Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCable TV - 1995 - 11_01ATTENDANCE. Members Present: Donald Wing Mark Pacheco Bill Huber Sherry Bennett Eric Willard Members Absent: Douglas Dreggors Ty Westfall Staff Present: Michael Stanger Donna Holden Judy Morrison Others Present: None CALL TO ORDER AND ANNOUNCE A QUORUM, With a quorum of the committee present, the Regular Meeting of the Allen Cable Television Advisory Committee was called to order by Donald Wing at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 1, 1995, in the Council Chambers of the Allen Municipal Annex, One Butler Circle, Allen, Texas. The following items were discussed: OPEN MEETINGS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION LAWS AND REQUIREMENTS Judy Morrison introduced herself and read the "Open Meetings' rules (see attached). All members present understood and agreed to comply Ms. Morrison's presence was not required for the remainder of the meeting and, therefore, left the meeting at this point. MINUTES ALLEN CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING November 1, 1995 ATTENDANCE. Members Present: Donald Wing Mark Pacheco Bill Huber Sherry Bennett Eric Willard Members Absent: Douglas Dreggors Ty Westfall Staff Present: Michael Stanger Donna Holden Judy Morrison Others Present: None CALL TO ORDER AND ANNOUNCE A QUORUM, With a quorum of the committee present, the Regular Meeting of the Allen Cable Television Advisory Committee was called to order by Donald Wing at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 1, 1995, in the Council Chambers of the Allen Municipal Annex, One Butler Circle, Allen, Texas. The following items were discussed: OPEN MEETINGS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION LAWS AND REQUIREMENTS Judy Morrison introduced herself and read the "Open Meetings' rules (see attached). All members present understood and agreed to comply Ms. Morrison's presence was not required for the remainder of the meeting and, therefore, left the meeting at this point. I CCW--d Open government is the very heart of our Texas democracy. Each of us has a fundamental right to know that our leaders are conducting the public business in the clear light of day The Open Meetings Act is intended to open to public scrutiny the process by which governmental bodies reach decisions affecting public policy or business. The Texas Open Meetings Act provides that meetings of governmental bodies must be open to the public, except for expressly authorized executive sessions. The public must be given notice of the time, place and subject matter of meetings of governmental bodies. Every regular, special or called meeting or session of every governmental body shall be open to the public (except for exclusions which I will mention later). On the local level, the city councils or other deliberative bodies having rule making or quasi- judicial power are considered a "governmental body." The requirements of the Open Meetings Act apply to a governmental body when it engages in a regular, special or called meeting. A "meeting" means any deliberation between a quonun of members of a governmental body or between a quonun of members of a governmental body and any other person, at which any public business or public policy, over which the governmental body has supervision or control, is discussed or considered, or at which any formal action is taken. The intent of this definition is not to prohibit the gathering of a quorum of members for social functions unrelated to public business or for attendance of regional, state, or national conventions or workshops as long as no formal action is taken and any discussion of public business is incidental to the functions, conventions or workshops. However, if a "breakfast meeting" is held, and public business is discussed, the body would be subject to the requirements of the Open Meetings Act. Deliberation" means a verbal exchange during a meeting between a quorum and any other person, concerning any issue within the jurisdiction of the governmental body or any public business. A series of attorney general opinions have concluded that a quorum of a governmental body is not subject to the Open Meetings Act when it assembles to receive information from a third party, without deliberation by board members among themselves. A subcommittee chosen by a governmental body from its membership may be subject to the Open Meetings Act, even though it consists of less than a quonun of the parent body. The thought here is that the full Board might become merely the "rubber stamp" of one or more of its committees and thereby deprive the public of access to the effective decision-making process. An Attorney General's Opinion has determined that a meeting by telephone conference call would not comply with the requirements of the Open Meetings Act. Secret deliberations over the telephone by members of a governmental body would violate the act. In fact, an Attorney General's Opinion found that telephone meetings were not permitted, even when the public is able to hear the board members' deliberations. [Since this opinion, another opinion was issued allowing the governing body of an institution of higher education to hold a special called meeting by telephone conference call when immediate action is necessary and it is otherwise difficult or impossible to convene a quomm of the board at one place. The meetings are subject to notice requirements and the open sessions must be available to be heard by the public at the board's usual meetingIn mil The Open Meetings Act requires written notice of all meetings to include the date, hour, place and subject of each meeting -- this is to include what will be considered in open meeting or a closed executive session. Govemmental actions taken in violation of the notice requirements of the Open Meetings Act are voidable. If some actions do not violate the notice requirements, while others do, only the actions in violation of the act are voidable. The notice must be sufficient to apprise the general public of the subjects to be considered during the meeting. A city governmental body shall have the notice posted on a bulletin board to be located at a place convenient to the public in the city hall. The Notice of the meeting must be posted in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times