HACTAC MEETING May 19, 2021

Attendance Sheet

 

NAME

TOWN

E-MAIL ADDRESS

PHONE NUMBER

Present

Alternate

Absent

Matt Skane

Comcast

Matt_Skane@comcast.com

860-505-3349

x

 

 

Alan Budkofsky

Bloomfield

abudkofskycommittee@outlook.com

860-202-3077

x

 

 

Patricia Bruhn

Windsor

peb65peb@yahoo.com

860 916-8371

x

 

 

Candace Fisher

West Hartford

qfq118@hotmail.com

860-670-0442

x

 

 

Roger Goldbeck

West Hartford

Goldbeck54@gmail.com

860-521-0838

x

 

 

Zenobia Graham-Days

Bloomfield

zgrahamd@gmail.com

860-778-8383

x

 

 

Charles Jackson

Windsor

extracreditcstudent@gmail.com

860-604-9528

x

 

 

Claudette Miller

East Hartford

wcmiller91@aol.com

860-528-1160

x

 

 

Richard Ostop

Simsbury

marshalreo@sbcglobal.net

860-658-2739

x

 

 

David Raney

Windsor

raneyda@comcast.net

860-752-8365

x

 

 

Brenda Saulnier

East Hartford

safirerose@att.net

860-528-4808

x

 

 

Andrea Seldon

Bloomfield

absdst75@gmail.com

860-243-0204

 

 

x

William Stephenson

Windsor

billtech@comcast.net

860-668-5075

 

 

x

 

GUEST NAME AND STATION MANAGERS

COMPANY AFFILITATION

E-MAIL ADDRESS

PHONE NUMBER

Karen Handville

Simsbury Community TV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes of the HACTAC May 19, 2021

 

Attendance:  Dick Ostop, Zenobia Graham-Days, Alan Budkofsky, Brenda Saulnier, Claudette Miller, Candace Fisher, Charles Jackson, Matt Skane, Roger Goldbeck, Dave Raney, Patricia Bruhn(late)

 

Station Managers:  Karen Handville, Simsbury

 

The meeting was called to order at 6:02pm

 

Minutes:

A correction was made to correct a contributed comment regarding the Legislative session to Patricia not Brenda. A motion was made by Candace and second by Alan to accept the April 2021 minutes as corrected.  Motion passed.

 

Treasurer’s Report:

Charles reported there were no changes in the cash balance available. Cash Balance is $5,027.96

 

As usual our 12 month & 11 month CD's have performed as expected.

12 Month $0.87 increase Total balance $5,103.46

11 month $1.03 increase Total balance $ 6,031.01

Total Interest & account balances combined Ending Balance $11,134.47

 

Our 11 Month CD Matured on May 5th, 2021. Per our last meeting it was this commission's decision to keep the as is with no additional cash deposits.

 

A motion was made by Alan and second by Dave to accept the May Treasurer’s report subject to audit.  Motion passed. 

 

Town Reports:

Bloomfield: Alan and Zenobia did not have anything new this month.

 

East Hartford: Brenda said the new VOD is now online and was funded thru the Town Council. Streaming will follow. Meetings are now available, and the video library is being built.

 

Hartford: No report

 

Simsbury: Karen said that SCTV is exploring the ability to go live from the PAC center for the high school graduation. Dick added that a request was made to record the HACTAC meetings. Tonight’s meeting will be available to other stations to air as well.

 

West Hartford: Candace reported per Jen: May is Asian American Heritage month with program recordings of numerous panel discussions. Featuring a live virtual story time with International Award-winning Author May-lee Chai on May 25. Collaborating with Parent University and (BOE) public schools for a summer program “Keeping Our Children Growing and Healthy Together” with virtual workshops. Also covering virtual Memorial Day Ceremony and Graduations including a car parade June 13th. Juneteenth Ceremony is planned. Roger added MLK ceremony too.

 

Windsor: Charles mentioned the KidVid program starting 6/21 for 6 weeks of production instruction. The studio is closed for the summer. Field shoots include Concerts on the Green, kids’ sports. WinTV will be looking for grants/funding to update the old modulators to equipment that is HD ready for injection to Comcast. Estimate cost of $9,000-15,000. West Hartford, Simsbury and Hartford have been upgraded already.

 

Comcast: Patricia asked Matt about HD channels for access stations since they are available in Massachusetts without needing to give up a SD channel. Matt explained that is not accurate and that Mass has local negotiations. Charles asked about channel guide listings and who makes changes to it, Matt said that is done at a national level, not regional and with significant cost. Patricia asked a programming question.

Comcast launched “Lift Zones”, a continuum of connectivity to support students and community members who need access to the internet and provide them with a connected experience in as many spaces as possible in this new environment.  As part of this continuum, they will be expanding their network of public Wi-Fi hotspots by powering up to 1,000 “Lift Zones” across their footprint nationally over three years. These zones will be housed in existing and new nonprofit partners, in low-income neighborhoods where the broadband adoption rate is significantly lower than the average.

 

Frontier/State Advisory Council: Alan mentioned that they are looking into why the non-profit Access Stations are paying taxes on Comcast bills. Matt added to contact him directly about this.

 

Chairman’s Report: Comcast channel changes were filed with PURA.

 

Complaints: Any phone calls were forwarded to Matt and were remedied. No written complaints received.

 

New Business: Karen mentioned to be aware of PURA’s new EZFile system Matt mentioned it is not yet ready for filings.

 

Schedule 2020-2021:

June 16, 2021                6pm Zoom             July and August no meeting

Sept 15, 2021                  TBD                     Oct 20, 2021                      TBD

Nov 17, 2021                  TBD

 

Adjournment:  As there was no additional business to come before the Board, a motion was made by Alan and second by Dave to adjourn the meeting.  Meeting was adjourned at 6:39pm.

 

 

Next Meeting and Location:

 

The next meeting will be via Zoom on June 16 starting at 6:00 pm. 

Hartford Area Cable Television Advisory Council

April 1, 2021 – April 30, 2021

Webster Bank Checking Account

Beginning Balance           $5,027.96

Deposits / Credits                   $0.00

                                                                                              Withdrawals / Debits                   $0.00

 Ending Balance                $5,027.96

 

Certificate of Deposit

Account                            Maturity Date          Interest Paid This Period          Ending Balance

                 12 Month Certificate            09/04/2021                            $0.87                                       $5,103.46

                 11 Month Business CD         05/05/2021                            $1.03                                       $6,031.01

                ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                 Total                                                                                         $1.90                                     $11,134.47

 

Prepared By:

 

_____{For Signature See Treasurer’s Hard Copy} _______     _May 15th, 2020_

                                                     Charles Windsor Jackson, III                                                 Date