 THE PRODUCTION PROCESS 08
4.1 Production Planning 08
4.2 Production and Equipment Reservations 08
4.3 Commercial Rentals 09
5 CABLECAST REQUESTS AND PROGRAM SUBMISSION RULES 09
5.1 Cablecast Requests 09
5.2 Program Submission Rules 10
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6 PROGRAM CONTENT RULES 11
6.1 Free Speech Rule 11
6.2 Commercial Content Restrictions 11
6.3 Illegal Content Restrictions 12
6.4 Indecent Content Restrictions 13
6.5 Program Ownership and Distribution Rights 14
7 MISCELLANEOUS 14
7.1 PEGASYS Awards 14
7.2 PEGASYS Archive 14
7.3 Publicity 14
7.4 Bulletin Board 14
7.5 Conflict with Franchise Agreements 15
8 APPENDIX 15
8.1 PEGASYS Public Access Cablecast Agreement 16
8.2 PEGASYS Producer Responsibility Agreement 17
8.3 PEGASYS Training Request Form 18
8.4 PEGASYS Talent Release 19
8.5 PEG File Uploading Instructions 20
8.6 PEGASYS Commercial Rentals 22
8.7 Studio Reservation Form 23
8.8 Field Equipment Reservation Form 24
8.9 Editing Reservation Form 25
8.10 Usage Privileges Request Form 26
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PEGASYS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL (“The Manual”)
1 GENERAL
1.1 Public, Educational and Governmental Access Television
Public, Educational and Governmental (“PEG”) Access Television was created to provide a public
free speech forum. The Federal Cable and Telecommunications Acts of 1984, 1992 and 1996
permit local governments to require local cable operators such as Charter Communications, Inc.
d/b/a Spectrum in New York State (“Charter”) to provide equipment, facilities, and channel space for
Public, Educational and Government access, as compensation for their use of local rights-of-way.
These channels must be carried on the basic tier of cable service. In Tompkins County, they are:
Public Access on Channel 13, Educational Access on Channel 16 and Governmental Access on
Channel 15.
1.2 PEGASYS Community Media Center and Participating Municipalities
The PEGASYS Community Media Center (“PEGASYS”) is the place where local individuals,
groups, educational institutions and governments can use the PEG channels to transmit non-
commercial programs in Tompkins County. PEGASYS is funded by Charter, Participating
Municipalities and their cable subscribers. Charter owns and operates the access system, pursuant
to its franchise agreements with the City of Ithaca and other municipalities. Participating
Municipalities are municipalities that per their franchise agreements provide the funding for
PEGASYS’ Staff (“Staff”) and equipment. Currently these are the City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca and
Village of Cayuga Heights.
PEGASYS has a fully equipped and staffed studio for the creation and cablecast of PEG
programming, a television studio, playback room, mini studio, editing stations, a viewing area,
portable video kits, a meeting room, a training room and Staff office. It is accessible to people who
use a wheelchair. PEGASYS is located at 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, NY. However, it can only
be accessed from Charter's parking lot gate at 519 West State Street by contacting the Access
Coordinator from the gate, at: 607-272-7272. The PEGASYS mailing address is 519 West State
Street, Ithaca, NY 14850.
1.3 Hours of Operation
PEGASYS has the following hours of operation:
Monday, Tuesday & Thursday: 5:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Wednesday: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
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PEGASYS observes the following seven holidays each year:
New Year’s Day
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
Other changes in hours of operation will be posted on the PEGASYS Notice Board (outside the
main entrance) and forwarded by mail or Email to all producers and members of the AOC no less
than two weeks in advance, when practicable.
1.4 Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
Oversight of PEG Access Television and PEGASYS is carried out by the Access Oversight
Committee, a 5-member Committee, appointed by the Mayor of Ithaca with Common Council's
approval. It has representation from Participating Municipalities and majority representation from
the City of Ithaca. It monitors and makes rules for PEGASYS, its hours of operation and staffing,
and recommends equipment budgets for public, governmental and educational access pursuant to
the City’s 2003 Franchise Agreement and Chapter 18 of the City Code. The AOC’s contact
information, agendas and minutes are available at the City of Ithaca’s website:
https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-Oversight-Committee. The AOC receives its
correspondence at Ithaca’s City Hall, 108 East Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 or by Email to the
AOC's Chair Person. The Committee welcomes inquiries, concerns and comments from
Producers.
1.5 Eligibility
a. To use PEG channel time, you must reside in Tompkins County, be at least 18 years old, sign the
PEGASYS Public Access Cablecast Agreement found at Section 8.1, page 16, and follow the rules
of this Policies and Procedures Manual (“the Manual”). Use of channel time is free.
b. You are considered a Provider, when you schedule time for programs that have not been
produced by you.
You are considered a Producer when you produce programming for cablecast on PEG channels,
with or without PEGASYS equipment and facilities, and are certified as Producer.
c. To use PEGASYS’ production facilities, you must fulfill the requirements of Section 1.5-a above,
complete PEGASYS training, be certified by Staff for all PEGASYS equipment you plan to use and
sign the PEGASYS Producer Responsibility Agreement (Section 8.2, page 17).
d. Use of the PEGASYS’ production facilities is free for residents of Participating Municipalities
(Section 1.2). Use by others is subject to a bi-annual Usage Fee, currently set at $20.00 for
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individuals and $50.00 for organizations. This Usage Fee is due when you first receive training, and
every six months thereafter.
e. Minors between the ages of 14 and 18 are permitted to assist with video productions when an
adult takes legal responsibility for the minor's use of PEGASYS’ equipment and facilities.
Exceptions may be made at Staff discretion or by the AOC if no agreement can be reached with
Staff.
1.6 Records maintained
Use of the PEGASYS facilities and equipment and PEG Channels is tracked by Staff with the use of
Charter's data management and storage system. In accordance with the requirements of New York
State regulations at 16 CRR-NY 895.4 (c)(10), PEGASYS staff is required to maintain records of the
use of the access channels, including the names and addresses of persons and organizations
providing programming for these channels. These records must be available locally for public
inspection upon request and retained for a minimum of two years.
2 TRAINING OFFERED AT PEGASYS
2.1 Training Courses
PEGASYS provides training courses throughout the year for Studio, Editing or Portable Field
Production Equipment. Training consists of lectures and hands-on experience in production
techniques. A training syllabus will be provided as part of the training. Courses are scheduled on a
regular basis. Custom and advanced training are available upon request.
2.2 Training Course Requirements
No prior experience is required or assumed for the basic studio, editing or portable courses. There
is one pre-requisite: the applicant must demonstrate his or her intention to produce or participate
in the production of PEG access programming at PEGASYS. To enroll, submit the PEGASYS
Training Request Form at Exhibit 8, page 18, to PEGASYS staff.
2.3 Certification in Production Skills
Trainees will be certified to work with any piece of equipment once they have, in the judgement of
PEGASYS Staff, successfully completed the relevant training course. Trainees who have not used
their production skills for more than 6 months, or who Staff believes have not attained a minimum
proficiency, may be required to refresh their knowledge by repeating training courses or
demonstrating proficiency to Staff.
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2.4 Producer Certification
To be certified as a Producer, a trainee must have:
a. successfully completed the training requirements for the type of production (studio, portable,
editing) their program will require;
b. demonstrated knowledge of the PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual (“Manual”).
Once certified, a Producer can schedule channel and production time to produce programs using
any category of equipment (studio, editing, portable) for which they have been trained.
3 BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT RULES
3.1 Building Rules
No food or drink is allowed while using production equipment in or outside PEGASYS. No smoking
is allowed on its premises.
3.2 Care of and Responsibility for Equipment
Staff will examine equipment and facilities at the end of all reservations. Producers should report all
equipment problems they noticed. Producers are fully liable for any damage or loss to the facilities
and equipment issued to them resulting from negligence or misuse. Staff will determine the proper
course of treatment (repair or replacement) for damaged equipment and bill this amount to the
responsible producer. Such actions must be reported to the Access Oversight Committee.
Disputes over liability should be brought before the AOC for a final decision.
3.3 Use of Equipment
a. Never attempt to repair equipment. NO EXCEPTIONS. Report any equipment problems
promptly to Staff. This also applies to equipment checked out for field productions.
b. Do not attach external devices to studio equipment without prior staff approval. This does not
apply to laptops.
c. The PEGASYS Studio and equipment therein must be left in the same condition as it was when
you found it. Do not re-patch, re-configure, or alter any setting on equipment. If you are unsure
about any procedure or piece of equipment, ask staff to assist you.
d. When finished with equipment at PEGASYS:
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• Return cameras to initial location and coil the cameras multi-cables (in “over/under”
manner);
• Do not switch off or “power-down” individual pieces of equipment;
• Return appropriate equipment to the office and wait for staff to check before you leave.
e. Staff must perform an inspection of the studio before the end of the reservation period.
4 THE PRODUCTION PROCESS
4.1 Production Planning
Staff is available to help Producers get the most from PEGASYS’ production facilities. It is best to
make an appointment for time-intensive production consultations. The PEGASYS meeting room is
available to Producers, by appointment, for production meetings.
4.2 Production and Equipment Reservations
Production time and equipment will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
To be able to reserve studio, editing or portable facilities or equipment you must:
a. be a Certified Producer; and
b. have a current Public Access Cablecast Agreement and Producer Responsibility Agreement on
file (Section 8.1, page 16 and Section 8.2, page 17)
To reserve studio, editing or portable facilities or equipment, fill out the appropriate Reservation
Form (Studio, Field Equipment or Editing) found at Section 8, pages 23, 24 and 25, and forward
it to PEGASYS staff, by mail, Email or by coming to PEGASYS and filling out the form(s) in
person. You have the option to make multiple reservations for the year in which you are making
the request. Such reservations expire at the end of the year and must be renewed by January 1
for the following year. Notwithstanding the above, you can request no more than four (4) 2-hour
reservations at a time for the Mini Studio and no individual or group may use it for more than 4
hours per week. Moreover, reservations for a 2-hour timeslot must be either for the first or last 2
hours of the 4-hour daily timeslots.
Your reservation typically will be confirmed within 2 PEGASYS business days.
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Cancellations of reservations must be made no later than 24 hours before the scheduled date.
Producers are responsible for assembling their own crew. All crew members must have completed
PEGASYS training. Although producers may not expect PEGASYS Staff to serve as crew on their
productions, Staff may serve as crew on productions, at the sole discretion of Staff and Staff may
submit their own productions for playback on Channel 13.
4.3 Commercial Rentals
Tompkins County residents who wish to use equipment for non-public access purposes, may
choose to make a rental arrangement. Reservations for non-PEGASYS related projects will be
possible on a short-term basis and only when the requested equipment is not reserved or used for
PEGASYS projects. Such rentals are subject to the Rental Fee Schedule, attached at Section 8.6,
page 22. Staff will determine if the renter’s prior training on the PEGASYS equipment is sufficient.
Disputes should be brought before the AOC for a final decision.
5 CABLECAST REQUESTS AND PROGRAM SUBMISSION RULES
5.1 Cablecast Requests
Meet with Staff to set up a timeslot for your program or series on Channel 13.
Using Channel time is subject to the rules and requirements set out below:
a. Any resident of Tompkins County who meets the eligibility requirements of Section 1.4 may
submit media to PEGASYS. There is no charge to use the PEG channels.
b. Programs by individuals and community groups will be scheduled on the Public Channel.
Programs by educational institutions and governing institutions will be scheduled respectively on
the Educational Channel and the Government Channel. Persons requesting channel time on E or G
Channels must be authorized by an educational or government institution to do so. Cablecasting
time is available on a first-come, first served basis, with preference given to locally produced, live
and new programs.
c. Cablecast requests for Single or Series programs will be scheduled within five days of the
eligibility confirmation of Section 1.4.
d. Series programs are multiple programs with the same title. A Series may be live or pre-recorded,
locally produced or produced outside Tompkins County and may be scheduled daily, weekly, bi-
weekly or monthly. As series reservations are made in advance of receiving, or production, of
episodes, it is important that media are delivered by the deadlines of Section 5.2-b. If this proves
not possible, programs will be scheduled upon media delivery only. If timeslots are repeatedly not
used, Staff will contact Producer.
e. Cablecast requests for live studio programs may be made by Producers certified on studio use
as described at Section 2. Requests for studio and cablecast time must be made simultaneously
and allow at least half an hour before and after the show for set-up and clean-up.
f. Each submitted program will be scheduled for 6 plays.
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g. In the event of a problem or error with a scheduled cablecast, PEGASYS offers the remedy of
additional scheduled plays.
h. A Program Sponsor is defined as an individual or organization not directly involved in the
production of an access program, that contributes money or goods to cover production expenses
and that receives acknowledgment in the program credits. Production expenses may include cash,
goods, services or labor used to produce an access program. Contributions to support a program
may be acknowledged by a sponsor notice up to 10 seconds in length at the beginning and end of
the program. The sponsor’s name and logo may be used. The acknowledgment should take a form
such as: "Sponsored in part by ABC Corp.;" "Clothing provided by ABC Corp." Other information
about the sponsor, such as telephone, address, slogans, product information or product display is
considered commercial content and is not permitted.
5.2 Program Submission Rules
a. Media Formats accepted: A variety of media formats in Standard Definition are accepted.
Several media formats, including MPEG-2, AVI and MP4, can be uploaded through the PEG file
upload system (“the PEG Server”) using the PEG File Uploading Instructions found at Section 8.5,
page 20, and as further instructed by Staff. Consult Staff before uploading other formats. Be aware
that formats other than MPEG-2, will be converted to MPEG-2 for playback, imposing an extra level
of compression and loss of video quality.
A dedicated computer is available at PEGASYS for producers who prefer to upload their programs
at PEGASYS.
Media not uploaded must be delivered or mailed to PEGASYS. Currently the only media accepted
in such manner are DVD's.
b. Media Delivery and Deadlines: Media must be delivered in person, by mail or through Charter’s
PEG file upload system by these deadlines:
1. Programs must be on the PEG Server by 7 PM on the PEGASYS business day prior to the day
of scheduled cablecast, unless other arrangements have been made with Staff.
2. DVD's must be delivered to PEGASYS during its business hours by 7 PM, 2 PEGASYS
business days prior to the day of scheduled cablecast, unless other arrangements have been
made with Staff. DVD's that have completed their cablecast schedule will be left on the Media
Pick-up Shelf. Media not collected in 30 days will be discarded.
c. The Producer’s name must be identified in a credit at the end of each locally produced program.
11
Producers using PEGASYS equipment are strongly encouraged to tag their program with an
acknowledgment such as: “Produced for (or “at” or “with equipment from”) the PEGASYS
Community Media Center, Ithaca, NY.”
d. Audio Levels should be between -20 and -12 dB for digital media. It is not possible to adjust
playback audio level output for individual programs.
e. Programs should be preceded and followed by at least 5 seconds of video black. For DVDs, no
menu is preferred. DVDs with menus and multiple titles are acceptable, but some menus do cause
playback problems.
f. There are no program length restrictions, except that programs must fall within the time slots for
which they were scheduled.
g. Media that include violence, adult language or nudity should have a warning advisory preceding
the program. This is required in cases of indecent content as more fully described at Section 6.4.
h. Media will be rejected if they have audio or video instability or have been physically damaged.
6 PROGRAM CONTENT RULES
Individuals or organizations submitting media to PEGASYS accept legal responsibility for the
content of their programs, including liability for content that is found to be in
violation of civil law, criminal law or the Manual, as further described below.
6.1 Free Speech Rule
In accordance with national, state and local regulations, PEGASYS, Charter Communications and
municipalities may not exercise editorial control of program content on access channels, except to
prohibit commercial or obscene programming.
6.2 Commercial Content Restrictions
12
The PEGASYS Public Access Cablecast Agreement (Section 8.1, page 16) includes a clause
affirming that the submitted program does not contain commercial content.
Programming will be considered commercial when it:
a. depicts or discusses products, services or businesses with the intent or substantial effect of
benefiting or enhancing a profit-making enterprise. Exception: Works of art, music and literature
may be presented or discussed, provided they are not presented as products for sale.
b. directly solicits funds or other things of value. Exception: 501(c)3 organizations may discuss
fundraisers.
c. solicits funds for candidates for public office. Note: programs may discuss or advocate voting for
specific candidates.
d. conducts lotteries or provides lottery information.
Penalty for Violation: Individuals or organizations determined to be submitting commercial
programming will be suspended from use of the public access channel for a period of up to six
months. Staff will report suspensions to the AOC. Contested violations can be brought to the AOC
for a final determination.
6.3 Illegal Content Restrictions
The PEGASYS Public Access Cablecast Agreement (Section 8.1, page 16) also includes a clause
affirming that the presented program does not contain illegal content.
Several content areas may give rise to questions of legality:
a. Obscene programming is a criminal offense defined in New York State Penal Law:
New York: Penal Law Section 2325.00(1) defines a program as obscene; if (a) the average person,
applying contemporary community standards, would find that considered as a whole, its
predominant appeal is to the prurient interest in sex, and (b) it depicts or describes in a patently
offensive manner, actual or simulated: sexual intercourse, sodomy, sexual bestiality, masturbation,
sadism, masochism, excretion or lewd exhibition of the genitals, and (c) considered as a whole, it
lacks serious literary, artistic, political and scientific value. Predominant appeal shall be judged with
reference to ordinary adults unless it appears from the character of the program or the
circumstances of its dissemination to be designed for children or other specifically susceptible
audience.
b. Harassment is a criminal offense defined in New York State Penal Law:
The New York State Penal Code defines criminal harassment as conduct intended to harass, annoy,
threaten, or alarm another person.
c. Fighting Words: A legal doctrine that permits prior censorship of words that create a clear and
present danger of inciting an audience to disorder or violence.
Charter or municipalities may not exercise prior restraint by determining that a program contains
illegal material and refusing to cablecast it. This determination must be made through the legal
system. Any person, including Charter staff, who feels that an illegal program has been or will be
cablecast on a public access channel, may request that the local district or municipal attorney
commence an action seeking a declaration that the program is illegal and an order enjoining the
cablecast of the program. Charter must obey all court injunctions and decisions directing it not to
cablecast a program.
13
A person who feels (s)he has been personally injured by the producer’s program may bring a civil
suit asking that it be enjoined from further cablecast and possibly asking for monetary
compensation as well.
