Urbana Public Television Commission Meeting

URBANA PUBLIC TELEVISION COMMISSION DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 2020 TIME: 12:00 P.M. PLACE: Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S Vine St, Urbana, IL 61801 MINUTES Members Present: Peter Folk, Dale Sinder, Carol Inskeep, Mark Schultz, Christopher Fuller Members Absent: Marie Polk Staff Present: Jason Liggett, Sanford Hess, Jake Schumacher 1. Call to Order & Roll Call & Declaration of Quorum Chair Folk called the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m. A quorum was present. 2. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Inskeep moved to pass the June 14, 2019 and December 13, 2019 minutes as drafted, seconded by Commissioner Fuller, passed by unanimous voice vote. 3. Correspondence There was no correspondence. 4. Staff Report Jason Liggett reported staff would present on the feasibility of a new public access channel at the January 21, 2020 City Council meeting. The Anti-War, Anti-Racism Effort of Champaign-Urbana recently produced their 500th episode of AWARE on the Air. The show premiered on February 19, 2008 on Urbana Public Television. This is UPTV’s longest running studio show. 5. Audience Participation Durl Kruse recommended the Commission include the fact the City finished fiscal year 2019 with a $2,000,000 surplus. This information was published in the Sunday, January 5, 2020 edition of The News-Gazette. 6. Unfinished Business There was no unfinished business. 7. New Business A. Draft a Statement to the Urbana City Council Concerning Future Plans for Public Access Television in Urbana Chair Folk presented a draft statement. Commissioner Sinder recommended including a sentence about the City finishing fiscal year 2019 with a surplus. Commissioner Inskeep encouraged writing individual letters to the Council in addition to the letter from the Commission. Chair Folk asked if the entire Commission should sign the letter rather than just  him. Commissioner Schultz suggested changing the last line of the letter from “We suggest the Council…” to “We recommend the Council…”. Commissioner Inskeep voiced concern over a compromised staffing solution. Inskeep wanted to make sure it was clear the Commission wanted the requested staff not a portion of the staff requested. Chair Folk suggested referring to UPTV’s budget proposal for staff to clear up any confusion. Jason informed the Commission he will send the letter and instructions on how to provide public input at the Council meeting to the UPTV membership. Chair Folk suggested he not just provide information, but also encourage them to provide input. Commissioner Schultz moved to direct Chair Folk to adopt the draft statement as written including the suggestion to refer to the City surplus as noted in The News-Gazette article, note that it is a conservative and responsible request the Commission is making, and change “suggest” to “recommend” in the last paragraph. Commissioner Inskeep seconded the motion, passed by unanimous voice vote. 8. Commissioner’s Comments Jake Schumacher complimented the positive tone of the letter to the Council. 9. Set Meeting Date and Adjournment The next regular meeting was set for March 13, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. in the Urbana City Council Chambers. The meeting was adjourned at 12:29 p.m.