for at least 72 hours preceding the scheduled time of the meeting. There are special rules for emergency and supplemental posting which exist in case of emergency These are limited to imminent threats to public health and safety or reasonably unforeseeable situations requiring immediate action by the governmental body It shall be sufficient if the notice is posted two hours before the meeting is convened and all news media are notified. CONVENING A MEETING A meeting may not be convened unless a quorum of the governmental body is present in the meeting room, even if the body plans to go into an executive session immediately after convening. The public is entitled to know which members are present for the closed session and whether there is a quorma. The presiding officer must publicly announce that a closed session will be held and identify the section under this Act authorizing the holding of such closed or executive session. No final action, decision, or vote with regard to any matter considered in a closed meeting shall be made except in a meeting which is open to the public. The Open Meetings Act includes certain provisions authorizing executive sessions: consultations with attorney or litigation or settlement offers discussion on real property or negotiated contracts for gifts or donations deliberations on officers or employees staff presentations The governmental body must keep either a certified agenda or tape recording of the Executive Session which is to include a brief summary of each deliberation. The certified agenda is confidential and is made available for public inspection only upon court order in an action brought under the Open Meetings Act. The Open Records Act identifies that the certified agenda must be kept a minimum of two years after the date of the session unless a lawsuit is pending. An open meeting does not entitle the public to choose items to be discussed; however, the governmental body may give members of the public an opportunity to speak at a public meeting. Discussion may be on any topic but action on the topic must take place at a future meeting when that topic is placed on the agenda. The public is free to record open meetings by tape recorder or video camera. VIOLATIONS OF THE ACT Violations of the Open Meetings Act could result in voidability of the body's action plus actual damages (lost wages), court costs, reasonable attorney fees and exemplary or punitive damages. There are also criminal provisions for members of the governmental body who willingly participates in a closed meeting where no certified agenda is kept or knowingly calls or aids in the calling of a special meeting which is closed to the public with no public notification or knowingly conspires to circumvent the Open Meetings Act by meeting in numbers less than a quorum for the purpose of secret deliberations. Article 551 -- Local Government Code] 1 0 Allen CTAC Meeting November 1, 1995 Page 2 COMMITTEE BY-LAWS AND PERMANENT MEETING DATE AND TIME After intense review of the By -Laws, only the following changes were requested. Eric Willard suggested that Article 4, Section 5 on Voting the word "passage" be changed to "voting." All members agreed to the change. Article 4, Section 3 contained a typed error; the word "or' was corrected to "on." Mr. Willard made a suggestion that the title of the committee be changed to Communications Advisory Committee." Michael Stanger informed the committee that the City Council would be involved in a committee name change and offered to take the recommendation to Council. After further discussion, all members agreed to the name change of "Cable TV and TeleCommunications Advisory Committee." Mr. Wing suggested the entire By -Laws be consistent by using "Committee" instead of "Cable TV Advisory Committee." All members approved. Final approval of the By -Laws was tabled until all committee members could be present to review their revisions. Mr. Wing added that the minutes reflect the next meeting will be very important and it was asked that all members please try to be present. SELECTING CHAIRPERSON. VICE -CHAIRPERSON AND SECRETARY This item was tabled until all committee members could be present. CABLE TELEVISION RATE ORDINANCE Michael Stanger passed out material on the history, ordinance and report from First Southwest Company and a TCI packet (see attachments). All committee members agreed this was very detailed information and would review the material and ask any questions at their next scheduled meeting. Randee Wilson with First Southwest Company and Joann Holtzclaw with TO have been invited to the November 9 meeting for this purpose. Mark Pacheco requested up to date information on pricing and rates. Bill Huber requested meeting dates be set in advance with TCI for overviews and updates. This will be arranged at the next meeting. WORK PLAN 1995 - 96 All committee members agreed that the public needs to know this committee exists. When the committee has more information and becomes better organized, publicity will be addressed. Committee members agreed that more information was required from TCI, customer needs and the two year plan update. Eric Willard passed out an attachment on his suggestions (see attached). Some Thoughts in no particular order) Offered by Eric The intent and Purpose of the Cable TV Ordinance lists eight bullets. Would it make sense for each of the seven commission members to accept primary responsibility for one issue The first issue"Promote public health, safety and general welfare" is one which all members would accept. Number04 andcan be linked for two people to share and numbers &and can be similarly linked. S p Some More Thoughts Another option for accepting responsibility could be based on the kinds of interaction and activity we expect will be helpful to the public and to the city. Some examples: community information rate issues 3 installation and maintenance issues 4 channel offerings 5 local public access services 6 school liaison 7 peer community review I Allen CTAC Meeeting November 1, 1995 Page 3 ITEMS OF INTEREST A letter to the editor and a complaint directed to the City Manager, both concerning TCI, were read aloud. 1 1 This meeting was officially adjourned at 8:34 p.m. These 'notess read and approved this 9th day o o er, - 95 G'n l/- Chairperson Secretar