Examples of civil tort issues that may arise in media:
a. Copyright Infringement: Copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in
a manner that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce
or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it.
b. Defamation of Character: The issuance of a false statement about another person, which causes
that person to suffer harm.
c. Invasion of Privacy: A violation of the right to be left alone, and to control information about
oneself. However, public figures have less privacy, and this is an evolving area of law as it relates to
the media.
The information in this section is intended solely to help individuals and organizations that cablecast
on the PEG channels understand issues of legality in access television programming. They are
advised to consult an attorney if they feel that their program may expose them to liability.
Penalty for Violation: Individuals or organizations determined to be submitting illegal programming
will be suspended from use of the public access channel for a period of up to six months. Staff will
report suspensions to the AOC.
6.4 Indecent Content Restrictions
A program is considered to contain “indecent content” when it contains excessive vulgar language,
nudity, graphic depiction of violence, degradation, sexual or
excretory activities or invasive medical procedures. Programming with indecent content is
permitted by law on public access channels, but with restrictions to protect children and provide
parents with the means to control viewership in their households. Individuals submitting
programming are responsible for notifying PEGASYS Staff when their program contains such
material and for attaching the following advisory message to the start of their program: “The
following program contains material which may be offensive to some viewers or
inappropriate for viewing by children or other audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.”
Programming with indecent content will be scheduled only between the hours of 10:00 pm to 4:00
am.
14
Penalty for Violation: Individuals or organizations who fail to notify Staff that their program includes
indecent content or who fail to attach a viewer advisory to such programming will be suspended
from use of the public access channel for a period of up to six months. Staff will report suspensions
to the AOC. Contested violations can be brought to the AOC for a final determination.
6.5 Program Ownership and Distribution Rights
Program ownership rights belong exclusively to the producer of the program, except that PEGASYS
reserves the right to rerun the Program on the access channel, and to use short clips from the
program in promotional material for PEGASYS.
7 MISCELLANEOUS
7.1 PEGASYS Awards
The PEGASYS Awards is an annual video competition and awards ceremony for PEGASYS
producers organized by volunteers. It is a celebration of the best in local PEG access
programming. All producers are encouraged to contribute their best work to this competition.
7.2 PEGASYS Archive
All producers are strongly encouraged to donate programs to the PEGASYS Archive that is
maintained by Staff and used to fill in gaps in the programming day. Staff is looking for programs of
varying lengths, with topics which are not time-sensitive, from 1 hour or less in length. To submit a
program(s), forward a notice to PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com, letting Staff know the program is on
the PEG Server and available for the Archive.
7.3 Publicity
PEGASYS provides listings of upcoming programs as part of its cablecasts on Channel 13.
Additional information is at its website at https://pegasys.webstarts.com/
7.4 Bulletin Board
15
The Community Bulletin Board (CBB) is an electronic bulletin board for posting upcoming
community events, public service announcements and other notices of public interest. It runs on
the Public Access channel when other programs are not scheduled. It is available at no charge for
non-commercial events. Space is limited to a few lines of text: what, when, and where the event will
be held, and contact information, if desired. Items for the Community Bulletin Board should be
Emailed to PEGASYS Staff at Charterbulletins.nyIthaca@charter.com
Ithaca’s community radio, WRFI, shall be used as the Bulletin Board’s background audio, at the
sole discretion of the Access Oversight Committee.
The Governmental Bulletin Boards run on the Governmental Access channel and are administered
by the Media Production Assistant at Tompkins County.
7.5 Conflict with Franchise Agreements
If language in this Manual is in conflict with a Franchise Agreement between Charter and a
Participating Municipality, that of the Franchise Agreement shall take precedence.
8 APPENDIX
01. PEGASYS Public Access Cablecast Agreement
02. PEGASYS Producer Responsibility Agreement
03. PEGASYS Training Request Form
04. PEGASYS Talent Release
05. PEG File Uploading Instructions
06. PEGASYS Commercial Rentals
07. Studio Reservation Form
08. Field Equipment Reservation Form
09. Editing Reservation Form
10 Usage Privileges Request Form
16
PEGASYS Community Media Center
612 West Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Tel.: 607-272-7272; Email: PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com
PEGASYS Public Access Cablecast Agreement for 20___
Program Title _____________________________________________________
Length: ___: ___: ___ Format: ________ Local / Syndicated [circle one]
Series? Yes / No [circle one] Series frequency: Weekly Bi-weekly Monthly
Check here if the show may include indecent content ____ [scheduled 10pm-6am only]
Producer/Provider Name: _____________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________________________
Phone: ______________________ e-mail: _____________________________
I hereby request that Charter Communications, Inc. (“Charter”) cablecast this Program or Program Series on
the public access channel. I assume sole legal responsibility for all Program contents. I have obtained all
necessary approvals, clearances and licenses for all material included in the Program(s). I attest that the
Program(s) contain no material which is commercial, obscene or otherwise illegal, as described in the
PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual (“the Manual”) and by law. I understand that I may be held
criminally or civilly liable for such content appearing in the Program(s). I understand that Charter must make
available my contact information to members of the public who request it.
I have read and understood the Manual regarding cablecast rights and obligations, and agree to abide by
them. I understand that failure to follow the Manual may result in Charter’s refusal to cablecast the
Programs and/or restriction of my right to submit additional programming. I understand that in the case of
programming produced through the facilities of the PEGASYS Community Media Center, failure to follow the
Manual in the creation of these programs may result in suspension of my access privileges. I also understand
that submitting commercial programming for cablecast on public access channels will result in the
suspension of my access privileges for up to six months. My signature hereupon shall indicate my
acceptance of these responsibilities. I have read all the forgoing, and understand its provisions as they apply
to me and the Program(s).
"This Agreement expires on December 31 of the year for which it is executed."
____________________________________________ _________________
Signature of Producer/Provider Date
17
PEGASYS Community Media Center
612 West Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Tel.: 607-272-7272
Email: PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com
PEGASYS Producer Responsibility Agreement
20___
Program Title _____________________________________________________
Name: ________________________________________ Phone: _________________
Address: ________________________________________________________________
Municipality: ____________________________________ ID Verified: _____________
Email: ____________________________________________
Please read carefully and sign below:
1. I understand and agree that using PEGASYS Community Media Center’s (“PEGASYS”) equipment requires
that I accept responsibility for any loss or damage, whether intentional or accidental, to that equipment
while it is in my possession, except in the case of ordinary wear and tear or damage resulting from a
verifiable pre-existing defect.;
2. I understand and agree that this equipment is to be used for the purpose of providing non-commercial
programming for PEGASYS channels.;
3. I have read and understand the current PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual (“the Manual”), and
agree to abide by the rules stated therein, including the responsibility to ensure that all guests and crew I
invite to PEGASYS do so as well. I understand and agree that failure to follow the Manual may result in my
privileges to use PEGASYS facilities being suspended.
This Agreement expires on December 31 of the year for which it is executed.
Signature: ______________________________________ Date: ________________
18
PEGASYS Community Media Center
612 West Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
tel.: 607-272-7272. Email: PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com
Training Request Form
Today’s date: _______________
Name: _________________________________________________
Address: ______________________________________________________
Phone: __________________________ Email: __________________________
Municipality of Residence: __________________________________*
PEGASYS provides video training and production facilities to allow residents of Tompkins County to
produce programs for our channels. Please check the type of involvement or interest that fits you
best:
__________ I want to be on TV as a host or actor
__________ I want to produce a program about ______________________
__________ I want to know how to operate equipment and I am willing to help other
producers with their programs.
__________ I was recruited to help on the program: _____________________
* PEGASYS Usage Fees
To be eligible to put programs on a PEG channel or take a training course, you must live in
Tompkins County. There are no fees for residents of the City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca or Cayuga
Heights. Fees for other residents are $20 and $50.00 for organizations (as represented by a single
designee) for a 6-month period.
19
PEGASYS Talent Release
Date: ______________________
By signing below, I give permission for my voice and image to be used by [producer name]:
_____________________________ for the program: “___________________________,”
to be cablecast on cable channel 13 and other non-commercial distribution. If you provide your email
address, we will contact you with the date and time that this program will be cablecast.
Print Name Sign Name Email Address
1. ______________________ _______________________ ______________________
2. ______________________ _______________________ ______________________
3. ______________________ ________________________ ______________________
4. ______________________ ________________________ ______________________
5. ______________________ ________________________ _____________________
6. ______________________ ________________________ _____________________
7. ______________________ ________________________ _____________________
8. ______________________ ________________________ _____________________
9. ______________________ ________________________ _____________________
10. ______________________ ________________________ _____________________
20
PEG FILE UPLOADING INSTRUCTIONS
1. Request Credentials
To get ready to upload your shows, please send a request via Email to
PEGFTPDelivery@charter.com so that an account can be created for you on our File Transfer
Protocol (FTP) site. You will then receive a username and password to gain access to the site.
2. To access the FTP site:
a. Download and install the free program FileZilla: https://filezilla-project.org/
b. In FileZilla: go into Site Manager, hit New Site, in Host enter 24.97.95.222
Make sure you select SFTP as your protocol when setting up, enter port 22, set Protocol to SFTP -
SSH File Transfer Protocol, set Logon Type to Normal, enter your username and password into the
appropriate fields. You will get a warning labeled Unknown Host Key, this is normal. Choose
"Always trust this host, add this key to the cache" then hit OK.
c. Once you have established connectivity to the site you will see a folder labeled with the title of
your show. Please drag and drop your show file into this folder.
3. Uploading your Program Files
Please make sure you use the agreed upon title format for your shows.
The preferred title format for weekly show is: the full name of the show, underscore then date.
(Example: NatureConnections_1-15-23). For monthly shows it is: the full name of the show,
underscore then the first 3 letters of the month and year it will air. (Example:
NatureConnectons_JAN23). And absolutely NO spaces in the titles.
4. Lead Time
Uploading deadlines are listed at Section 5.2, "Program Submission Rules".
5. Notification
21
Once your upload is complete, please send an Email to PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com to let staff
know of your uploads. You will receive a reply back with a confirmation.
6. Formats
The formats of uploaded shows must be compatible with PEGASYS' playback system. Please
follow these guidelines to ensure that they will play properly on the air. Check with staff before
uploading formats not listed here.
Recommended Formats
MPEG-4 (.mp4)
Video codec: H.264 HIGH profile, up to level 4.0
1920 x 1080 (29.97 fps, interlaced)
1280 x 720 (59.94 fps, progressive)
720 x 480 (29.97 fps, interlaced)
Constant and variable video bitrate encoding up to 6Mb/s
Chroma Sampling: 4:2:0
Audio Format: AAC-LC
128 kb/s, 192 kb/s
44.1 kHz; 48 kHz
Other Formats
MPEG-2
Video codec: MPEG-2 program stream, MAIN profile, MAIN or HIGH level
1920 x 1080 (29.97 fps, interlaced)
1280 x 720 (59.94 fps, progressive)
720 x 480 (29.97fps, interlaced)
Constant and variable video bitrate encoding up to 6Mb/s
Chroma Sampling: 4:2:0
Audio Format: Layer-2
128 kb/s, 192 kb/s
44.1 kHz; 48 kHz
22
PEGASYS Commercial Rentals
PEGASYS facilities are available for commercial rental during hours not designated for PEG access use. Facility
rentals do not include Staff. Pre-requisite for use is prior training on PEGASYS equipment or equivalent
experience. Reservations for studio or editing facilities must be made at least one week in advance.
Reservations for portable equipment are available on very short-term basis only. Confirmation can be made
no more than 48 hours in advance in order to preserve priority for access use. Payment is required at the
time of rental.
Current Rates are:
Main Studio $110 / hour
Non-Linear Editing Computer on-site $50 / hour
[Adobe Premiere CS6]
JVC GY150U Digital Camera
[including tripod, AC adapter, mic and 2 batteries] $60 / up to 24 hours
Sony NX5 Digital Camera
[including tripod, AC adapter, mic and 2 batteries] $75 / up to 24 hours
GoPro Hero 2 Digital Camera
[including 1 battery and 1 mount of choice] $25 / up to 24 hours
Accessories Type A: [per item] $10 / up to 24 hours
[individual lights with stands/reflectors, Mics [wired or wireless], tripods, other smaller items]
Accessories Type B: [per item] $40 / up to 24 hours
[multiple light kit, Premiere edit laptop, Video switcher, digital audio recorder]
23
PEGASYS Community Media Center, 612 W Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Tel: 607-272-7272, Email: PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com
Studio Reservation
Date: ________________________
Program Title: ____________________________________________________
Producer's Name: _________________________________________________
Phone #: ______________ Cell #: _____________ Email:________________
This reservation is for: Mini Studio:____________* Main Studio:____________
For Day/Date: ____________________________________________________
Start Time: ____________________ End Time: ______________________
I want to make multiple reservations** for the same day & time with the same crew
as listed below ______________
Frequency: Weekly _______ Monthly _________ Other __________________
* (1) Multiple Reservations expire on December 31 of the year they are made
**(2) There is a limit of four (4) 2-hour reservations per request for the Mini Studio
(3) No individual or group may use the Mini Studio for more than 4 hours per week
(4) A single 2--hour timeslot can only be reserved for the 1st or last 2 hours of the
four-hour daily timeslot
Names of Crew (all crew members must have completed PEGASYS training):
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
I will submit a list of guests, if any, prior to accessing the studio: ______ (initial)
_________________________________________________________________
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
Approved by: _____________________________________________________
Date Processed: __________________________________________________
24
PEGASYS Community Media Center
612 West Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
tel.: 607-272-7272
Email: PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com
Field Equipment Reservation
Date: _____________________
Program Title: ____________________________________________________
Producer's Name: _________________________________________________
Phone #: ______________ Cell #: ___________ Email: ________________
I want to make multiple reservations* for the same day & time ______________
Frequency: Weekly ____ Monthly _____ Other _________________________
* Multiple Reservations expire on December 31 of the year they are made
Equipment Description Accessories
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
I will pick up the equipment on: (Date)_______________(Time) ________________
I will return the equipment on: (Date)________________(Time) ________________
__________________________________________________________________
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
Approved by: ____________________________________________________
Date Processed: __________________________________________________
25
PEGASYS Community Media Center
612 West Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
tel.: 607-272-7272
Email: PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com
Editing Reservation
Date: ________________________
Program Title: ____________________________________________________
Producer's Name: _________________________________________________
Phone #: ____________________________ Cell #: ______________________
Email: __________________________________________________________
Date requested: __________________________________________________
Start Time: _________________________ End Time: ___________________
I want to make multiple reservations* for the same day & time ______________
Frequency: Weekly _______ Monthly ________ Other ___________________
* Multiple Reservations expire on December 31 of the year they are made
________________________________________________________________
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
Approved by: _____________________________________________________
Date Processed: ___________________________________________________
26
PEGASYS Access Television Center Application for Usage Privileges
PEGASYS production services are provided through contracts between Charter
Communications and the City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca and Cayuga Heights. There are no
charges to residents of these municipalities for use of PEGASYS production services, because
these have been addressed through payments by the municipality. Residents of other parts of
Charter Communications’ service area in Tompkins County may also use PEGASYS production
services by paying a membership fee, which is valid for 6 months of facility use.
I would like to apply for PEGASYS membership [select type]:
_____ Individuals: $20
Name: ____________________________________________________
Address: ______________________________ Municipality: _________________
__________________________________________________________________
_____ Organizations: $50
Organization Name: _________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________________________
Organizational Members (up to 4):
Name: ___________________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________Municipality: _____________
Name: ___________________________________________________________
Address: _________________________________ Municipality: ______________
Name: ____________________________________________________________
Address: _________________________________ Municipality: ______________
Name: ____________________________________________________________
Address: _________________________________Municipality: ______________
Fee Paid __________ Valid From __________________ through ___________
27
1
MINUTES (as approved May 7, 2024)
Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 5 PM
Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken,
member Paul Smith, City of Ithaca Common Council liaison Margherita Fabrizio; Access
Coordinator Alex Wiers, Karen Heck (Senior Manager for PEG Areas (NY, NJ, CT),
Charter Communications), member of the public Theresa Alt.
The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing.
01. Call to Order by DePaolo 5:03.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none.
03. Public Comments: statement from producer Theresa Alt.
I'm Theresa Alt, PEGasys producer. I live at 206 Eddy Street in the City of Ithaca.
Wayles Browne showed me Paul Smith's equipment purchase recommendations. I agree that
analog-to-digital conversion is of top importance and urgency. I have just had a very valuable (in my
opinion) PEGasys VHS tape deteriorate to the point of being unusable. I am about to pay to see if an
SVHS version can still be converted.
PEGasys was way more important to the life and politics of Ithaca and Tompkins County in the
1980s, 1990s and the first decade of this millennium, before we had a community radio station. Cable has
since declined in viewership and hence in its public importance.
Frankly, I don't expect any cooperation from Charter/Spectrum. However, there are other institutions
in this community that also have interests in local history.
At Tompkins County Public Library there is Memory Lab headed by Meghan Molloy
mmolloy@tcpl.org. They have facilities to convert VHS or, I think, DVD to .mp4. And they can teach you
how to do it. They can't do SVHS.
I myself spent a little over $100 and bought my own conversion equipment, and I have lined up
someone to use it -- I still haven't learned how. But I'm sure I could. It's not high tech. We also bought a
used VHS-only VCR from Reuse.
As for higher quality and more difficult stuff like SVHS, go online at
www.srsunlimitedimagemaker.com and/or email Stephen Singer at steph@srsunlimitedimagemaker.com,
click on the price list, or communicate by email or phone. This is a small business.
I believe The History Center in Tompkins County should be interested, but there is some staff
turnover there, so I really don't know what to say, except contact them.
It was The History Center that hosted a public presentation on "Audiovisual Preservation" by Tre
Berney of Cornell Library Special Collections back in 2015. He was the one who put the fear of tape
deterioration in me, but while a lot of my tapes are still in usable condition, one important one is not. Tre
Berney is apparently still on staff there at dhb229@cornell.edu 607-255-7933.
Olin Library at Cornell also lists Yuriy Bindas, Digitization Coordinator yb83@cornell.edu 607-255-
7029. I know nothing more about him or what he does.
Cornell also has an archive and archivist at the Kheel Center in ILR's Catherwood Library. Again, I
have not made contact, but I suspect that they may be interested in some of my tapes.
Finally, I wonder whether Bob Finley still has any tapes from Jean Finley or Bill McCormick, both
PEGasys classics, both deceased.
