[HISTORY: 1988 Code §§ 5A-1—5A-8 adopted
as amended through December 31, 2013. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter is adopted to afford fair and equal opportunities
for the dissemination of municipal information and events through
the Township municipal access cable channel. As the municipal information
cable channel, Wayne Township Municipal Cablecasting (WTMC) will operate
the station as an informational and educational service which will
include the WTMC program schedule and other information of interest
to Wayne Township cable subscribers and shall be viewed during times
when WTMC programming is not being televised.
A.
There
is hereby established the Wayne Township Cable Television Committee,
hereinafter referred to as the Committee.
B.
The
Committee shall consist of nine members: three members appointed by
the Mayor; three members appointed by the Board of Education; and
three members appointed by the Township Council. The members of the
Committee shall serve without compensation.
C.
The
term of each member shall be for a period of three years beginning
on the first day of January, and each member shall continue in office
until his/her successor shall be appointed.
D.
Any
vacancy created by the resignation, death or inability of a member
to serve shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term of
the member. In the event that a member fails to attend 50% or more
of the regularly scheduled meetings of the Committee in any twelve-month
period, the member shall have forfeited his office, and the vacancy
so created shall be filled for the unexpired term of said member by
the appointing authority.
A.
The
Committee shall elect a Chairman, Vice Chairman and Executive Secretary
at its organizational meeting to be held in January of each year.
The officers shall serve for terms of one year and shall remain in
office until their successors are appointed. The Chairman, Vice Chairman
and Secretary shall serve as the Executive Committee and shall have
authority to make decisions on an emergency basis, if the need arises.
B.
The
Secretary shall keep minutes of all the meetings of the Committee,
which minutes and copies of official correspondence of the Committee
shall be kept on file in the office of the WTMC station manager.
The Committee shall hold an annual meeting and such other meetings
as it shall determine are appropriate. The meetings shall be held
in the Township Municipal Building and shall be open to the public
unless closed to the public by the Committee pursuant to an exception
authorized under the Open Public Meetings Act. Special meetings may
be called by the Chairman on three days notice to each member of the
Committee. The Committee may make and amend rules and regulations
concerning the conduct of its meetings. One-half of the total number
of Committee members plus one shall constitute a quorum.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.
A.
The
Committee shall have the following powers and duties:
(1)
To operate a local government and public access channel within the
Township of Wayne, subject to the rules and regulations established
by the WTMC.
(2)
To submit a proposed budget to the Township Administration on or
before December 31 for the following fiscal year.
(3)
To submit to the Township Council, Board of Education and Mayor a
written report of the programs and activities of the Committee undertaken
during the prior year, said written report to be submitted on or before
January 31 of each year.
B.
Original
VHS tapes, DVDs and/or digital files of all official meetings of the
Wayne Township Municipal Council, Planning Board and any other duly
authorized body shall be kept on file in the office of the WTMC station
manager.
C.
Original
VHS tapes, DVDs and/or digital files of all official meetings of the
Wayne Township Board of Education shall be kept on file in the office
of the Board Secretary.
A.
The
Community Bulletin Board (CBB) shall accept announcements from departments,
agencies, boards and committees of Wayne Township, local school systems
and regional and state agencies, as well as from local nonprofit groups
including civic, social, political and non-regularly scheduled events
from religious organizations, and individuals not engaging in commercial
enterprises.
B.
No
fee will be charged for the announcements.
C.
D.
The
announcements shall be given priority based on space available in
the following order:
E.
WTMC
may not seek out announcements from any organizations, but may run
announcements of public events which have not been submitted.
F.
Forms
for the CBB are available from WTMC.
G.
Announcements
to publicize an upcoming event must be received 3 weeks prior to the
date of the event.
H.
CBB
announcements shall be considered in the order in which they are received,
and WTMC cannot guarantee that every announcement submitted will be
telecast, nor can it guarantee the length of time an announcement
will be telecast, nor shall WTMC be responsible for typographical
error.
A.
Announcements
and programs shall contain the name of the sponsoring agency or organization.
B.
WTMC
reserves the right to schedule the time to air announcements and programs
in its sole discretion. Any scheduling of an announcement or program
will be allocating time among competing applicants on a reasonable
basis.
C.
Community-organization-sponsored
candidates' forums. Community organizations may request to schedule
candidate forums for the purpose of giving candidates the opportunity
to participate in cablecast forums open to all candidates for the
offices being contested. WTMC will not become involved in determining
the format or content of these forums. WTMC will not be responsible
for the guidelines proposed by the sponsoring organizations. The sponsoring
organization(s) will be responsible for documenting to the Committee's
satisfaction, if WTMC agrees to cablecast or videotape the event,
that all candidates have been invited and have been given the opportunity
to participate in the event on an equitable basis.
D.
WTMC-sponsored candidates' profiles.
(1)
WTMC finds that it is in the public interest for residents of the
community to be informed about individual candidates for the offices
of Mayor, Municipal Council and Board of Education elections. WTMC
will provide an opportunity for profiles of candidates to be videotaped
by and cablecast on WTMC as candidate profiles.
(2)
The Committee will provide up to two opportunities for all candidates
to be videotaped and cablecast with their own statements. A maximum
taping time not to exceed seven minutes is established with cablecast
and candidate order drawn by lot; recablecast, the same and equal
for all candidates, will be announced and will end not later than
the Sunday preceding Election Day.
E.
Equal time; fairness; slander and defamation.
(1)
WTMC is not subject to regulations of the FCC on equal time and other
considerations which provide equal access to the broadcast media.
The objective is to ensure fairness in whatever is produced and/or
cablecast so as not to give an advantage to one candidate over another
candidate.
(2)
WTMC has no responsibility to guarantee the accuracy of any statements
made on live cablecasts.
(3)
The channel operated by WTMC is a government, education and public
access channel. Any person's action which would limit WTMC's
right to provide government and public access cablecasting service
will be deemed as grounds for denial of access for that person.
(4)
William Paterson University is solely responsible for the operation
of the channel assigned to it by the Township without any oversight
and/or supervision by WTMC and/or the Township. All expenses, obligation
or liability created as a result William Paterson University's
operation of this channel will be solely responsibility of William
Paterson University without any recourse to WTMC and/or the Township.
F.
Liability
(1)
The Producer acknowledges that he/she has obtained all necessary
copyright clearances and releases for the cablecasting of any and
all material contained within the program.
(2)
The Producer assumes all responsibility for his/her program, agrees
to indemnify WTMC and/or the Township, and agrees to hold the aforementioned
harmless for any liability, loss, or damage, including reasonable
attorney's fees, caused by or arising out of any material supplied
by the Producer.
(3)
The Producer further agrees to indemnify and save WTMC and/or the
Township, and/or their respective officers, members, and employees,
harmless of any and all claims, damages, costs and liability of any
nature whatsoever, including counsel fees, which may be imposed by
reason of any claim that any material cablecast and/or disseminated
by the Producer, violates or infringes upon the rights, trade names,
trademarks, copyrights, patents, literary or dramatic rights, or rights
of privacy of any other owner, licensor, copyright holder, writer,
composer, or other person, corporation or partnership, that said material
constitutes libel or slander.
(4)
The Producer hereby releases WTMC and/or the Township from any legal
action, claims, and demands which the producer or his/her organization
ever had, has, or may have, which may arise against WTMC and/or the
Township as a result of cablecast presentation on its cable system
or the production of any material for said presentation, or for any
mistakes, omissions, or interruptions.
Fees for either videotapes and/or DVD copies of official meetings cablecast on WTMC shall be as set forth in Chapter 75, Fees.
