There shall be a new chapter added to the Code
of the City of Ithaca which shall be entitled "Pegasys Access Oversight
Committee" and may be cited as "Access Oversight Committee."
The Access Oversight Committee shall have five voting
members, three from the City of Ithaca of which one shall be a member
of Common Council; one from the Town of Ithaca and one from Cayuga
Heights. The Mayor shall appoint the members of the Access Oversight
Committee subject to the approval of Common Council. The Town of Ithaca
and Cayuga Heights shall recommend to the Mayor individuals from their
respective municipalities for appointment to the Committee. A representative
of Time Warner shall serve as a nonvoting, ex-officio member of the
Committee.
Should another municipality or municipalities become
participating municipalities in the future, then such municipality
or municipalities shall be entitled to recommend one individual from
their municipality for appointment to the Access Oversight Committee.
However, at such time, the City of Ithaca shall be entitled to appoint
an additional member or members of the Access Oversight Committee
such that in no event shall the proportion of membership of the City
of Ithaca fall below 51%.
Members of the Access Oversight Committee shall be
appointed for a term of three years, except that of the initial appointments,
two shall expire on December 31, 2004, one of whom shall be a City
representative; two shall expire on December 31, 2005, one of whom
shall be a City representative; and one shall expire on December 31,
2006, one of whom shall be a City representative.
The Committee shall meet on an as-needed basis but
no less than quarterly. At the first meeting of each year, the Access
Oversight Committee shall elect a Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson
and a Secretary and shall adopt a meeting time.
The Access Oversight Committee shall approve the timing,
use and amount of PEG access equipment and facilities to be acquired
each year over the term of the franchise between the City and Time
Warner.
The Access Oversight Committee may make rules for
public access (but not for educational or government access) to assure
the availability of the studio and portable equipment on a nondiscriminatory
basis. The rules will deal with issues such as who can use the access
equipment, what are the procedures for signing up for studio space
and equipment, and how are schedules for cablecasting established.
Consistent with staff and available funding, the Access
Oversight Committee may adopt business hours for the Access studio,
provided that, in addition to other live programming, live programming
will be accommodated between the hours of 11:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight
at a minimum of two evenings per week, as needed, to accommodate safe
harbor programming.
The Access Oversight Committee shall establish a usage
fee for each separate use of access equipment and/or facilities to
access users who do not reside in participating municipalities. Such
fees shall be disbursed for PEG purposes at the discretion of the
Committee.
The Access Oversight Committee shall review annual
reports on the provision of equipment, facilities and funds provided
by Time Warner access staff and present an annual report to Common
Council on said reports. The Access Oversight Committee may review
Time Warner records and records of access providers regarding the
use of funds described in said reports.
The Access Oversight Committee shall review and monitor
all access policies, rules, procedures, facilities and equipment,
studio hours and staffing levels. Access Oversight Committee approval
shall be required annually for the purchase of equipment, the studio
hours available to access users, staffing level, budget and access
rules.
By May 31 of each calendar year, the Access Oversight
Committee shall provide the Common Council of the City of Ithaca,
the Supervisor of the Town of Ithaca and the Mayor of Cayuga Heights
with a recommended annual budget for equipment and facilities for
the following year such that the participating municipalities may
meet their obligation to provide Time Warner with an annual budget
for public, educational and governmental access operations, which
budget is due by June 30 of each calendar year.