04. Comments by AOC members. Browne: producer John Weiss asked me to share his
approval of the change to Monday afternoon hours and his continuing gratitude for
Wiers' technical assistance.
Van Leuken to Theresa Alt: the Outreach Committee is working on a setup to
digitize (S)VHS tapes. And to Wiers: with the new playback system, can we do live
shows from the main studio? Wiers: Yes.
2
05. Approval of Minutes of the March 5, 2024 Meeting. Moved by van Leuken, seconded
by DePaolo. Approved 5-0-0 without change.
06. Access Studio Coordinator Report. Screenshared by DePaolo. Wiers gives details
on Camera 3: no video, needs replacing. It is a remote -control camera, but fails to "wake
up" for initial testing when turned on. Not usable for other purposes. As a temporary fix,
suggests moving the wall-mounted camera to use instead of this one.
The report also presents a second list with surplus material. Van Leuken will share that
information with producers.
a. Equipment Purchase Report for 2023. This report is the Final Report on 2023
equipment purchases in the amount of $43,590.23.
b. Budget Recommendations for 2025. DePaolo asks about the curtain. Van Leuken:
the present off-white curtain is badly torn. Discussion on a possible green curtain to use
with ChromaKey. Wiers: the curtain on this list is tan. But the blue curtain in the studio
will work with ChromaKey. Smith: agrees.
Van Leuken: we were talking a while back about the need for the studio's laptops to
have DVD making capacity. Wiers: DVDs can now be created after showing a program.
There's no demand for laptops with disk burners at present. Smith: would like to add a
DVD burner to a future device for digitizing VHS tapes. DePaolo: would be good also to
have a burner that could be taken home. But we could have both. Historically we've had
an equipment budget but also a contingency line for unexpected expenses.
Van Leuken: we are currently experimenting with digitizing on existing equipment. Let's
wait and see if that works out.
07. Member Report
a. Budget Recommendations for 2025 - Resolution.
AOC discussed Charter's recommendations and agreed that this equipment, except for
the camera, is needed now. Van Leuken moves and Browne seconds a resolution to
use the 2024 Budget Contingency for these recommended purchases.
WHEREAS, the Access Oversight Committee (AOC)’s 2024 Budget includes a
contingency to purchase equipment as needed for the functioning of Public, Educational
and Governmental access operations; and
WHEREAS this budget was subsequently approved by the participating municipalities
(City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Village of Cayuga Heights); and
WHEREAS, there is a need to replace and update miscellaneous equipment; now
therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the AOC approves the use of the 2024 Budget Contingency for the
purchase of equipment specified in the attached budget, in an amount not to exceed
$2,200.00.
Approved unanimously.
3
4
For the 2025 budget, AOC decided to create a contingency for the approximately
$11,000.00 of remaining funds. DePaolo moves and van Leuken seconds the AOC's
recommendations for the 2025 Budget.
WHEREAS, Section 15.12 of the Franchise Agreement of January 2003 between the
City of Ithaca and the franchisee Time Warner Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse
Partnership (TWC) (“Franchise Agreement”), subsequently assigned to Charter
Communications, Inc. d/b/a Spectrum Networks (Charter) after Charter's 2016
acquisition of TWC, requires the participating municipalities (City of Ithaca, Town of
Ithaca, Village of Cayuga Heights) to provide the franchisee with an annual written
budget for Public, Educational and Governmental access operations (PEG) by June 30
of each calendar year; and
WHEREAS, Section 15.12 of the Franchise Agreement requires that Charter directs
PEG Access Staff to provide the Access Oversight Committee (AOC) with budget
recommendations for the following year by April 30; and
WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca's Ordinance #2003-17, Par 18-4-G, requires the Access
Oversight Committee (AOC) to provide the Participating Municipalities with a
recommended budget for the following year by May 31; and
WHEREAS, the Franchise Agreement authorizes Charter to collect $0.15 per subscriber
per month to be used for the purchase of PEG equipment and facilities; and
WHEREAS, the AOC has reviewed PEG’s current equipment and facilities and
anticipates that new or replacement equipment and facilities will likely be needed; now
therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the AOC recommends a $11,000.00 contingency to purchase
equipment as needed for the functioning of PEG operations, pending receipt and AOC
approval of line-item estimates, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the AOC forwards its recommendations for approval by the Common
Council of the City of Ithaca, the Town of Ithaca Board and the Village of Cayuga
Heights Board of Trustees, so that they may meet their obligation to provide Charter
Communications with an annual written budget for Public, Educational and
Governmental access operations no later than June 30, 2024.
Approved unanimously.
b. AOC's 2023 Equipment Purchase Report to City: see also 6a. This is the Final
Report on 2023 equipment purchases in the amount of $43,590.23 that was submitted
by Charter at this meeting and can be found below in the Coordinator's report. See
below: Final Report for 2023. The AOC must submit this report to the City every year.
Said requirement is addressed by its inclusion in these minutes.
c. Common Council meetings on Government Channel 15 - update.
Discussion on Charter's efforts to contact the City. Heck: Lauren Kelly was trying to
reach out to the City about this. Heck: will contact the City.
5
Discussion on possible ways to get meetings on Channel 15: Browne asks if the studio
could rebroadcast a YouTube signal. Wiers: doesn't know.
DePaolo: assumes Channel 15 could just get the same feed as YouTube.
Fabrizio: Council meetings are live on YouTube and then recordings are placed on City
website. Do we need to put them on TV? Is money required? DePaolo: we are asking
that they be shown on channel 15. Alan Karasin (City IT person and acting City Clerk)
had Emailed Fabrizio that someone needed to be in Council Chambers during meetings
in order to put them on TV. DePaolo: please forward Karasin's e-mail and then we
should have a meeting with him.
[Fabrizio leaves.]
d. City of Ithaca Website/AOC section - update.
Browne: Agendas and Minutes of AOC are now up to date on the City's website.
e. Surplus equipment distribution - report. DePaolo on surplus equipment list #1
(attached below): we've received two requests. The Used Equipment Donation
Agreements are ready. Heck: send them to Wiers, copy to me. Wiers can then contact
each producer.
f. Outreach Committee - report. Van Leuken: The project to digitize photographs from
past years at PEGASYS has grown into multiple projects to create a PEGASYS archive.
We have begun digitizing VHS tapes of historical interest to PEGASYS. A lot of other
programs have been made by producers over the years that are of historical interest. I
have begun attending quarterly meetings hosted by the Alliance for Community Media
for PEG stations nationwide that are archiving their collections. The Outreach Committee
is looking for a partner organization to store the digitized photographs and videos. Such
a nonprofit could hopefully apply for funding. We have identified a need to set up a
digitizing station in the studio for producers to digitize their tapes.
DePaolo: Logical for the City of Ithaca to store digitized photos. Let's see if their records
retention policy could designate them for permanent storage.
Van Leuken: The History Center already has a PEGASYS section on their YouTube
account. We also have begun writing a history of PEGASYS. Oral info says it started in
1975. If that is correct, 2025 is its 50th anniversary and we should celebrate.
Smith: excited about photos. Now almost finished digitizing hundreds of negatives taken
by Gene Ira Katz when he lived in Ithaca. Also interested in digitizing old shows.
DePaolo wonders: is this outreach? Van Leuken: yes, it's reaching out to former
PEGASYS staff, to possible partner organizations such as the History Center, to IC, to
the City... We are working on recording interviews with PEGASYS' former staff and
producers. The first coordinator was Gossa Tsegaye, who wrote the early history of
PEGASYS, which was in the studio library, but cannot be found anymore.
g. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual - Resolution. DePaolo, considering
Charter's proposals for amendments, brings up the term "PEG" [public access,
educational, governmental] vs. "Public Access", also the role of Ithaca College in feeding
Channel 16, the Educational channel. IC's Jeremy Menard has stated he's not interested
in managing Channel 16. What happens if someone other than IC wants to use 16?
Wiers tells me that the new server has 2 outputs.
Wiers: The SDI ports are now configured for broadcasting and recording of a live show
(1 output, 1 input). DePaolo asks Heck: what if someone comes with an educational
6
program? Heck: if it's a single show, I'd approach IC; if a series, Lauren Kelly would need
to be called on (whether a prerecorded show or live programming). We'd have to tell a
potential educational program provider that it wouldn't be easy to reconfigure the new
equipment back and forth.
On the term "PEG": Heck: OK, keep it "PEG" till we have a solution.
DePaolo on the proposed liability waiver for studio users to sign: the City Attorney has
suggested changes. (He screenshares Attorney Victor Kessler's version). Heck: please
send it, and I'll ask our legal staff.
On manual §1.5e: DePaolo. Charter would leave out the mention of allowing 14 to 18 -
year-olds. Do we permit them to volunteer (with producer accepting responsibility) or
not? Van Leuken: the present manual says the producer takes responsibility. DePaolo:
would we need a separate form for accepting responsibility? I'll ask the City Attorney if
we can include 14-18-year-olds, and then ask Charter. We can't finalize the Manual at
this meeting.
Van Leuken: elsewhere in the Manual, should we write "Charter" or "Charter
Communications"? DePaolo: will make it "Charter Communications" throughout.
Van Leuken notes that throughout the manual the word "staff" is used (as in the
Franchise Agreement), except in §4.1 and §5.1, where it switches to "Charter
Communications Public Access Coordinator".
She further asks about §7.6, which lists a set of procedures that are the responsibility of
staff, except for the wearing of a nametag. Should we rather make §1.2 say "producers
and visitors will be given a nametag"? Heck: §7.6 is informative for producers. But the
information could be moved to §1.2.
08. Old Business
a. Streaming Channel 13. No report.
09. New Business: none.
10. Next meeting: Tuesday, May 7, 5 pm.
11. Adjournment 6.59.
================
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
Page on the City website: https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-Oversight-Committee
Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2024- Margaret (Margherita) Fabrizio, mfabrizio@cityofithaca.org.
City of Ithaca: Paul Smith <smithcommapaul@hotmail.com>.
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html or https://pegasys.yourwebsitespace.com/
studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York
mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
7
Surplus Equipment List #1
Brand Model Serial number Item future use
Coby DVD-233 0904304050000
198
DVD Player keep for PEGASYS for future dubbing station
Coby remote control
(for DVD-233?)
keep for PEGASYS - pairs with DVD-233
Compix LCGn Windows
Computer
keep for PEGASYS for VHS digitizing
JVC TM-A101G 10” Monitor Recycle
LG Flatron L1942S-
BF
906NDVW1340
7
15”-wide
Computer
Monitor
Recycle
Logitech Y-5U61 868026-0403 keyboard keep for PEGASYS for VHS digitizing
Magnavox ZC350MS8 D22717395A DVD Recorder keep for PEGASYS for future dubbing
Marshall V-R563P 2 25195 08453 gang of 3 color
monitors
Donate to Andy Finkle
(no name) A34G0028 flimsy round
plastic stand
Recycle
Panasonic WJ-MX20 B2TVA0069 Video Switcher Donate: no requests so recycle
Shure M267 971826886 4-input mono
Mixer
Donate to Jacob Sullivan
Sony BRC-300 124637 Remote Studio
Camera
Donate to Andy Finkle
Sony RM-BR300 120295 Camera
Controller
Donate to Andy Finkle
Sony MPA-AC1 0905 U
0039402G
AC power
supply 12V
keep for PEGASYS for VHS digitizing
Sony PVM-8020 CD 953194 Video Monitor Donate to Andy Finkle
Sony RM-D30 remote control,
unknown
camera
Donate: no requests so recycle
Western Digital WDBABF0000NBK-00 composite/USB/
HDMI converter
keep for PEGASYS for future dubbing
Viewsonic VA1903wb QJ0071528576 16”-wide
computer
monitor
Recycle
terms explanation
donate give it away, some specific people would enjoy getting specific items - AOC is handling the donations
future dubbing subcommittee agrees that this item should be retained to become part of an analog-to-digital dubbing station for
use by PEGASYS producers
pairs with this item and another item should be kept together
recycle the best place for recycled electronics is the Finger Lakes Reuse, https://ithacareuse.org/
8
Final Report for 2023
4/2/2024
Ithaca 2023 Equipment Purchase Report
Vendor Qty Item Cost Total
B&H Photo Video 1 Audio Technica AT875R Shotgun Mic $129.71 $129.71
B&H Photo Video 1 Auray Univ. Shock-Mount $13.03 $13.03
B&H Photo Video 1 GVM 800D-RGB LED 2-Light Kit $201.65 $201.65
B&H Photo Video 1 Shure SM58-LC Cardioid Mic. $87.20 $87.20
B&H Photo Video 1 SONY 4K Handheld Camcorder $2,658.10 $2,658.10
B&H Photo Video 1 ZOOM F1 Lav. Field Recorder $136.52 $136.52
B&H Photo Video 1 ZOOM H4N Pro 4-Channel Handy Recorder $170.87 $170.87
B&H Photo Video 1 GVM 800D-RGB LED 3-Light Kit $283.40 $283.40
B&H Photo Video 1 SONY ECM-VG1 Short Shotgun Mic. $175.71 $175.71
B&H Photo Video 1 Shure MV7X Mic. $136.25 $136.25
B&H Photo Video 2 Dell P2722H 27" Monitor $219.55 $439.10
Audio-Video Corp. 1 BroadcastPix BPS-FXH Hybrid System $17,250.00 $17,250.00
Audio-Video Corp. 2 BroadcastPix Robopix PTZ Camera $1,755.00 $3,510.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 CONVMASA Mini Converter SDI to Analog $250.00 $250.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 Notepad-8FX $165.00 $165.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 Planar PCT2435 Touchscreen Monitor $319.00 $319.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 AVSG Mount Package $195.00 $195.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 Netgear Network Switch $727.00 $727.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 AMS-Scarlett-2I2 Audio Interface $193.00 $193.00
Audio-Video Corp. 2 Shure MX185 Condenser Lav. Mic. $215.00 $430.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 8x8' Green Screen $410.00 $410.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 Installation and Training $6,150.00 $6,150.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 AVSG Misc. Cables, Connector Hardware $325.00 $325.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 AVC Customer Care Year 1 $1,350.00 $1,350.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 BroadcastPix Enhanced 1 Year Warranty $1,295.00 $1,295.00
Audio-Video Corp. 1 AVG Customer Care Year 2 $1,657.00 $1,657.00
B&H Photo Video 1 Blackmagic Router $2,543.94 $2,543.94
Playback Equipment Purchase Earmark $2,000.00
Shipping $31.69
Tax $357.06
Total $43,590.23
9
10
11
12
UPDATED LIST
1
MINUTES (as approved June 4, 2024)
Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 5 PM
Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken,
member Paul Smith, City of Ithaca Common Council liaison Margherita Fabrizio; Access
Coordinator Alex Wiers.
The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing
01. Call to Order by DePaolo 5:03.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none.
03. Public Comments: none.
04. Comments by AOC members: none.
05. Approval of Minutes of the April 2, 2024 Meeting. Moved by DePaolo, seconded by
van Leuken. Approved without change 5-0.
06. Access Studio Coordinator Report. Wiers: I gave a tour for a person who had
previously taken part in programs. Van Leuken refers to a report from Wiers he mailed
on April 30 that included recent equipment purchases that lists more equipment than
was approved. Wiers explained that that was the original list, not the one later approved
by AOC. Van Leuken also asks about the "2024 annual report" included in the April 30
report; does "Personnel expenses" include staff like janitorial services, and what is
"Headend/System"? Wiers: it was put together by Charter. DePaolo: will ask Charter's
Karen Heck or Lauren Kelly to come to the next meeting, we'll then ask Charter to
distinguish PEG's from Charter's expenses. Van Leuken: also notes that the
Construction/Capital Fund Summary (should be renamed "equipment fund") in the
report does not include the $2000 for the 2023 portion of the playback system (total
should be $43K rather than $41K).
a. 2024 Budget Equipment Purchases - Update. Wiers: purchases in process,
haven't come yet. Most will be installed by me, but the curtain will be put up by vendors.
07. Member Reports
a. Municipal Approvals for 2025 Budget - report. DePaolo: the Town of Ithaca
approved it April 22. Van Leuken: the Village of Cayuga Heights approved it April 17.
Fabrizio: for City of Ithaca, goes to Committee next week and to full Council early June.
b. Common Council meetings on Government Channel 15 - report. Fabrizio:
City's Acting Dir. of Public Information and Acting City Clerk Alan Karasin says staffers
would be needed in order to stream meetings; he doesn't know if there is a possibility of
streaming from YouTube channel. She does not know of public interest in telecasts of
meetings, but can ask all Council members. DePaolo: the Franchise §15.10 says that
the Franchisee "shall direct access staff to cablecast the monthly Common Council
meeting and three other standing committee meetings of the City" and "the City
shall...pay $3400" for telecasting at $15 per hour, increasing 4% per year"; that would
make it $35/hour at present. DePaolo will write Wiers an e-mail asking officially about
the possibility of simulcasting from YouTube without a staffer. Fabrizio will connect
2
Wiers with Karasin to check on equipment. Van Leuken recalls that the control room
equipment was installed in City Council chambers with PEG funds remaining from
previous franchise, circa $103,000.
DePaolo to Smith: Channels 13, 15 and 16 are on the basic tier and Charter should
make them available to all viewers without extra charge, but Charter is charging for set-
top boxes and not making these channels available on its app. DePaolo and Fabrizio
will ask the Acting City Attorney again to consider an official letter to Charter about this.
AOC made the request 2 years ago (May 13, 2022).
c. Surplus equipment list #2 - Resolution and Report. Smith reviewed the equipment
of List #2 and made recommendations. Smith: the list in this Resolution is the same as
in the Access Studio Coordinator's report except for the last column, which recommends
keeping many of the items. Van Leuken will distribute information on the to be donated
items to PEG producers. A resolution of approval was moved by Smith and seconded
by Fabrizio.
WHEREAS the Charter Communications ("Charter") has identified equipment that is no
longer needed for the PEGASYS Community Media Center (“PEGASYS”); and
WHEREAS, Section 15.3 - 2 of the Franchise Agreement states that the Access Oversight
Committee (AOC) shall approve the use of Public, Educational and Governmental (“PEG”)
access equipment; and
WHEREAS, the AOC reviewed the list of surplus equipment and made recommendations,
which are part of this resolution; now therefore be it
RESOLVED that the Access Oversight Committee (AOC) approves the disposition of the
surplus equipment to be carried out pursuant to the attached list; and be it further
RESOLVED that the AOC directs the studio coordinator and Charter to keep the equipment
identified on the list as "keep for PEGASYS"; and be it further
RESOLVED that the AOC directs and authorizes the studio coordinator and Charter to
dispose of the equipment identified as "recycle" by donating it to the Reuse Center; and be
it further
RESOLVED that the AOC directs that equipment identified as "donate" should be donated
to PEGASYS producers, after the results of the AOC's solicitation of current producers.
PEGASYS cast-off equipment “LIST 2”, 2024-04-17
item model quantity category condition comments recommendation
JBL speakers J2050 2 audio good analog
speakers
keep for PEGASYS
Sony video monitor PVM-8020 6 video good standard
definition
donate
JVC 10” monitor TM-A101G 2 video fair standard
definition
recycle
Dell computer monitor 1908FPt 3 video good keep for PEGASYS
3
ViewSonic LCD monitor VS11618 1 video good donate
Sony LCD monitor LMD01410 1 video good keep for PEGASYS
Videotek ADA VDA-16 6 playback good distribution
amplifiers
recycle
Tascam DVD player DV-D6500 1 video fair keep for PEGASYS
JVC VHS/Mini-DVD player HR-DVS3U 1 video fair keep for PEGASYS
Magnavox DVD recorder ZC350MS8 1 video good keep for PEGASYS
JVC S-VHS recorder HR-S3600U 1 video good keep for PEGASYS
LG video monitor L1942TT 1 video good keep for PEGASYS
Logitech speakers S-0152A1 2 audio good keep for PEGASYS
Altec desk speakers ACS90 2 audio good keep for PEGASYS
Passed 5-0.
d. Outreach Committee - report. Van Leuken: "the Committee met April 3 and will
meet again on May 8. We are collecting names and contact information from PEGASYS
studio staff and users, past and present. We are doing interviews and writing a
summary of PEGASYS' history. Information gathered so far points to 1977 as the start
of PEG. Information on the early years is muddled. Unfortunately, Gossa Tsegaye's
history of PEGASYS was discarded after Stefanelli retired. Digitizing VHS tapes is an
ongoing project, finding storage for the PEG archive is another. The History Center has
some PEGASYS programs at <https://thehistorycenter.net/Blog/13320420>".
Fabrizio: Alan Karasin has put some Common Council minutes and info from the years
1976 and 1977 up on the public portal. https://lfweb.tompkins-
co.org/WebLink/Browse.aspx?id=1115027&dbid=13&repo=CityOfIthaca
Smith: Whether it first started in 1975 or 1977, the 50th anniversary of PEG is coming
and we should prepare to mark it in a fitting fashion.
e. PEGASYS Operations.
Wiers: the studio now has equipment to digitize SVHS tapes. I can train producers to do
this. The tape has to play in "real time," so it's a slow process. The Outreach Committee
will work with Wiers to draft guidelines and a reservation form.
Smith has worked on a number of studio productions in the control room and drafted a
set of recommendations to improve its workings:
" • The studio audio chain has never been wired correctly. Fortunately, I don’t think we
need any additional equipment to fix this.
• The studio cameras need to be rearranged. Again, we don’t need any new equipment
to do this. I propose that we hire the same technicians who installed the current studio
to do this work." (Installation was by Com Tech, Inc, May 17, 2017 @ $49,999.43).
He explains: long ago, all circuits in the studio were analog and were wired. Now,
pictures go into a computer memory, requiring .28 of a second before being recorded.
This interferes with lipsynching. To fix it, one could introduce a delay of .28 sec., but it
can happen that the audio recorder mixes the real-time audio signal and the delayed
audio signal together. Somebody who knows the wiring needs to fix this.
4
DePaolo: as a long-experienced audio recordist, will meet with Smith and Wiers and
investigate.
Smith on cameras: camera 1 is on the wall, different from the normal numbering that
students are taught (1, 2, 3 on the floor). Wiers: recalls that we have only 3 cameras at
the moment. Smith and DePaolo: will investigate, renumber cameras if possible.
Van Leuken recalls a past practice of producers paying $15 per year for insurance
covering breaking equipment (with $250 deductible). Can we reinstate this insurance?
Does Charter have insurance that covers equipment? Can we buy our own? DePaolo
suggests asking producers if they'd be interested in insurance of this sort.
f. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual - Resolution. The new language for
the "Release and Acknowledgement of Liability" form, approved by the City, is OK with
Charter. Van Leuken still has questions: should we omit mention of "educational
programming" from the manual? If e.g. the School Board wants to broadcast a program,
the manual should tell them what the procedure would be. DePaolo: but Charter hasn't
provided an answer. Smith proposes that AOC decide that educational institutions have
the right to ask Charter to run programs. DePaolo: channels 15 (government) and 16
(educational) are listed in the Franchise. We need to figure out who runs them before
we can modify the Manual. Let's postpone consideration of the Manual till next month.
For now, put "governmental and educational" back in the text of section 1.4. Van
Leuken: we should also put the provision for "minors from 14 to 18 years" back in 1.5.
08. Old Business
a. Streaming Channel 13. No report.
09. New Business
a. Tour of PEGASYS: suggested for members during next meeting.
10. Next meeting: 5 pm if possible for Wiers, otherwise 5:30, at studio. Rich will bring
Laptop so that Public can participate via Zoom.
11. Adjournment 6:48.
================
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
Page on the City website: https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-Oversight-Committee
Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2024- Margaret (Margherita) Fabrizio, mfabrizio@cityofithaca.org.
City of Ithaca: Paul Smith <smithcommapaul@hotmail.com>.
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html or https://pegasys.yourwebsitespace.com/
studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York
mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
5
6
1
MINUTES (as approved July 2, 2024)
Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
Tuesday, June 4, 2024 at 5 PM
The AOC met at PEGASYS, 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY
The public was invited to attend by ZOOM Conferencing
Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken,
member Paul Smith, City of Ithaca Common Council liaison Margherita Fabrizio; Access
Coordinator Alex Wiers; via Zoom: Lauren Kelly (Director of Government Affairs –
Fingerlakes Region, Charter Communications), Sean Ryan (Charter).
01. Call to Order DePaolo 5:04.
02. Tour of PEGASYS facilities: for the sake of Zoom attendees, postponed till end of
meeting.
03. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: 02 removed.
04. Public Comments: none.
05. Comments by AOC members: none.
06. Approval of Minutes of the May 7, 2024 Meeting. DePaolo: we don't need to attach
the annual report or the quotes. Moved by van Leuken, seconded by Fabrizio, approved
5-0 without change.
07. Access Studio Coordinator Report: attached. DePaolo: we can't finalize the Policies
& Procedures Manual until we hear from Charter about the possible use of Channel 16
(Educational).
a. 2024 Budget Equipment Purchases - Update. See attached.
b. Review Ithaca Annual Report, April 30, 2024. DePaolo to Kelly: I e-mailed some
questions about this annual report. Kelly: still trying to confirm sources of expenses
(what's Charter, what's from the 15 cents per subscriber in the municipalities). DePaolo
suggests: personnel comes from municipalities, other expenses are borne by Charter.
Kelly: I believe so. Van Leuken asks: does "Property Tax" refer to the whole complex of
buildings? Kelly: will figure out.
AOC also discussed the capital fund balance for 2024 and 2025.
08. Member Reports
a. Municipal Approvals for 2025 Budget - Report. Fabrizio: the City of Ithaca is just
about to approve it.
b. Common Council meetings on Government Channel 15 - Report. DePaolo: at the
last meeting we asked if the YouTube feed from the City of Ithaca could be simulcast
without paying anyone to do it. Kelly: none of us know how. Ask at City Hall or Town
Hall; we give you the green light to broadcast such meetings. Fabrizio asks if Wiers has
contacted Alan Karasin (City's Acting Dir. of Public Information and Acting City Clerk).
Wiers has not yet. DePaolo is willing to go together with Wiers to City Hall to ask. Kelly:
Wiers shouldn't leave at a time when he's scheduled for production. DePaolo: will
coordinate with Wiers's schedule.
2
c. Surplus equipment list #2 - Report. Van Leuken: on the list (List 2, April 17), change
two items "donate" to "recycle". All concur. She will e-mail an updated list to Wiers.
d. Outreach Committee - Report. In the project covering the history of PEGASYS, van
Leuken has done 5 interviews and has 2 more tomorrow; she hopes to cover everyone
who remembers the early days and is still alive. Dubbing from old media: she has
discussed this with Wiers. Tom Stern is working on a video on PEG history for the 50th
anniversary. I'll see the City Clerk about locating old documents. I've compiled a
timeline.
Smith asks about a document dated 13 Feb. 1977 . It seems to be the oldest mention of
Channel 13, so 2027 will be the 50th anniversary.
e. PEGASYS Operations. Van Leuken: let's keep a hard copy of the Manual in the
studio once it's approved.
Van Leuken: how many iNet connections (coax cable feeds from buildings to the studio)
are still functional (even if not used)?
Smith: Likely no one knows all the pieces of the puzzle. Once there was a switch
triggered by a touch-tone phone; nobody knows if there still is. There may be
receptacles in walls but probably no connection to them. No drawing or diagram is
known.
Van Leuken: doesn't remember when it was last used —maybe from Southside
Community Center.
DePaolo: there must have been a map, but who knows where it is? We can ask
Charter.
f. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual. DePaolo: still has questions about
possible requests to use channel 16. Ithaca College uses it; if they couldn't help others
to use it, this is a question for Charter. We need this answered before finalizing the
Manual. Could Charter help with such a request? Kelly: Nothing new on this.
DePaolo: cites the New York State Code Section 895.4 - Minimum standards for public,
educational and governmental (peg) access [attached below].
Kelly: We're really not supposed to playback on the government access channel.
DePaolo: But this is about educational access. I.C. doesn't own the channel; requests
from other users are a hypothetical but we should have answers ready.
Smith asks: can we freeze 1 version of the Manual? Van Leuken: we're still debating
suggestions from Charter staff, but in the meantime we can amend the existing Manual
so as to include the VHS/SVHS dubbing guidelines.
A. Guidelines for use of VHS Dubbing Station - Resolution.
Resolution #
Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
June 4, 2024
Adding VHS/S-VHS Dubbing Guidelines to the PEGASYS Policies & Procedures
Manual of February 6, 2024
WHEREAS, the current Policies and Procedures Manual for the PEGASYS Community
Media Center (“PEGASYS”) was approved by the Access Oversight Committee (“AOC”)
on February 6, 2024 (“the Manual"); and
WHEREAS, the AOC wishes to add the following guidelines to the Manual for dubbing
VHS/S-VHS tapes at PEGASYS:
3
1. at Section 7, "Miscellaneous", add Section "7.5 Dubbing VHS/S-VHS Tapes
PEGASYS has equipment available for producers to digitize programs they originally made
in VHS or S-VHS format. Producers must have the intention to cablecast these programs
on Channel 13 or to make them available for the PEGASYS archive.
Dubbing takes place in real time. Producers should bring a portable hard drive or a blank
DVD to transfer the digitized files from the PEGASYS computer."; and
2. at Section 8, "Appendix", add as Section 8.11 the VHS/S-VHS Dubbing Reservation
Form attached to this resolution; and now therefore be it
RESOLVED that the AOC approves the above listed amendments to the February 6, 2024
PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual; and be it further
RESOLVED, that this amendment will go into effect immediately.
Moved by van Leuken, seconded by Browne. Adopted 5 -0.
PEGASYS Community Media Center, 612 W Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Tel: 607-272-7272, Email: PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com
VHS/S-VHS Dubbing Reservation
Date: ________________________
Program Title: ____________________________________________________
Producer's Name: _________________________________________________
Phone #: ______________ Cell #: _____________ Email:________________
This reservation is for Day/Date: _____________________________________
Start Time: ____________________ End Time: ______________________
I will be in the studio for the full play of the VHS tape ______________________
I will be away for part of the time while the VHS tape is dubbed ______________
4
_________________________________________________________________
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
Approved by: _____________________________________________________
Date Processed: __________________________________________________
B. Review of Draft Manual - Resolution. For next meeting.
09. Old Business
a. Streaming Channel 13. See 08b.
10. New Business: none.
11. Next meeting: July 2, 2024.
12. Adjournment 6:07
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
Page on the City website: https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-Oversight-Committee
Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2024- Margaret (Margherita) Fabrizio, mfabrizio@cityofithaca.org.
City of Ithaca: Paul Smith <smithcommapaul@hotmail.com>.
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html or https://pegasys.yourwebsitespace.com/
studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York
mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
5
6
7
PEGASYS cast-off equipment “LIST 2”, 2024-04-17
item model quantity category conditio
n
comments recommendation
JBL speakers J2050 2 audio good analog
speakers
keep for PEGASYS
Sony video monitor PVM-8020 6 video good standard
definition
donate
JVC 10” monitor TM-A101G 2 video fair standard
definition
recycle
Dell computer monitor 1908FPt 3 video good keep for PEGASYS
ViewSonic LCD monitor VS11618 1 video good donate
Sony LCD monitor LMD01410 1 video good keep for PEGASYS
Videotek ADA VDA-16 6 playback good distribution
amplifiers
recycle
Tascam DVD player DV-D6500 1 video fair keep for PEGASYS
JVC VHS/Mini-DVD
player
HR-DVS3U 1 video fair keep for PEGASYS
Magnavox DVD recorder ZC350MS8 1 video good keep for PEGASYS
JVC S-VHS recorder HR-S3600U 1 video good keep for PEGASYS
LG video monitor L1942TT 1 video good keep for PEGASYS
Logitech speakers S-0152A1 2 audio good keep for PEGASYS
Altec desk speakers ACS90 2 audio good keep for PEGASYS
8
N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 16 § 895.4
Section 895.4 - Minimum standards for public, educational and governmental (peg) access
(a) Definitions. (1) The term public access channel means a channel designated for noncommercial use
by the public on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis.
(2) The term educational access channel means a channel designated for noncommercial use by school
districts and not-for-profit educational institutions chartered or licensed by the New York State Education
Department or Board of Regents.
(3) The term government access channel means a channel designated for noncommercial use by
municipal, county and State government, or agencies thereof.
(4) The term public, educational, or governmental (PEG) access facilities means: (i) channel capacity
designated for noncommercial public, educational or governmental use; and
(ii) facilities and equipment for the noncommercial use of such channel capacity.
(5) The term local use means use by residents of the State of New York including school districts and not-
for-profit educational institutions and municipal, county and State governments, or agencies thereof.
(6) The term access cablecast day means a day or part thereof during which public, educational or
governmental access facilities are available for PEG use.
(b) Designation of channels. Every cable television franchisee shall designate channel capacity for PEG
access as follows:
(1) The franchisee of a cable television system with a channel capacity of 36 or more channels shall
designate (i) at least one full-time activated channel for public access use; (ii) at least one full-time
activated channel for educational and governmental use; and (iii) one additional full -time activated
channel for educational/governmental use whenever the first channel so designated shall have been used
for such educational and governmental programming on the average of at least 12 hours per day during
any 90-day period; provided, however, that the calculation of such average shall not include any day
when the unavailability of PEG access facilities precludes achieving such programming level. In the event
that two channels for educational and governmental use are required by this subdivision, one channel
shall be designated the educational access channel and one channel shall be designated the governmental
access channel; provided, however, that either channel may be used for either purpose if necessary to
satisfy the demand for channel time.
(2) The franchisee of a cable television system with a channel capacity less than 36 channels shall
designate at least one full-time activated channel for public, educational and governmental use.
(c) Administration and use. The use of the channel capacity for PEG access shall be administered as
follows:
(1) The public access channel shall be operated and administered by the entity designated by the
municipality or, until such designation is made, by the cable television franchisee; provided, however,
that the municipality may designate such entity at any time throughout the term of a franchise. [FN1]
(2) The educational and governmental access channel shall be operated and administered by a committee
or a commission appointed by local government and shall include appropriate representation of local
school districts within the service area of the cable television system and may include for purposes of
9
coordination an employee or representative of the cable television franchisee. [FN2]
(3) The entity responsible for administering and operating the public access channel shall provide notice
to the general public of the opportunity to use such channel which notice shall include:
(i) periodic messages transmitted on such channel; and
(ii) written notice to subscribers at least annually. Notices shall include the name, address and telephone
number of the entity to be contacted for use of the channel. All PEG access programming shall be
identified as such.
(4) Channel time shall be scheduled on the public access channel by the entity responsible for the
administration thereof on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis.
(5) Local use of educational and governmental access channels shall have preferred status in the event of
competing requests for channel time. Priority may be afforded to local governments within the service
area of the system.
(6) Channel time for PEG access programming shall be without charge to the user.
(7) The designation of PEG access facilities shall include the provision by the cable television franchisee
of the technical ability to play back prerecorded programming and to transmit programming information
consistent with the designated uses of PEG access channels.
(8) The cable television franchisee shall not exercise any editorial control over any public, educational or
governmental use of channel capacity designated for PEG purposes provided, however, that this
paragraph shall not be applied to prevent a cable television company from taking such measures as may
be authorized by Federal or State law to prohibit obscenity or other content unprotected by the First
Amendment of the United States Constitution.
(9) A municipality shall not exercise any editorial control over any use by the public of a public access
channel except as may be permitted by law.
(10) The entity responsible for the administration of a public access channel shall maintain a record of the
use of such channel which shall include the names and addresses of all persons using or requesting the use
of any such channel and which record shall be available for public inspection for a minimum of two
years.
(11) Channels designated for PEG use shall be included in the lowest level of service offered by the cable
television franchisee, provided, however, if the number of PEG channels exceeds the minimum number of
channels required by this Part, then the cable television franchisee and the local franchising authority may
agree to carriage of additional PEG channels on a tier other than the lowest level of service; where a
system does not include sufficient unused channel capacity to accommodate a second
educational/governmental access channel resulting from the operation of subdivision (b) of this section,
the cable television franchisee may elect one time to defer the obligation to provide such additional
channel until additional channel capacity becomes available.
(12) A cable television franchisee shall be permitted to use time on one or more PEG access channels
whenever there are no blank channels available on the same level of service which includes the PEG
channel(s) and whenever such PEG channel(s) is not scheduled for use at least 72 hours in advance of
such time or times desired by the cable television franchisee; provided that any use of such PEG
channel(s) by the franchisee shall at all times be subordinate to designated PEG use and shall terminate or
be preempted by PEG programming scheduled at least 72 hours in advance. All nonaccess programming
on PEG channels shall be identified as such by an appropriate announcement made prior to and following
10
each nonaccess use. Notwithstanding the foregoing, at such time as any PEG channel on a cable television
system with a channel capacity in excess of 40 channels has been programmed for a daily average of eight
hours or 50 percent of the hours of access cablecast days, whichever is less, during any 90-day period, use
of such channel by the cable television franchisee shall be suspended for such time as such minimum
PEG use of such channel is maintained.
(d) Applicability. (1) Subdivisions (a), (c) and (f) of this section shall apply to the use of channel
capacity designated for PEG access as of September 9, 1990.
(2) The minimum channel designation requirements in subdivision (b) of this section shall be required by,
and shall be a condition to, the exercise of every franchise and certificate of confirmation granted or
renewed after September 9, 1990.
(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing contained herein shall impair the enforcement of any
provision of any franchise in effect on September 9, 1990 concerning the designation and use of channel
capacity, facilities and equipment for PEG access or otherwise diminish the obligations of a cable
television franchisee with respect to PEG access.
(e) General. Any cable television franchise may include additional provisions concerning the designation
and use of public, educational and governmental access facilities as follows:
(1) a provision specifying facilities and equipment to be made available by the franchisee for use in
connection with the designated PEG channels; and
(2) any other provision concerning the designation and use of channel capacity for public, educational and
governmental access consistent with Federal and State law.
(f) Waivers and rulings. (1) A cable television franchisee, a municipality or an entity designated to
administer a public access channel may seek a waiver of one or more provisions of this section.
(2) Any interested person may seek a ruling from the commission concerning the applicability or
implementation of any provision of this section or any provision of a franchise concerning PEG access
upon the filing of a petition.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision, the commission shall not grant any waiver
or ruling, or enter any order that constitutes the exercise of editorial control over the content of public
access programming that would have the effect requiring the carriage by a franchised cable television
company of programming distributed as the New York State and Community Affairs Network (NY-
SCAN) except as may be permitted by law.
(4) Waiver requests regarding paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall be submitted by joint petition of the
franchising authority and the cable television franchisee. Any such petition may seek permission to
substitute a commitment not required by this Part in lieu of one or more standards that are required.
(g) Severability. If any provision of this section or the application of such provision is held invalid by a
court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this section or the application of the provision to other
circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
[FN1] If a single public access channel is shared by two or more municipalities, the joint designation of a
single entity is encouraged.
[FN2] Where an educational or a governmental channel is shared by more than one school district or local
government or combination thereof, administration of such channel(s) on a cooperative basis is
encouraged.
11
N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 16 § 895.4
4
1
MINUTES Access Oversight Committee (AOC), as approved Sept. 3, 2024.
Tuesday, July 2, 2024 at 5 PM
The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing
Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken,
member Paul Smith; Access Coordinator Alex Wiers; Lauren Kelly (Director of
Government Affairs – Fingerlakes Region, Charter Communications), Sean Ryan
(Supervisor of Public Access, Charter Communications).
01. Call to Order by DePaolo 5:04.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none.
03. Public Comments: none.
04. Comments by AOC members. Van Leuken: Jeremy Menard left his position as
Manager of Television and Radio Operations, Ithaca College on June 13th. No
replacement for him yet.
05. Approval of Minutes of the June 4, 2024 Meeting. Moved by van Leuken, seconded
by DePaolo. Approved 4-0 without change.
06. Access Studio Coordinator Report.
a. 2024 Budget Equipment Purchases - Update. Wiers: The headsets were
received today. This is the last piece of equipment bought with 2024 funds on 4/2/24.
b. Ithaca Annual Report, April 30, 2024 - Report. Kelly to DePaolo: confirms that,
apart from equipment, everything in that Report is Charter's expense. This also includes
"Equipment repairs, $5K." Her understanding is that it's Charter's ongoing maintenance.
DePaolo wonders about the item "Other Capital" and will send an e-mail to Kelly asking
about this and "Equipment Repairs".
c. Disposition of Surplus Equipment - Report. Wiers: no new lists since last
meeting.
d. I-Net locations - Report. This partial information is from long-time engineer
Paul Cullings. DePaolo: "Town Hall" should read "City Hall." He asks if "Ithaca
Courthouse" refers to the County Court on Court St. or the City Court in the Police
station building. Would we want to revitalize the I-Net? Van Leuken recalls using an I-
net connection to Southside Community Center in 2001. Did Board of Education have a
connection or did it deliver programs to the studio? DePaolo: According to the 2003
Franchise Agreement, the City or end-users were to pay for endpoints of I-Net, so the
City should have some info. Alan Karasin (Acting Dir. of Public Information and Acting
City Clerk) might know.
07. Member Reports
a. Municipal Approvals for 2025 Budget - Report. Approved in previous months
by the Town of Ithaca and the Village of Cayuga Heights; was to be approved by City in
June. DePaolo will ask Fabrizio for confirmation.
b. Common Council meetings on Government Channel 15 - Report. DePaolo
waiting for a meeting with Wiers and Karasin. Wiers: one was scheduled but postponed
due to heat; waiting for new date.
2
c. Outreach Committee - Report. Van Leuken: the committee will meet again in
August. Twelve interviews have been conducted with people connected to PEGASYS'
almost 50-year history, 11 of them on tape. Its draft history is now 27 pages long.
According to what she has found so far, PEGASYS began in 1977. The interviews will
be shown in the coming months, and compiled into a documentary for the anniversary.
Browne: Theresa Alt suggests public showings at Cinemapolis. Van Leuken: we are
considering that option. I will be at the City Clerk’s office on July 5 to inspect some old
Common Council minutes that are not online.
d. PEGASYS Operations
A. Purchase of 3/4” (U-Matic) playback deck. Van Leuken: some
producers have old 3/4" tapes [used in 1970s-1990s] and would like to dub them for
cablecasting. 3/4" machines available only second-hand, costly. Smith: On E-Bay, the
cheapest is $800 (used, not incl. shipping). Some places claim to have new ones in
original packages, $1500 incl. shipping. He knows how to operate such machines. He
has ca. 50 3/4" tapes. Van Leuken and others probably do too. These tapes are sturdy,
probably still good. DePaolo asks van Leuken to ask producers if any still have 3/4"
tapes. The school district might have some too. Browne: Maybe also the County Library,
Cornell Archives, I.C. library.
DePaolo: once we archived all tapes, we wouldn't have to keep the machine. DePaolo:
suggests asking Ithaca College if they have one, perhaps there are others unused in the
community. He asks that for now we spread the word that we are looking for one.
Browne: remembers display of older machines in glass case at I.C. Van Leuken: we
can bring it up when we have a meeting at I.C. once Menard is replaced.
B. PEGASYS Music and Click Art Library. Van Leuken: PEGASYS has a
free-to-use music library and click-art library on DVDs; could they be put online for
producers to use? Wiers: the music and click art is on all editing computers now. Van
Leuken: could it be put on the PEG server? DePaolo: would be good to do so. Smith
wonders about rights. Van Leuken: has a copy of the agreement ; will share it with Wiers
and Smith. Smith: let's discuss it at Outreach Committee meetings; will look at terms
between PEG and the supplier.
e. Review PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual - Resolution. The AOC
continued its review of revisions of the Manual submitted by Charter.
DePaolo: we still need an answer to the question about the educational channel (ch.16).
Kelly: thinks the City has playback equipment; we could route it there (?). DePaolo: So
for a one-off, someone would have to help at the City. We'll have to run this by Karasin.
Kelly quotes "pay for fiber connection" — did the City pay for its connection when the I-
Net was first built? Van Leuken: can ask Karasin if there is equipment and if he could
program one educational program on demand on channel 16. Does the City have
switching and staffing capability? Kelly: potentially.
A resolution to amend the Manual was moved by DePaolo and seconded by van
Leuken.
WHEREAS, the current Policies and Procedures Manual (“the Manual") for the
PEGASYS Community Media Center (“PEGASYS”) was approved by the Access
Oversight Committee (“AOC”) on February 6, 2024 with Resolution #86; and
WHEREAS, Charter Communications ("Charter") submitted recommendations for
revisions of the Manual on February 6, 2024 using the November 7, 2023 PEGASYS
Policies and Procedures Manual; and
3
WHEREAS, after review of said recommendations, the AOC wishes to amend the
Manual as follows:
Throughout the document replace "Charter" with "Charter Communications"
At Section 1.2 remove "training room" and add language that visitors will be issued
nametags; and now therefore be it
RESOLVED that the AOC approves the above listed amendments to the current
PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual.
Passes 4-0.
Van Leuken will update the existing Manual and send it to AOC and Wiers. She asks for
a hard copy to be available in the studio. Wiers has a printer to print it.
08. Old Business
a. Streaming Channel 13. No report.
09. New Business: none.
10. Next meeting: August 6, by Zoom.
11. Adjournment 6:13.
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee".
Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17.
Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
Page on the City website: https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable -Access-Oversight-
Committee
Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2024- Margaret (Margherita) Fabrizio,
mfabrizio@cityofithaca.org.
City of Ithaca: Paul Smith <smithcommapaul@hotmail.com>.
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html or https://pegasys.yourwebsitespace.com/
studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York
mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
4
1
MINUTES (as approved Dec. 10, 2024)
Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
Tuesday, November 12, 2024 at 5 PM
The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing
Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken,
City of Ithaca Common Council liaison Margherita Fabrizio, member Paul Smith; Sean
Ryan (Supervisor of Public Access, Charter Communications).
01. Call to Order by DePaolo 5:03.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none.
03. Public Comments: none.
04. Comments by AOC members: none.
05. Approval of Minutes of the October 15, 2024 Meeting . Moved by van Leuken,
seconded by Fabrizio. Approved 4-0-1 without change.
06. Access Studio Coordinator Report (attached). Ryan (to DePaolo): there were no
requests for training in October.
a. Studio Coordinator Job Search - report. Ryan: Charter is currently interviewing
candidates.
b. Insect Control - update. Ryan: No new infestation. We have traps that were left
by the exterminator; haven't caught anything. We are also spraying Lysol in the
premises.
07. Member Reports
a. Common Council meetings on Government Channel 15 - Report. DePaolo has
written to Lauren Kelly (Director of Government Affairs – Fingerlakes Region, Charter
Communications), response pending. Ryan: with advance notice, we could take a signal
coming on fiber from City Hall and telecast it on channel 15. Fabrizio: what exactly
needs to be done at City to make this work? Ryan: The same as what was done to test
the signal. Fabrizio: I will try to get equipment set up for this by December meeting of
Council. She will connect Ryan with Alan Karasin (City's Dir. of Public Information and
Acting City Clerk).
b. Communications with City Attorney - Report. Fabrizio: the City Attorney will take
a short leave at the end of this year. A new full time Assistant City Attorney has been
hired. Hiring is underway for a part time Assistant City Attorney. DePaolo will re-send
his draft letter to the City Attorney for approval (the part referring specifically to the lack
of channels 13, 15 and 16 on Spectrum's TV app).
c. Outreach Committee/Peggy Awards - Report and Resolution. Van Leuken: As
you know the people who organized the Peggy Awards until 2020 have all left. The
trophy maker went out of business. The paperwork was deleted when Lauren left. So
2
we are working from scratch and memory. Some of that work was made lighter by the
technical assistance that Ryan gave us. We want to thank him for that. Smith and I
have hammered out a Schedule, the Guidelines and Entry Form. They will now go to
Ithaca College for their review. We will meet with them later this month to finalize
things. A Request for Entries will go out in early December, judging will t ake place in
January. It is much more a joint event with IC than in previous years. They have
reserved Park Hall Auditorium for the awards ceremony. It will take place on Valentine’s
day - that is Friday the 14th of February - with a reception with refreshments, expected
to be cablecast live on Channel 16 with repeats on Channel 13. About the judges. We
are proposing that 2 come from IC and 2 from public access - one of those 2 from the
AOC. It is a time commitment of 8 - 12 hours from 1/14/25 onward and ends absolutely
on 1/22/25. It will take place at PEGASYS. Who of you volunteers for the job? We
need to know by November 27. About the trophies and other things that cost money.
Trophies will cost about $300. To have the 2 top winners participate in the Hometown
Media Awards will cost about $75 or $40 for students. We will need some money for
printing and refreshments for the judges. We are hoping that IC will contribute. We
propose that AOC funds part of this from the Usage Fee fund.
A resolution was moved by Smith and seconded by Browne to partially fund the Peggy
Awards.
WHEREAS the PEGASYS Community Media Center holds an annual awards ceremony
to celebrate the best of PEG programs of the previous years (“the Peggy Awards”); and
WHEREAS this event lost its traditional funding from Charter Communications; now be
it
RESOLVED that the AOC authorizes its Outreach Committee to use up to $250.00 from
the Usage Fee Fund for trophies, certificates and Peggy Awards related expenses.
Smith is enthusiastic about renewing the Peggies.
Discussion: will $250 be enough? Van Leuken: leave $250 as is; we are going to ask IC
if they could match these funds. If not, we hope we may ask for additional funds.
Adopted 5-0.
d. PEGASYS Operations
- Installation studio curtain with image of Dan Burgevin's mural. The curtain was
removed and not put up again when one of the studio curtains was replaced recently.
Smith: the picture mailed to you shows a mockup of the chains that we'll need to buy in
order to hold the curtain up. He estimates 6 or 8 feet of chain for each of 36 grommets
in the curtain, plus clips and wheels so curtain can move along the ceiling track.
DePaolo: the metal chain used to repair double hung windows might work. Fabrizio:
suggests Agway as a source.
Smith, DePaolo and Ryan will inspect the curtain and ways to hang it on 18 November
at 1:00.
3
- Low volume of Channel 15. DePaolo: Rob Henry of County Cooperative
Extension is aware of the issue. Ryan: ISP is looking into the issue; no update yet. Van
Leuken: the volume has been consistently low for several months now. DePaolo will
contact Henry and Kelly again.
e. Usage Fees - annual review of fee levels, use and collection. Van Leuken: This
review is an annual requirement. Balance of the Usage Fee Fund is $669.01. PEG
Access Users that do not live in participating communities are charged a bi-annual fee
of $20.00 ($50.00 if organizations) (Resolution #40, 12/4/18) and are to be used for
"purposes to assure the continuation and benefit of PEGASYS’ community access
studio operations to the maximum extent possible pursuant to the terms of the
Franchise Agreement" (Resolution #37, 2/6/18). She asks Ryan where the funds are
kept. Ryan: they are kept in a safe in our building on State Street. Van Leuken: when
were they last counted? Ryan: I will get back to you on that.
Browne: let's leave the fees as they are now, possibly review them again after the
Peggy Awards.
f. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual
- Use of current Reservation Forms. Van Leuken: AOC created a set of reservation forms
as part of the 2023 annual review of the Manual (Resolution #82, 11/7/23) (They were slightly
modified in early 2024 with new rules the Mini Studio's use, Resolution #86, 2/6/24). Charter
requires staff to use the forms it began using at its own initiative in 2020.
DePaolo: Charter is evidently still reviewing the new ones; will write again to Kelly.
- Annual Review - Resolution. Van Leuken: this is a mandatory annual review.
We have a resolution to add language on conditions for returned equipment and the
availability of Clip Art and Music free of copyright.
Browne moved and DePaolo seconded a resolution to amend Sections 3 and 7 of the
PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual of November 7, 2023 as amended .
WHEREAS, the Access Oversight Committee (AOC) is charged with annually reviewing
the PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual ("the Manual"); and
WHEREAS, the AOC wishes to amend Sections 4 and 8 of the Manual; and now
therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the following changes shall be made to the Manual:
a. Section 3.2 will now read " 3.2 Care of and Responsibility for Equipment.
Staff will examine equipment and facilities at the end of all reservations. Producers
should report all equipment problems they noticed. Producers are fully liable for any
damage or loss to the facilities and equipment issued to them resulting from neglige nce
or misuse. Staff will determine the proper course of treatment (repair or replacement)
for damaged equipment and bill this amount to the responsible producer.
4
Equipment checked out for field production should be returned as it was when checked
out: in clean condition, free from insects and ready for use by the next producer. When
violations occur, as a first step, staff should work with the producer to prevent further
violations. If this does not work, equipment checkout may be suspended until the
producer can show that the violation is remedied.
All such violations must be reported to the Access Oversight Committee. Disputes
should be brought before the AOC for a final decision.
b. A new Section 7.6 will be added "7, MISCELLANEOUS" to read "7.6 Clip Art and
Music Library. All PEGASYS computers have been uploaded with Clip Art and Music
from the Fresh Music Library. Copyright-free use of the music is granted per a Licensing
Agreement with PEGASYS signed on December 12, 2005."; and now be it further
RESOLVED, that this amended Manual will be known as the PEGASYS Policies and
Procedures Manual of November 12, 2024 and will go into effect immediately.
Adopted 5-0.
DePaolo will send this resolution to Kelly. Van Leuken will update the Manual to include
these amendments and distribute the new document.
08. Old Business
a. Streaming Channel 13. DePaolo will bring information to the next meeting on
new technology that might make this possible.
09. New Business: none.
10. Next meeting: December 10, 5 pm.
11. Adjournment 6:38.
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common
Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
Page on the City website: https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-OversightCommittee
Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2024- Margaret (Margherita) Fabrizio, mfabrizio@cityofithaca.org.
City of Ithaca: Paul Smith <smithcommapaul@hotmail.com>.
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html or https://pegasys.yourwebsitespace.com/
studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York
mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
5
1
MINUTES (as approved Feb, 4, 2025)
Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 5 PM
The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing.
Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken, City of
Ithaca Common Council liaison Margherita Fabrizio, member Paul Smith; Sean Ryan
(Supervisor of Public Access, Charter Communications); member of the public Martha
Taranto (producer).
01. Call to Order by DePaolo 5:05.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none.
03. Public Comments. Martha Taranto is interested in getting help with making videos.
Smith offers to help.
04. Comments by AOC members. Van Leuken: is there mail for AOC in our mailbox in City
Hall? Fabrizio: I am checking it at least once a month. There has not been any mail so far.
Smith: we are accepting entries for the Peggy Awards (see below). Some will be submitted
on paper to our City Hall mailbox. The deadline is January 9, 2025.
05. Approval of Minutes of the November 12, 2024 Meeting. Moved by van Leuken,
seconded by Fabrizio, adopted 4-0-1 without change.
06. Access Studio Coordinator Report (attached). Under PEG Rules, "no changes" means
none on the part of Charter.
Hanging of curtain: see 07g.
Ryan: There is an issue with playback. See 7f below.
a. Studio Coordinator Job Search. Ryan: As of Dec. 10, interviewing applicants; no report
yet.
b. Insect Control - update. No further infestations. DePaolo: let's notify the concerned
producer that insects are gone. Van Leuken will do so.
c. Rich will explore guidelines/legal issues pertaining to use of mini studio and editing room.
07. Member Reports
a. Terms of Committee Members. Fabrizio: will check on what's needed for reappointment
by Common Council. DePaolo's and van Leuken's terms expire Dec 31, 2024. They will
need an endorsement from their municipalities to be forwarded to the Mayor and Clerk.
(Common Council must approve these appointments).
b. Staffing Levels and Hours of Operation - Annual Review. DePaolo: at present PEGASYS
hours are 20 hours per week: the studio is open 16 hours per week; the coordinator works 4
additional hours when the studio is not open. Is there demand for more hours? Ryan: I've
heard no complaints. AOC decides to leave the hours as they are for now.
c. Common Council meetings on Government Channel 15 - Report. DePaolo cites an e-mail
from Lauren Kelly (Director of Government Affairs – Fingerlakes Region, Charter
Communications): "an e-mail to Charter saying when to sign off and on is sufficient." Ryan:
2
It would have to be for a fixed timeslot at a scheduled time. The switch is turned at the start
and again when finished. When Council meetings end earlier, City Hall could put up a slide
saying "Meeting is concluded" and then run it till the predetermined time. Fabrizio: the
deputy City Clerk turns the YouTube feed on and off, so probably could put on a slide too.
The scheduled time could be 6 to 10 PM or 6 to 11.
DePaolo: Would all Wednesday meetings be broadcast or just the first Wednesday? There
seems to be no expense involved in broadcasting them. Fabrizio: probably all of them.
There is no conflict with County meetings, which are Tuesdays. DePaolo: will ask Robert
Henry if there's any conflict with other broadcasts on Channel 15. Ryan: requests for time
slots should be sent to PEG e.g. a week in advance.
d. Communications with City Attorney - Report. DePaolo: the city attorney has assigned the
new Assistant City Attorney, Jim Kenniff, to try to fit into the workplan to research our issues
with the Spectrum App failing to carry channels 13, 15 and 16. (Email 11/13/24)
e. Request to change hours of operation during December holidays - Resolution
Charter staff asked the AOC if the PEGASYS evening hours of operation on Christmas Eve
and New Year’s Eve could be moved to the afternoon. Van Leuken moved and Browne
seconded a resolution to approve the one-time change in hours of operation and reduced
work hours to 4PM, as follows.
WHEREAS, this year, both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fall on a Tuesday, when
PEGASYS is open in the evening from 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM; and
WHEREAS, Charter Communications, Inc. ("Charter") has asked for Access Oversight
Committee ("AOC") approval to have PEGASYS open from 1 PM to 4 PM on those days;
and
WHEREAS, if approved, Charter will post the change in hours of operation at PEGASYS
and inform studio users of the change; and now be it
RESOLVED, that the AOC approves of this request as presented above.
.
Adopted 5-0-0.
f. Quality of Channel 13 and Channel 15 cablecasts.
Ryan: The cause for distortion in video quality is with the new playback equipment. We are
working with the company on a fix. DePaolo: Didn't Cablecast promise no down time during
servicing? I will check the product agreement.
Van Leuken: Channel 15 has had low volume for months; on Channel 13 all programs have
been red in color for weeks. Ryan: has no updates. DePaolo: will reach out to Kelly once
again and notify City Attorney. Smith suspects that the trouble with 13 is not "red" but
excess color saturation (of all colors); if so, it might be easier to fix.
g. Installation studio curtain - Report. DePaolo: Smith, I, and Ryan measured the curtain. I
looked for hardware for hanging it; costs ca. $120. This could come out of the equipment
budget. I will buy the hardware and meet with Smith and Ryan after Jan. 1. I will check with
Kelly on procedure for reimbursement. Smith: will be busy with the PEGGYs till Valentine's
Day; let's hang the curtain after that. Van Leuken will draft a resolution for the next meeting.
3
h. Use of Policies and Procedures Manual Forms. Van Leuken: Charter still uses the
reservation forms it introduced during Covid. The AOC approved forms in November of
2023. It is AOC's job to determine the rules. In February of 2024, Charter submitted
suggestions for modification of the Manual. AOC voted to include some of the suggestions
in July of 2024.
DePaolo has asked Kelly to ask staff to use the new forms. Kelly responded that Charter is
waiting for AOC approval of the requested modifications. Kelly's e-mail claims there is no
mention of security in the new version of the manual. DePaolo: Security is in another
section now, at least the main requirements are in section 1.2. AOC has kept the clause
about 14-18-year-olds being allowed under supervision of adults, and this is the long
tradition of the studio, though Kelly has objections.
Kelly notes that the liability form isn't in the manual. DePaolo: thought we had agreed to a
liability form that the City Attorney modified. Van Leuken: we could vote on it at the next
meeting, but have to decide who would need to sign such a form and include that in the
Manual. DePaolo shares the liability form; it seems to cover persons who volunteer in the
studio. He will ask Kelly which people should sign it. AOC does not agree with the words
"over 18" on the signature line. Van Leuken will draft a resolution for the next meeting.
i. Outreach Committee - Report. Van Leuken: the call for entries to the PEGGY Awards was
issued today; the deadline is Jan. 9. Hopes we get enough entries. The Outreach
Committee next meets Dec. 16. We have 3 judges; we need one more. Smith is glad that
Ithaca College is cooperating in the PEGGYs: it's a big milestone.
PEGGY starts at 8 pm Valentine's Day at I.C. Can we get an official to speak there?
Perhaps the Mayor?
08. Old Business
a. Streaming Channel 13. No report.
09. New Business. None.
10. Next meeting: Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.
11. Adjournment 6:38.
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common
Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
Page on the City website: https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-OversightCommittee
Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2024- Margaret (Margherita) Fabrizio, mfabrizio@cityofithaca.org. City
of Ithaca: Paul Smith <smithcommapaul@hotmail.com>.
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html or https://pegasys.yourwebsitespace.com/
studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York
mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
4
1
MINUTES as approved Oct. 15, 2024
Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
September 3, 2024 at 5 PM
The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing.
Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken,
member Paul Smith, City of Ithaca Common Council liaison Margherita Fabrizio; Access
Coordinator Alex Wiers; Sean Ryan (Supervisor of Public Access, Charter
Communications).
01. Call to Order by DePaolo, 5:07.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none.
03. Public Comments: none.
04. Comments by AOC members. Van Leuken: 1) Ithaca College has hired a new
Manager of Television & Radio Operations, Rhys Finch . The Outreach Committee will
arrange a meeting with him.
2) The amended (July 2, 2024) PEGASYS Manual was e-mailed to the Studio
Coordinator on July 7.
05. Approval of Minutes of the July 2, 2024 Meeting. Moved by DePaolo, seconded by
Fabrizio. Approved 5-0-0 with two small corrections.
06. Access Studio Coordinator Report (attached). A new off-white curtain was installed
in the main studio on July 9. Van Leuken and Wiers have seen it and approve of it.
a. Ithaca Annual Report, April 30, 2024 - follow-up. DePaolo e-mailed Lauren Kelley
(Director of Government Affairs – Fingerlakes Region, Charter Communications),
asking for clarification on items "Equipment Repairs" and "Other Capital". These
seem to be Charter's responsibility; will follow up with her again. Fabrizio wonders
about "Snow Removal" and "Exterior Renovations"; DePaolo will ask Kelly about
these too. Van Leuken points out that the heading was "Est. 2025 Expenses" - not a
report of items spent. DePaolo asks Ryan if he can clarify items; Ryan: must defer
to Kelly.
DePaolo: does not think a report of this sort is called for in the Franchise. Asks van
Leuken to provide report on reporting responsibilities and equipment repair listed in
the Franchise Agreement.
b. I-Net locations - follow-up. DePaolo and Wiers visited Alan Karasin (Acting
Director of Public Information & Technology/City Clerk) on July 8, saw a list of one-
time I-Net locations. Nothing is known about whether they could function now.
(During the meeting, Wiers forwarded an e-mail about these to AOC members.)
07. Member Reports
a. Municipal Approvals for 2025 Budget - Report. Van Leuken: DePaolo needs to e-
mail Kelly confirming when the City approved it. Fabrizio: it was approved at the June
Council meeting; will send the date.
2
b. Common Council meetings on Government Channel 15 - Report. DePaolo and
Wiers met with Karasin, inspected equipment in City Hall. Wiers: equip. is familiar to
me; next step is testing the signal. If the test is smooth, no more hurdles to telecasting
meetings. Somebody would need to man the equip. at City Hall and the same at ISP =
the hub where local signals come together, incl. the City Hall feed (ISP is in building
next to PEG). To Fabrizio: the broadcast would be live on the channel in real time,
simultaneous with City's YouTube. Probably the City Hall equip. just needs to be turned
on, not monitored continuously. Fabrizio: the Deputy Clerk sits in meetings and runs
YouTube.
Ryan: While testing, we need to verify that ISP is receiving good audio and good video.
Fabrizio: how can I help to make this happen sooner rather than later?
Ryan: We have no access to that building. It is the responsibility of a different
department.
DePaolo asks Ryan to reach out to the Charter department that runs ISP to agree on a
time for a test.
Fabrizio: could Wiers suggest a time & date to Karasin? Wiers asks for Karasin to
contact him. Fabrizio will ask Karasin to contact Alex with a date for the test.
c. PEGASYS Operations
A. Reporting Outages. Van Leuken: there were several outages on the PEG
channels since the last meeting: Channel 13 was black for a while at the end of
July, Channels 15 and 16 had no audio from 7/26 to 8/1 and Channel 16 was black
from 8/7 to 8/11. I Emailed PEGASYS and got Emails back from Ryan that work
was being done and when channels were back on line. When this happens again, I
would like for the AOC to be notified at beginning and at end, and to get more
information on what the problem is what is being done to fix it. Wiers: is able to
monitor channels 13, 15, and 16. All three recent outages were problems with an
encoder further along the path coming from our studio, so out of my hands.
Different ones took different lengths of time to restore. Ryan: the channel 16 signal
might have been a problem at Ithaca College that somehow affected the encoder
during outage #3. The encoder is in the head-end building. Van Leuken: I
understand that the equipment there is old and managed with a Windows XP
operating system; might it fail again? Should it be replaced?
DePaolo asks Ryan: shall I contact Kelly? Ryan: I will. I will get back to you on that.
Wiers will give AOC a heads-up when outages happen in the future.
B. Use of current Reservation Forms. Van Leuken gathers that Wiers has to use
older version of forms, even after AOC simplified them in the manual last year.
Wiers: not totally able to use manual, has to use same forms that have been
approved by Charter's legal dept. DePaolo asks Ryan: in your bailiwick? Ryan:
please reach out to Kelly.
d. Communications with City Attorney. DePaolo: 1 e-mail received from City
Attorney re a letter that AOC wishes to send to Charter. Fabrizio has asked Mayor
to expedite this; DePaolo will bring it up with Mayor and City Manager. DePaolo:
one item in the future letter is the lack of channels 13, 15 and 16 on the Spectrum
app.
e. Outreach Committee - Report. Van Leuken: Comittee has continued work: 16
studio interviews of past and present PEGASYS producers that are now being
edited for cablecast, still looking for "early movers and shakers." Committee will
meet next on September 9 and on the 2nd Monday of month from now on.
3
08. Old Business
a. Streaming Channel 13. DePaolo: we had a volunteer who was interested, but
he's left town. I'm interested to know what equip. and what human participation would
be required. Maybe broadcasting the City meetings would be useful for this item; let's
keep it on the agenda.
09. New Business: none.
10. Next meeting: October 15.
11. Adjournment 6:23.
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common
Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
Page on the City website: https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-Oversight-Committee
Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2024- Margaret (Margherita) Fabrizio, mfabrizio@cityofithaca.org.
City of Ithaca: Paul Smith <smithcommapaul@hotmail.com>.
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html or https://pegasys.yourwebsitespace.com/
studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York
mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
4
1
MINUTES (as approved May 2, 2023)
Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 5 PM
The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing.
Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, Common Council liaison Jorge
DeFendini, vice chair Wies van Leuken; Access Coordinator Alex Wiers, Lauren Kelly
(Director of Government Affairs - Finger Lakes Region, Charter Communications);
member of the public Jim Garaventa.
01. Call to Order by DePaolo at 5:05.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none.
03. Public Comments. Garaventa asks for a copy of the Franchise Agreement.
DePaolo will send it.
04. Comments by AOC members. Van Leuken: the City of Ithaca website has been
updated with correct data about AOC.
05. Approval of Minutes of the March 7, 2023 Meeting. Moved by van Leuken,
seconded by DePaolo. One note and 1 misprint removed; .docx -formatted quote added.
Approved 3-0-0.
06. Access Studio Coordinator Report (attached below).
a. Charter's recommendations for 2024 Equipment Budget are not part of the report
but will be submitted by April 30th. Van Leuken: We had asked at the last meeting for
this to be presented at this meeting. DePaolo: Common Council requires prior
committee review before putting it on their agenda. If we wait until the next meeting
there is still time for all this, but it will be a tight schedule without room for mistakes.
Van Leuken suggests passing a resolution now, earmarking a contingency of
$29,000.00 for future purchases. DePaolo screenshares a draft resolution. Browne
moved and van Leuken seconded a resolution with the AOC's recommendations for
the 2024 Budget.
WHEREAS, Section 15.12 of the Franchise Agreement of January 2003 between the
City of Ithaca and the franchisee Time Warner Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse
Partnership (TWC) (“Franchise Agreement”), subsequently assigned to Charter
Communications, Inc. d/b/a Spectrum Networks (Charter) after Charter's 2016
acquisition of TWC, requires the participating municipalities (City of Ithaca, Town of
Ithaca, Village of Cayuga Heights) to provide the franchisee with an annual written
budget for Public, Educational and Governmental access operations (PEG) by June 30
of each calendar year; and
WHEREAS, Section 15.12 of the Franchise Agreement requires that PEG Access Staff
provide the Access Oversight Committee (AOC) with budget recommendations for the
following year by April 30; and
2
WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca's Ordinance #2003-17, Par 18-4-G, requires the Access
Oversight Committee (AOC) to provide the Participating Municipalities with a
recommended budget for the following year by May 31; and
WHEREAS, the Franchise Agreement authorizes Charter to collect $0.15 per subscriber
per month to be used for the purchase of PEG equipment and facilities; and
WHEREAS, the AOC has reviewed PEG’s current equipment and facilities and
anticipates that new or replacement equipment and facilities will likely be needed,
including certain playback equipment; now therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the AOC recommends a $29,000.00 contingency to purchase
equipment as needed for the functioning of PEG operations, pending receipt and AOC
approval of line-item estimates, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the AOC forwards its recommendations for approval by the
Common Council of the City of Ithaca, the Town of Ithaca Board and the Village of
Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees, so that they may meet their obligation to provide
Charter Communications with an annual written budget for Public, Educational and
Governmental access operations no later than June 30, 2023 .
Approved unanimously, 4-0-0.
DePaolo: I will forward this resolution. He explains the deadlines for the budget approval
by the municipalities. (AOC resolution to the forwarded to municipalities by May 31 and
their decision must be with Charter by June 30).
DeFendini: the Administration Committee of the City Council meets 26 April, and it can
consider the resolution and send it to Council for the May meeting.
b. Mini-Studio Equipment - updated quote [see attachment] sent by Wiers to AOC on
4/4/23 in the amount of $34,226.00, that includes all items the AOC had asked about.
Van Leuken asks about the need for "Customer Care" for the second year; doesn't
Charter have to do repairs?
Wiers: Routine maintenance by Charter includes updating software, but not items
covered by warranty. Issues up to now involved older existing equipment. If a new piece
goes down, Charter might not have the expertise that the vendor would have.
Van Leuken: Shouldn't Charter enter into the Customer Care agreement then?
DePaolo: ownership is uncertain; AOC controls the equipment but doesn't clearly own it.
Van Leuken: the Franchise Agreement is silent on ownership, but authorizes the AOC
to determine the timing, use and amount of equipment to be acquired.
Browne: favors Customer Care to avoid periods of down time.
DePaolo screenshares a draft resolution.
Browne moved and DeFendini seconded a resolution to approve the use the 2023
Budget contingency to update the Mini-Studio.
WHEREAS, the Access Oversight Committee (AOC)’s 2023 Budget includes a
$50,000.00 contingency to purchase equipment as needed for the functioning of Public,
Educational and Governmental access operations; and
3
WHEREAS this budget was subsequently approved by the participating municipalities
(City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Village of Cayuga Heights); and
WHEREAS, the Mini-Studio is currently operating with equipment that is becoming
obsolete; and
WHEREAS, the AOC has reviewed the sales quotations from Audio-Video Corporation
located in Albany, NY # 22291 dated 4/04/23, now therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the AOC approves the use of the 2023 Budget Contingency to
replace the equipment of the Mini-Studio pursuant to the attached budget*, to be
purchased in technical consultation with the Access Coordinator and AOC, in an
amount not to exceed $34,226.00
* the referred to "attached budget" is found at pages 6, 7 and 8 of these minutes
Passed unanimously, 4-0-0.
c. Main Studio Routing Switcher - report on purchase and installation. Wiers: the
switcher was installed at the beginning of last week. It is fully operational.
Van Leuken: We need to inform producers that they now can produce live shows in the
main studio. Wiers: I can inform people on my list of active producers. Van Leuken: I
have a longer list that might not be up to date. It was agreed that Wiers and van
Leuken will compare their lists and produce a current comprehensive list of producers
for them to use.
d. Discussion: see above.
07. Member Reports
a. 2024 Budget - Resolution. See 6a.
b. Purchase of Mini-Studio Equipment from 2023 Budget - Resolution. See 6b.
c. AOC Vacancy - Follow-up. DeFendini: got an e-mail from the City Clerk: they did
send a letter Dec. 13, 2022 to Paul Smith. I will bring this to Common Council to discuss
if contact can be established and if not, that another person has to be appointed to the
AOC. Van Leuken: I have contacted Smith numerous times, but have not received
any replies from him.
d. Committee Member's reappointment - Follow-up. No news, but members serve
until re-appointed. DeFendini will ask at the City. The Village of Cayuga Heights has to
forward van Leuken's re-appointment to Common Council for approval.
e. Streaming Channel 13 - Follow-up. DePaolo: Patrick Pinney, who had been
working on this, has a new job and is available only to consult with a successor re
streaming. There is no obvious successor, but van Leuken will e -mail producers to ask if
any are interested.
f. Common Council meetings on the Government Channel. DeFendini expects a
follow-up on this question at the April Council meeting. The Franchise Agreement states
that Charter shall direct access staff to record and cablecast meetings of Common
Council and certain committee, at the City's expense. The City is reviewing more
economical ways to cablecast its meetings.
4
Jim Garaventa: has experience simulcasting meetings from his California county,
including operating cameras from the board room; he could help with advice.
g. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual review - follow-up. Last month van
Leuken sent Lauren Kelly and Alex Wiers a copy of the present Manual with items
marked that she wants to discuss. Kelly asks for some time to review that draft. Wiers
and van Leuken will set up a time for a meeting later in April.
h. Covid Guidelines and PEGASYS’ Operations. Wiers: Charter has lifted the mask
requirement in the studio. Van Leuken: we'll have to revise the Manual accordingly.
08. Old Business. None.
09. New Business. DePaolo: The 15 cents per month per subscriber, the PEG fee, that
was written into the franchise in 2002 is now worth 25 cents. Should we update the
percentage? Lauren Kelly and DePaolo refer to the stalled negotiations of the new
Franchise Agreement. DePaolo: we submitted a new draft, but what we got back from
Charter brought us back to square one. He asks Lauren Kelly about amending the
current Agreement covering an increase of the PEG fee. Kelly: I'll bring it up. Probably
we'd want to move to a new agreement rather than amend the old one.
10. Next meeting: May 2, 5 pm.
11. Adjournment 6:14.
================
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common
Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
Page on the City website: https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-Oversight-Committee
Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2022- Jorge (George) DeFendini <gdefendini@cityofithaca.org>.
City of Ithaca: (vacancy)
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <rd@richdepaolo.com>, <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html
studio location, mailing address: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York 14850
phone (607) 272-7272; fax (607) 277-5404
e-mail PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com
PEGASYS staff: Alex Wiers.
5
6
7
8
1
MINUTES (as approved April 4, 2023)
Access Oversight Committee (AOC)
Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at 5 PM
The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing.
Present: Chair Rich DePaolo, vice-chair Wies van Leuken, secretary Wayles Browne,
Common Council liaison Jorge DeFendini; Access Coordinator Alex Wiers; Sean Ryan
(Charter); Phil Pirkl (Audio-Video Corp.); members of the public Tony Ingraham, Jim
Garaventa.
01. Call to Order by DePaolo 5:02.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions:
03. Public Comments: none.
04. Comments by AOC members: none.
05. Approval of Minutes of the February 7, 2023 Meeting. Moved by van Leuken,
seconded by DeFendini, approved 4-0-0 without change.
06. Access Studio Coordinator Report (attached).
a. Equipment Purchase Report for 2022: None purchased; see attached report.
b. Report on equipment use and program analysis for 2021 & 2022: see attached.
DePaolo screenshares the Access Coordinator's report. Wiers: The number of shows is
higher in 2022 vs. 2021 due to the end of the pandemic and to a producer having been
absent in early 2021.
c. Charter's report on collected monthly Subscriber Fees thru 2022: see attached.
The available balance for equipment purchases was $65,852.25 on December 31,'22.
d. Main Studio Routing Switcher - report on purchase and installation. Ryan:
buying of Black Magic is now in process. DePaolo: was the quote still valid? Ryan: Yes.
No timeline yet for getting/installing it.
e. Purchase of Mini-Studio Equipment - follow up. In the meeting, Item 6e was
discussed ahead of 6 a, b, c and d above, as a courtesy to the Audio-Video Corp
representative.
Pirkl: There is a ca. $10,000 difference between the two quotes.
The expensive quote for the "Broadcast Pix" has native ChromaKey built in to the
hardware; it is like a computer with software packages running on it (rather than on an
external PC). DePaolo asks if there are questions from producers.
Ingraham: likes to use the mini-studio because when he does a show it's all ready (as
opposed to post-editing). Pirkl: the original quote also included a graphics software
package for external PC. This option will require post-editing. Ingraham: doesn't know
any user of the mini-studio who does post-editing. DePaolo: That is, users want a
turnkey solution with all functionality built in. Ingraham: To attract new users, we need
the simplest possible technology (i.e. the more expensive quote).
Van Leuken: Is the mini-studio used more than the main studio? Wiers: Yes. Producers
in the mini don't do post-editing. They don't use ChromaKey or greenscreen. If they
wanted these, they could use the large studio.
2
Jim Garaventa [experienced video producer recently arrived from California]: An all-
inclusive piece of equipment is attractive. Knowing what little I know, I'd be for turnkey,
not something that requires extra editing.
DePaolo: Does the expensive option offer anything that we couldn't do with an iPhone
and iMovie? Pirkl: Broadcast Pix is already in the large studio, so you have familiarity
(as opposed to TriCaster = another platform). DePaolo: What extra quality are we
offering? Anechoic sound (better than in one's bedroom)?
Ingraham: The mini studio has been used to produce shows without learning to edit.
That is a real attraction. I can come in with my graphics and my video clips and when I
finish recording, my show is ready for cablecast.
Browne: Can we use the expensive option for more years into the future? Pirkl: It's more
robust. Broadcast Pix will continue to exist. We offer an optional hardware warranty
including hardware maintenance: an annual agreement $1300 for a year "If it breaks,
you get a new one". Line 14 (of the Quote) refers to customer care including labor if we
send a technician to the site. Line 15 is specific to Broadcast Pix.
DePaolo asks van Leuken about the fund balance. Van Leuken: Almost $66K as of the
end of 2022. But we need some of that to replace the Nexus. Charter is responsible for
maintenance and repairs, so it's not clear why the customer care agreements need to
come in full out of the equipment purchase fund.
Garaventa: access channel experience from a rural community in California. We got an
amount each quarter for capital from Comcast. We ended up with enough to buy
TriCaster, after looking at different systems. ... He does recognize the need for the more
expensive system.
DePaolo cites the Franchise: §15.3.1-2-3. "Franchisee...provides...routine
maintenance." AOC covers "replacements." Is there a manufacturer's warranty for
equipment? Pirkl: Yes, for Broadcast Pix and other items.
DePaolo: If the manufacturer's warranty is for 1 year, why would we get an additional
agreement? Pirkl: Advanced replacement vs. manufacturer's warranty: a warranty can
mean you take the item out of service and send it in for replacement (i.e. some down
time).
DePaolo asks about HD (high definition). We have cameras and other equipment that
can work if we go to HD, right? Wiers: confirms this. The main studio is very well
equipped with Sony HD cameras.
DePaolo screenshares the expensive "Broadcast Pix" quote. Pirkl: It may be overkill to
have 2 cameras in the small studio. Ingraham: wants 2 cameras: for transitions between
zooming in and zooming out; framing 2 people in studio or 1 person + 1 small object.
Pirkl agrees with this reasoning.
Item by item: #4 Notepad is a small audio mixer.
#5 is a monitor.
#6 = 2 mount packages for cameras. Pirkl: maybe 1 is all we need.
#7 switch: part of control of cameras. A network switch is required to connect to
cameras, to B. Pix, to network and elsewhere.
Note that none of these prices are valid any more; they've gone slightly up.
#8 preamplifier: audio into digital platform.
#9 wired mikes. Pirkl thinks there are desktop mikes in B. Pix, but lavaliere mikes are
better.
#10 onsite training: typically, 2 sessions with Josh, training 1 or 2 people to use the
system. B. Pix can help with support.
3
DePaolo asks: Could we waive the installation and have someone else do it? Pirkl: we'd
still support the manufacturer's warranties. But on a small project the labor always
"sticks out."
DePaolo: How long does the installation take? Pirkl: I can send a breakdown of labor.
It's not the same day, it's ca. 3 or 4 days. The other quote is comparable except for
Streaming Pix.
Van Leuken asks Ingraham's opinion. Ingraham: The expensive quote would be more
professional-looking and easier to use too. Compare the main studio, which takes at
least two people.
Pirkl: the quotes were from December. I will refresh them and send them. The refreshed
quotes will be good for a month, so AOC can meet and decide on them. The cameras
are POE = both controlled and powered by a single cable.
Ryan: is part of Charter. He will be in the loop for the new quote.
Pirkl: In connection with replacing Nexus: Leightronix is moving to a new platform. [Pirkl
leaves.] [Ingraham leaves.]
f. Discussion. See above.
07. Member Reports
a. AOC's 2022 Equipment Purchase Report to City: No equipment was purchased
in 2022 as reported in the attached Coordinator's report. This constitutes our report to
the City of Ithaca.
b. 2024 Budget - discussion. Van Leuken: Budget recommendations for 2024 are
needed from Charter before the April meeting, so that AOC review them and forward its
resolution with recommendations to the City of Ithaca, the Town of Ithaca and the
Village of Cayuga Heights before the end of April for their approval.
c. AOC Vacancy - Follow-up. DeFendini: an interim City Clerk has been appointed.
I will ask the Clerk's office for contact information regarding the December appointment.
d. Committee Member's reappointment - Follow-up. Members serve until new ones
are appointed.
e. Streaming Channel 13 - Follow-up. No report.
f. Common Council meetings on the Government Channel. DeFendini has asked
about the City's plans for these.
g. City's Website's Description of AOC - update. DeFendini: the website will be
updated per our request. I will follow up by the end of the week.
h. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual review - follow-up. See 6c above.
Wiers and van Leuken will be in touch about updating the Manual. We wish to hear
what happens in the studio now that differs from the current text of the Manual
i. Covid Guidelines and PEGASYS’ Operations. No report.
08. Old Business: none.
09. New Business: none.
10. Next meeting: Tuesday, April 4.
11. Adjournment 6:43.
================
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common
Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
4
Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2022- Jorge (George) DeFendini <gdefendini@cityofithaca.org>.
City of Ithaca: (vacancy)
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <rd@richdepaolo.com>, <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html
studio location, mailing address: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York 14850
phone (607) 272-7272
fax (607) 277-5404
e-mail PEG.NYIthaca@charter.com
PEGASYS staff: Alex Wiers.
5
6
From: George DeFendini <gdefendini@cityofithaca.org>
Subject: Re: AOC Agenda for February 7 Meeting
Date: February 7, 2023 at 6:43:02 PM EST
To: Paul M Van Leuken <pmv4@cornell.edu>, Rich DePaolo <rdepaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>,
Rich DePaolo <rd@richdepaolo.com>, E Wayles Browne <ewb2@cornell.edu>, Paul Smith
<smithcommapaul@hotmail.com>
Good evening all,
………. I’m happy to report that the Clerk's Office has finally accepted the edits that we
requested some time ago re: the AOC website. The delay has been attributed to staff
shakeups in the Clerk's Office- growing pains with the departure of Julie and Faith. The
edits will appear sometime next week.
In regards to Council broadcasts returning to cable, I will be speaking to Scott
Kronenbitter about that issue later this month to find a viable solution. I will keep you all
updated on that matter as it unfolds.
Lastly, at the last council meeting, Mayor Lewis assured me that committee members
here can remain on the board until their replacement has been found, even after their term
expires (re: Wayles position).
7
From: "Kelly, Lauren E" <Lauren.Kelly@charter.com>
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] AOC resolution, approving equipment quote
Date: February 24, 2023 at 3:48:00 PM EST
To: Rich DePaolo <richdepaolo.town@gmail.com>
Cc: Paul M Van Leuken <pmv4@cornell.edu>, E Wayles Browne <ewb2@cornell.edu>,
George DeFendini <gdefendini@cityofithaca.org>, "Montesano, Mike D"
<Mike.Montesano@charter.com>
Good afternoon, Rich.
Thanks for your patience here. For items 1 & 2, I have confirmed that the Access
Coordinator will be attending the next meeting. I will be in Albany that evening for a
meeting and will not be able to join once again, but hope to join the following month.
For item #4, is it possible to send us your list of questions? I can’t confirm at this time
whether or not a representative from A/V Corp can attend, but we can certainly get
started on clarifying any questions that you have.
Thanks, and have a great weekend.
Best,
Lauren
From: Rich DePaolo <richdepaolo.town@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, February 13,
2023 11:42 PM To: Kelly, Lauren E <Lauren.Kelly@charter.com> Cc: Montesano,
Mike D <Mike.Montesano@charter.com>; Heck, Karen M <Karen.Heck@charter.com>;
Paul M Van Leuken <pmv4@cornell.edu>; E Wayles Browne <ewb2@cornell.edu>;
George DeFendini <gdefendini@cityofithaca.org> Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] AOC
resolution, approving equipment quote
Dear Lauren,
As indicated in my 2/7 email below, there are a few other items besides the B&H equipment
quote that AOC has asked me to bring to your attention.
1) AOC requests that Access Coordinator be directed by Charter (per Franchise Agreement
Section 15.12, “Staff Support) to attend meetings. Coordinator’s first-hand understanding of
operations at the PEGASYS facility are critical to policy and administration.
2) AOC requests direct communication with Access Coordinator, in order to determine whether
current studio practices align with policies and procedures as articulated in the Manual.
3) AOC agrees with the use of the modified “disclaimer” language you provided on behalf of
Charter), while the general question on the use of disclaimers is sorted out.
4) AOC requests that a representative from AV Corp (and possibly Sean Ryan at Charter) attend
the March 7 meeting, to clarify questions regarding equipment quotes, before any funding
8
decisions can be considered.
Thanks,
Rich
Deputy Supervisor, Town of Ithaca 215 North Tioga Street Ithaca, NY 14850
607.273.1721 (office) 607.351.6512 (cell)
On Feb 8, 2023, at 12:46 PM, Kelly, Lauren E <Lauren.Kelly@charter.com> wrote:
Rich,
Thanks so much for your email yesterday. I am working with Mike’s colleagues and will
get back to you as soon as I can.
Best,
Lauren
From: Rich DePaolo [mailto:richdepaolo.town@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, February
7, 2023 6:21 PM To: Kelly, Lauren E <Lauren.Kelly@charter.com> Cc: Montesano,
Mike D <Mike.Montesano@charter.com>; Paul M Van Leuken <pmv4@cornell.edu>; E
Wayles Browne <ewb2@cornell.edu>; George DeFendini
<gdefendini@cityofithaca.org> Subject: [EXTERNAL] AOC resolution, approving
equipment quote
before opening attachments, clicking links, or following guidance.
Greetings-
I am happy to report that AOC has approved the quote from B&H as provided by Charter. Quote
and resolution are attached for your convenience.
Please provide an approximate timeline for acquisition of equipment, if you have one.
I will correspond regarding other matters under separate cover.
Thanks,
Rich
9
10
Original ▌SALES QUOTATION
Document Number Document Date Page
18884 01/23/23 1/5
Audio-Video Corporation
FED ID #14-1426006
Customer No.
c13854
Provisional No.
X-21177JAS
213 Broadway Your Contact Payment Terms
Albany, NY 12204 24 Phil Pirkl Electronic Invoice
Phone: (518) 449-7213 Fax: (518) 449-1205
Billing Address
Charter Communication Operations LLC
Accounts Payable
7910 Crescent Exec Dr Ste 54
Charlotte NC 28217
USA
Delivery Address
Sean Ryan
Charter Communication Operations LLC
Pegasys - Ithaca
612 W. Green Street
Ithaca NY 14850
SMALL STUDIO UPGRADE StreamingPix
w/Additional PTZ Camera and Shure Lavaliers
Currency: $
001
002
StreamingPix - Includes PC,
PTZ IP Camera, IP switch,
Lav mic; everything you
need to stream
Item Code: Spix
Manufacturer:
Broadc
ast Pix
Roboix, PTZ Robotic
Camera, Control and Output
of IP, PoE
1 6,755.00 6,755.00
1 1,688.00 1,688.00
Item Code: AVSG_MISC_EQUIPMENT
Manufacturer: AVC
003
RoboPix Wall or Ceiling
Mount
1 46.00 46.00
Item Code: AVSG_MISC_HARDWARE
Manufacturer: AVC
004
Kiloview D300 NDI to SDI
Converter
1 935.00 935.00
Description Quantity Contract Pricing Price Total
11
Item Code: AVSG_MISC_EQUIPMENT
Manufacturer: AVC
005
CONVMASA Mini Converter
SDI to Analog with Audio
Item Code: BMD-
CONVMSA
Manufacturer:
BlackMa
gic
1 250.00 250.00
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
18884 01/23/23 2/5
Description Quantity Contract Pricing Price Total
Currency: $
006
007
008
Notepad-8FX 1 165.00 165.00
Item Code: SCR-5085984US-01
Manufacturer: SoundCraft
PCT2435 1 335.00 335.00
Item Code: 997-9363-00
Manufacturer: Planar
AVSG Mount Package 1 195.00 195.00
Item Code:
AVSG_MOU
NT_PACK
Manufacturer: AVC
009
NewBlue FX License
(Requires owner furnished
dedicated computer)
1 488.00 488.00
Item Code: AVSG_MISC_EQUIPMENT
Manufacturer: AVC
010
Netgear M4250-10G2F-PoE+
Network Switch
1 649.00 649.00
Item Code: AVSG_MISC_EQUIPMENT
Manufacturer: AVC
011
012
013
AMS-SCARLETT-2I2-3G
Scarlett 2i2 (3rd Gen) USB
Audio Interface
Item Code: AMS-
SCAR-2I2-3G
Manufacturer: Focusrite USA
Cardioid Condenser Lavalier
Microphone with 4’ (1.2m)
attached cable Belt-Clip
Preamp with XLR Rot
Item Code:
MX
185 Manufacturer: Shure
x-21177JAS AVSG
Installation Setup and Training
Item Code: AVSG_INSTALLATION
Manufacturer: AVC
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
18884 01/23/23 3/5
1 189.00 189.00
2 215.00 430.00
1 5,150.00 5,150.00
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
18884 01/23/23 4/5
Description Quantity Contract Pricing Price Total
Currency: $
014
015
AVSG Miscellaneous Cables
Connectors and Hardware
Item Code: AVSG_
MISC_CABLES
Manufacturer: AVC
AVC Customer Care
Agreement Year 1
Item Code:
AVSG_CCA_
YEAR_1 Manufacturer:
AVC
1 325.00 325.00
1 704.00 704.00
016
017
Subtotal
OPTIONAL 2nd YEAR CUSTOMER CARE
18,304.00
018
AVC Customer Care
Agreement Year 2
Item Code:
AVSG_CCA_
YEAR_2 Manufacturer:
AVC
1 880.00 880.00
Shipping Type: Deliver & Install
Quotation Valid Until: 02/23/23 Subject to Shipping & Handling and Sales Tax if Applicable
Quotation Subtotal: $ 19,184.00
Total Before Tax:
$ 19,184.00
Total Tax Amount:
$ 0.00
Total Amount:
$ 19,184.00
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
18884 01/23/23 5/5
EQUIPMENT WARRANTY:
All standard manufacturer's equipment warranties apply. Service and technical support provided through Audio-
Video Corporation’s Certified Full Service Facility. Extended (multi-year) Customer Care Service agreements
available – please contact your Account Representative for more information.
ASBESTOS STATEMENT:
Current asbestos regulations require written verification that your environment is either asbestos free or abatement
procedures will be completed prior to our on-site work.
NOTE:
Client to provide 120VAC power and IP Network connectivity at equipment locations where required.
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
18884 01/23/23 6/5
Currency: $
THIS QUOTATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SALES ORDER UNLESS SIGNED BY YOU, OUR CLIENT.
SEE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE ATTACHED.
Accepted By P.O. No.
Signature Date
Ship-to Address:
(if different than above)
Credit Card Info:
(if applicable)
Cardholder's Name
Cardholder’s Telephone Number & Email Address
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
18884 01/23/23 7/5
TERM
S AND
COND
ITION
S OF
SALE
AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION, (SELLER) and the purchaser of the items
covered by this Sales Order whose name appears on the reverse side hereof,
(BUYER), agree that the following Terms and Conditions of Sale shall be
applicable to this transaction, except as specifically superseded or amended by
a typed statement in the body of this Quotation/Sales Order.
1. GENERAL - The terms and conditions of this contract constitute the entire agreement and supersede all previous agreements between
the parties. No provisions of purchase orders will prevail in conflict with these terms unless agreed to in writing by an Agent of AUDIO-VIDEO
CORPORATION. This agreement shall be interpreted and governed by the laws of the State of New York, U.S.A. Buyer agrees that it may be
served in the State of New York and appoints the Secretary of the State of New York as his agent to accept Service of Summons.
2. DELIVERY - Unless shown to the contrary within the body of this Quotation/Sales Order, all products are shipped F.O.B. Shipping
Point of origin and BUYER shall pay all freight and delivery charges. Any special or non-customary handling charges by a carrier shall
also be the responsibility of the BUYER. Damage and risk of loss of any nature after delivery shall be at BUYER'S sole risk. SELLER
shall not be liable for any default or delay that, for any reason whatsoever, interferes with or impedes production or delivery of the
products ordered. All promises of delivery are made in good faith and SELLER shall be diligent in its efforts to fulfill them. SELLER shall
not, in any event, be liable for costs or damages for failure to meet the estimated delivery date whether reasonably foreseen or
otherwise.
3. CREDIT - Notwithstanding the terms stated herein, SELLER may either accelerate or withhold shipment, or both, at anytime that
BUYER is in default or in the event that BUYER'S credit becomes unacceptable to SELLER'S credit department.
4. PAYMENT - Payment shall be as provided on this Quotation/Sales Order. BUYER agrees to pay 1 % per month interest on all amounts not
paid when due. BUYER also agrees to pay any and all expenses incurred by AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION in the collection of past due
amounts.
5. SECURITY - AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION shall have the right, in addition to all other rights it may possess to withhold shipment in whole
or in part, to recall goods in transit or to repossess all goods which might be stored with AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION for the BUYER'S account
without the necessity of taking any other proceedings in the event of BUYER default(s) or adverse credit reason(s). The foregoing shall not be
construed as limiting in any manner the rights or remedies available to AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION because of any default(s) of the BUYER
under the applicable Uniform Commercial Code as in force and effect.
6. PRICES - The prices quoted herein and/or and supplementary schedules, unless otherwise indicated, do not include installation or any
sales, use, excise, or similar taxes levied by the United States, or any state in local subdivision thereof, or other governmental agency. BUYER
covenants and agrees he shall pay either to SELLER or to the applicable governmental authority any such taxes in the amount applicable to the
product or the transac-tions described in this instrument, and in the event of failure to do so, BUYER agrees to hold SELLER harmless from any
claim, cost or expense as a result of failure to make such payment.
7. ERRORS - SELLER reserves the right to correct clerical and typographical errors as well as any errors (of omission or commission), or
misstatements by any AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION representative consistent with good business practice.
8. CUSTOM BUILT EQUIPMENT - BUYER'S acceptance of the proposal and the receipt of BUYER'S down payment at AUDIO-VIDEO
CORPORATION, Albany, N.Y. headquarters will constitute authorization to AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION to begin procurement of raw materials
and fabrication for custom-built equipment. Materials procurement and/or fabrication shall not commence until the down payment, in the amount
specified herein, has been received at AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION, ALBANY, N.Y.
9. CANCELLATION - Cancellation of this order by BUYER shall obligate BUYER to pay a fifteen percent (15%) cancellation charge, plus all
expenses incurred in commitments made by SELLER and all unrecoverable costs incurred by SELLER.
10. RETURN OF GOODS - Acceptance of goods for return shall be made only with prior written authorization by SELLER and in accordance with
SELLER'S standard policy relevant to restocking charges.
11. BREACH - In the event of Breach of BUYER or termination of the contract by SELLER as a result of BUYER'S credit position, SELLER
shall be entitled to recover loss of profits, termination or cancellation charges and all other damages obtainable under the Commercial Code of
the State of New York and costs of collection including reasonable attorney's fees. Interest shall be awarded and paid at the rate of 12% per
annum or the highest legal rate in the state of jurisdiction, whichever is lesser.
12. WARRANTY - Any product supplied or service performed by AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION is warranted in regard to workmanship for
the period provided in the equipment manufacturer's warranty. NO OTHER WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED
INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY AS TO MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE IS MADE UNLESS THE SAME IS
SPECIFICALLY SET FORTH WITHIN THE BODY OF THIS QUOTATION / SALES ORDER. Insofar as equipment manufactured and/or
fabricated by AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION, the liability of AUDIO--VIDEO CORPORATION shall be limited to written warranty policy specifically set
forth within the body of this Quotation/Sales Order.
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
18884 01/23/23 8/5
13. CLAIMS - Claims for defective goods must be made within 30 days after receipt of shipment. Shipment is made at BUYER'S expense
and risk and all claims for merchandise damage in shipment, or for undelivered merchandise must be made with the forwarder by the
consignee. SELLER will not be responsible for shortages that are not reported within 10 days after receipt of shipment. SELLER shall have no
liability for repair or replace-ment of equipment damaged in shipment or damaged as determined in the judgment of SELLER by neglect or
misuse, willful or otherwise.
14. DAMAGES - BUYER specifically agrees that SELLER shall not be liable for any damages, injury, loss of profit, delays or any other
consequential or prospective loss or damage suffered through use of the equipment purchased herewith, or by reason of the equipment's
failure to perform. BUYER further agrees that in any event, recovery against SELLER or the equipment manufacturer shall be limited to
repayment of the purchase price upon return of equipment or to repair and replacement of defective parts, but such recovery shall not exceed
the purchase price of the equipment unless otherwise stated in the body of this Quotation / Sales Order.
15. CONSTRUCTION - In the event any provisions of this agreement is not enforceable, all other terms and provisions of this agreement,
nevertheless shall remain in full force and effect.
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
18884 01/23/23 9/5
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
18884 01/23/23 10
/5
Original ▌SALES QUOTATION
Document Number Document Date Page
21417 12/08/22 1/5
Audio-Video Corporation
FED ID #14-1426006
Customer No.
c13854
Provisional No.
X-21177JAS
213 Broadway Your Contact Payment Terms
Albany, NY 12204 24 Phil Pirkl Electronic Invoice
Phone: (518) 449-7213 Fax: (518) 449-1205
Billing Address
Charter Communication Operations LLC
Accounts Payable
7910 Crescent Exec Dr Ste 54
Charlotte NC 28217
USA
Delivery Address
Sean Ryan
Charter Communication Operations LLC
Pegasys - Ithaca
612 W. Green Street
Ithaca NY 14850
SMALL STUDIO
UPGRADE
Currency: $
001 Broadcast Pix BPS-FXH FX
Hybrid System
1 16,870.00 16,870.00
Item Code: AVSG_MISC_EQUIPMENT
Manufacturer: AVC
002
Broadcast Pix Robopix PTZ
Camera
2 1,688.00 3,376.00
Item Code: AVSG_MISC_EQUIPMENT
Manufacturer: AVC
003
CONVMASA Mini Converter
SDI to Analog with Audio
Item Code: BMD-CONVMSA
Manufacturer: BlackMagic
1 250.00 250.00
004
005
006
Notepad-8FX 1 165.00 165.00
Item Code: SCR-5085984US-01
Manufacturer: SoundCraft
PCT2435 1 319.00 319.00
Item Code: 997-9363-00
Manufacturer: Planar
AVSG Mount Package 2 195.00 390.00
Item Code: AVSG_MOUNT_PACK
Manufacturer: AVC
Description Quantity Contract Pricing Price Total
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
21417 12/08/22 2/5
Description Quantity Contract Pricing Price Total
Currency: $
007 Netgear M4250-10G2F-PoE+
Network Switch
1 727.00 727.00
Item Code: AVSG_MISC_EQUIPMENT
Manufacturer: AVC
008
009
010
011
012
013
AMS-SCARLETT-2I2-3G
Scarlett 2i2 (3rd Gen) USB
Audio Interface
Item Code: AMS-SCAR-2I2-3G
Manufacturer: Focusrite USA
Cardioid Condenser Lavalier
Microphone with 4’ (1.2m)
attached cable Belt-Clip
Preamp with XLR Rot
Item Code: MX185
Manufacturer: Shure
x-21177JAS AVSG
Installation Setup and
Training
Item Code: AVSG_INSTALLATION
Manufacturer: AVC
AVSG Miscellaneous Cables
Connectors and Hardware
Item Code: AVSG_ MISC_CABLES
Manufacturer: AVC
AVC Customer Care
Agreement Year 1
Item Code: AVSG_CCA_YEAR_1
Manufacturer: AVC
Subtotal
1 193.00 193.00
2 215.00 430.00
1 5,225.00 5,225.00
1 325.00 325.00
1 1,130.00 1,130.00
29,400.00
014 Broadcast Pix System Enhanced 1st Year Warranty - Full Hardware & Software support for 13 months, advance
spares replacement, telephone support and system upgrades.
015 Broadcast Pix Enhanced 1st
Year Warranty
Item Code: AVSG_MAINTENANCE
Manufacturer: AVC
1 1,295.00 1,295.00
016 OPTIONAL 2nd YEAR CUSTOMER CARE
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
21417 12/08/22 3/5
Description Quantity Contract Pricing Price Total
Currency: $
017 AVC Customer Care
Agreement Year 2
Item Code: AVSG_CCA_YEAR_2
Manufacturer: AVC
1 1,413.00 1,413.00
Shipping Type: Deliver & Install
Quotation Valid Until: 01/08/23 Subject to Shipping & Handling and Sales Tax if Applicable
EQUIPMENT WARRANTY:
All standard manufacturer's equipment warranties apply. Service and technical support provided through Audio-
Video Corporation’s Certified Full Service Facility. Extended (multi-year) Customer Care Service agreements
available – please contact your Account Representative for more information.
ASBESTOS STATEMENT:
Current asbestos regulations require written verification that your environment is either asbestos free or abatement
procedures will be completed prior to our on-site work.
NOTE:
Client to provide 120VAC power and IP Network connectivity at equipment locations where required.
Quotation Subtotal: $ 32,108.00
Total Before Tax:
$ 32,108.00
Total Tax Amount:
$ 0.00
Total Amount:
$ 32,108.00
Audio-Video Corporation ▌SALES QUOTATION Original
FED ID #14-1426006
213 Broadway
Albany, NY 12204
USA
Document Number Document Date Page
21417 12/08/22 4/5
Currency: $
THIS QUOTATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SALES ORDER UNLESS SIGNED BY YOU, OUR CLIENT.
SEE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE ATTACHED.
Accepted By P.O. No.
Signature Date
Ship-to Address:
(if different than above)
Credit Card Info:
(if applicable)
Cardholder's Name
Cardholder’s Telephone Number & Email Address
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE
AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION, (SELLER) and the purchaser of the items covered by this Sales
Order whose name appears on the reverse side hereof, (BUYER), agree that the following Terms
and Conditions of Sale shall be applicable to this transaction, except as specifically superseded or
amended by a typed statement in the body of this Quotation/Sales Order.
1. GENERAL - The terms and conditions of this contract constitute the entire agreement and supersede all previous agreements between the parties. No provisions of purchase
orders will prevail in conflict with these terms unless agreed to in writing by an Agent of AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION. This agreement shall be interpreted and governed by the laws
of the State of New York, U.S.A. Buyer agrees that it may be served in the State of New York and appoints the Secretary of the State of New York as his agent to accept Service of
Summons.
2. DELIVERY - Unless shown to the contrary within the body of this Quotation/Sales Order, all products are shipped F.O.B. Shipping Point of origin and BUYER shall pay all
freight and delivery charges. Any special or non-customary handling charges by a carrier shall also be the responsibility of the BUYER. Damage and risk of loss of any nature
after delivery shall be at BUYER'S sole risk. SELLER shall not be liable for any default or delay that, for any reason whatsoever, interferes with or impedes production or
delivery of the products ordered. All promises of delivery are made in good faith and SELLER shall be diligent in its efforts to fulfill them. SELLER shall not, in any event, be
liable for costs or damages for failure to meet the estimated delivery date whether reasonably foreseen or otherwise.
3. CREDIT - Notwithstanding the terms stated herein, SELLER may either accelerate or withhold shipment, or both, at anytime that BUYER is in default or in the event that
BUYER'S credit becomes unacceptable to SELLER'S credit department.
4. PAYMENT - Payment shall be as provided on this Quotation/Sales Order. BUYER agrees to pay 1 % per month interest on all amounts not paid when due. BUYER also agrees to
pay any and all expenses incurred by AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION in the collection of past due amounts.
5. SECURITY - AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION shall have the right, in addition to all other rights it may possess to withhold shipment in whole or in part, to recall goods in transit or to
repossess all goods which might be stored with AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION for the BUYER'S account without the necessity of taking any other proceedings in the event of BUYER
default(s) or adverse credit reason(s). The foregoing shall not be construed as limiting in any manner the rights or remedies available to AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION because of any
default(s) of the BUYER under the applicable Uniform Commercial Code as in force and effect.
6. PRICES - The prices quoted herein and/or and supplementary schedules, unless otherwise indicated, do not include installation or any sales, use, excise, or similar taxes levied by
the United States, or any state in local subdivision thereof, or other governmental agency. BUYER covenants and agrees he shall pay either to SELLER or to the applicable
governmental authority any such taxes in the amount applicable to the product or the transac-tions described in this instrument, and in the event of failure to do so, BUYER agrees to
hold SELLER harmless from any claim, cost or expense as a result of failure to make such payment.
7. ERRORS - SELLER reserves the right to correct clerical and typographical errors as well as any errors (of omission or commission), or misstatements by any AUDIO-VIDEO
CORPORATION representative consistent with good business practice.
8. CUSTOM BUILT EQUIPMENT - BUYER'S acceptance of the proposal and the receipt of BUYER'S down payment at AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION, Albany, N.Y. headquarters
will constitute authorization to AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION to begin procurement of raw materials and fabrication for custom-built equipment. Materials procurement and/or fabrication
shall not commence until the down payment, in the amount specified herein, has been received at AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION, ALBANY, N.Y.
9. CANCELLATION - Cancellation of this order by BUYER shall obligate BUYER to pay a fifteen percent (15%) cancellation charge, plus all expenses incurred in commitments made
by SELLER and all unrecoverable costs incurred by SELLER.
10. RETURN OF GOODS - Acceptance of goods for return shall be made only with prior written authorization by SELLER and in accordance with SELLER'S standard policy relevant to
restocking charges.
11. BREACH - In the event of Breach of BUYER or termination of the contract by SELLER as a result of BUYER'S credit position, SELLER shall be entitled to recover loss of profits,
termination or cancellation charges and all other damages obtainable under the Commercial Code of the State of New York and costs of collection including reasonable attorney's fees.
Interest shall be awarded and paid at the rate of 12% per annum or the highest legal rate in the state of jurisdiction, whichever is lesser.
12. WARRANTY - Any product supplied or service performed by AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION is warranted in regard to workmanship for the period provided in the equipment
manufacturer's warranty. NO OTHER WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY AS TO MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY
PURPOSE IS MADE UNLESS THE SAME IS SPECIFICALLY SET FORTH WITHIN THE BODY OF THIS QUOTATION / SALES ORDER. Insofar as equipment manufactured and/or
fabricated by AUDIO-VIDEO CORPORATION, the liability of AUDIO--VIDEO CORPORATION shall be limited to written warranty policy specifically set forth within the body of this
Quotation/Sales Order.
13. CLAIMS - Claims for defective goods must be made within 30 days after receipt of shipment. Shipment is made at BUYER'S expense and risk and all claims for merchandise
damage in shipment, or for undelivered merchandise must be made with the forwarder by the consignee. SELLER will not be responsible for shortages that are not reported within 10
days after receipt of shipment. SELLER shall have no liability for repair or replace-ment of equipment damaged in shipment or damaged as determined in the judgment of SELLER by
neglect or misuse, willful or otherwise.
14. DAMAGES - BUYER specifically agrees that SELLER shall not be liable for any damages, injury, loss of profit, delays or any other consequential or prospective loss or damage
suffered through use of the equipment purchased herewith, or by reason of the equipment's failure to perform. BUYER further agrees that in any event, recovery against SELLER or
the equipment manufacturer shall be limited to repayment of the purchase price upon return of equipment or to repair and replacement of defective parts, but such recovery shall not
exceed the purchase price of the equipment unless otherwise stated in the body of this Quotation / Sales Order.
15. CONSTRUCTION - In the event any provisions of this agreement is not enforceable, all other terms and provisions of this agreement, nevertheless shall remain in full force and
effect.