Urbana Public Television Commission Meeting
Regular MeetingUrbana, IL · June 11, 2021
Minutes
URBANA PUBLIC TELEVISION
COMMISSION
DATE: Friday, June 11, 2021
TIME: 12:00 p.m.
PLACE: Virtually on Zoom (Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S Vine St,
Urbana, IL 61801)
MINUTES
Members Present: Peter Folk, Carol Inskeep, Mark Schultz, Dale Sinder
Members Absent: Christopher Fuller, Marie Polk
Staff Present: Jason Liggett
1. Call to Order & Roll Call & Declaration of Quorum
Commissioner Sinder called the meeting to order at 12:03 p.m. A quorum was not present.
Commissioner Schultz was present in the Council Chambers.
2. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the December 11, 2020 meeting were not approved at this time as there was no
quorum.
3. Correspondence
There was no correspondence.
4. Staff Report
UPTV Station Manager Jason Liggett reported the cable franchise renewal agreement with
Comcast passed unanimously through the Urbana City Council in late December.
UPTV Producers Elizabeth Hess and Julie Pryde received a Best of the Midwest Media Fest
award for their COVID-19 interview series. Nathan DeHaan, Jake Hasan, Brendyn Jones, and
Alex Aguilera also received an award for their work on WPGU’s Illini Drive.
CU Wise TV premiered on April 1. This series provides engaging content for older adults.
Mark in the Park resumed production. The Park District records on location in parks rather
than in the UPTV studio as they previously did. Art Now resumed production. Recent episodes
included an interview with Jake Metz and Namsoo Hyong.
UPTV’s work with Urbana School District #116 resumed with coverage of two Urbana High
School softball games, Urbana Middle School Concert and Jazz Band performances, and the
Urbana High School Jazz Band concert.
UPTV’s most popular Facebook post was a video of the Mayoral Proclamation and Pride Flag
Raising. It reached 959 people. The most viewed YouTube video was a livestream of the
Urbana High School Graduation Ceremony at 1,782 views. Liggett noted UPTV also streamed
all three Urbana Middle School 8th Grade promotion ceremonies. The most popular tweet was
the announcement of Illini Drive receiving a regional media award. It was actually UPTV’s
most popular tweet ever as it reached over 11,000 people.
Liggett thanked the community members who continued to produce videos regularly
throughout the pandemic.
Chair Folk joined the meeting at 12:16 p.m.
Liggett is serving on the Midwest Region of the Alliance for Community Media’s Conference
Program Committee for the upcoming conference in October.
Liggett will present at the national Alliance for Community Media conference at the end of
June.
Chair Folk assumed the duties of the chair at 12:19 p.m.
Commissioner Schultz moved approval of the December 11, 2020 minutes, seconded by
Commissioner Inskeep, passed unanimously.
Liggett welcomed Sara Bennett to the UPTV Commission. She will be the representative from
the Urbana Free Library beginning July 1, 2021.
5. Audience Participation
There was no audience participation
6. Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business.
7. New Business
A. Fiscal Year 2022 Budget
Liggett reported staff capacity will remain the same as the 2021 budget. He did put in a
request for an additional 18 hour/week Production Assistant to focus on government and
education access programming. The request was not fulfilled.
B. Capital Equipment Purchase Plan
Liggett presented the planned capital purchases remaining for fiscal year 2021. The
purchases were more than originally planned as the City needed to spend the fund balance of
the 2% PEG fee. Purchases include a video broadcast server, closed captioning server,
hearing assist system, video production switcher, DSLR camera, boom microphone, and
public seating for the Council Chambers.
Liggett presented the planned capital purchases for fiscal year 2022. The total amount of
money spent on new equipment totals $41,000.00
Commissioner Schultz asked if there was a reoccurring cost such as a subscription associated
with the closed captioning server.
Liggett reported there is no subscription fee. There are software updates available for
purchase.
Commissioner Schultz complimented staff on the audio quality of the Urbana Middle School
concert shown during the staff report.
Chair Folk asked if the closed captioning server would be used for public access content and
if it would be available on-demand on YouTube. Liggett confirmed the closed captioning
would be available for all content on UPTV running to the cable system. It will not be
available for on-demand web videos, but YouTube has their own built-in captioning system.
8. Commissioner’s Comments
Commissioner Inskeep expressed her appreciation of UPTV’s work over the past year.
Chair Folk recognized the last year has proven how important video production is to the
City.
Chair Sinder thanked Carol Inskeep for her service on the UPTV Commission
9. Set Meeting Date and Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 12:38 p.m.
Agenda
URBANA PUBLIC TELEVISION
COMMISSION
DATE: Friday, June 11, 2021
TIME: 12:00 p.m.
PLACE: *To be held virtually via Zoom, 400 S Vine St, Urbana, IL 61801
AGENDA
1. Call to Order and Roll Call
2. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting
a. December 11, 2020
3. Correspondence
4. Staff Report
5. Audience Participation
6. Unfinished Business
7. New Business
a. Fiscal Year 2022 Budget
b. Capital Equipment Purchase Plan Update
8. Commissioner’s Comments
9. Set Next Meeting Date and Adjournment
The next regularly-scheduled meetings are:
September 10, 2021, 12 Noon, Urbana City Council Chambers
December 10, 2021, 12 Noon, Urbana City Council Chambers
March 11, 2022, 12 Noon, Urbana City Council Chambers
June 10, 2022, 12 Noon, Urbana City Council Chambers
*Due to the Governor and Mayoral Emergency Orders, the Urbana City Council Chambers will
be not be open to the public during this meeting. For those wishing to provide public input,
please email your statement to uptv@urbanaillinois.us by the start time on the date of the
meeting. Anyone can attend virtually via Zoom webinar. Additional instructions are attached.
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Jun 11, 2021 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Topic: UPTV Commission
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89728021475
Or One tap mobile :
US: +13126266799,,89728021475# or +19292056099,,89728021475#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1
669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782
Webinar ID: 897 2802 1475
International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbOsXFDskk
PUBLIC INPUT
The City of Urbana welcomes Public Input during open meetings of the City Council, the City
Council’s Committee of the Whole, City Boards and Commissions, and other City-sponsored
meetings. Our goal is to foster respect for the meeting process, and respect for all people
participating as members of the public body, city staff, and the general public. The City is
required to conduct all business during public meetings. The presiding officer is responsible for
conducting those meetings in an orderly and efficient manner.
Public Input will be taken in the following ways:
Zoom Webinar Participant
Click on the link listed in the agenda to join the Webinar. You must provide your name and
email address in order to join the Webinar. If you wish to speak during Public Input, “raise your
hand” and wait to be called on by the meeting host. You must state your first and last name for
the meeting record. Participants will be muted except when they are called on to speak; video
will remain off for all members of the public when speaking.
Telephone Participant
Call the phone number listed on the Agenda. Enter the Webinar ID followed by the # key. All
callers are muted by default. If you wish to speak, “raise your hand” by pressing *9 once. When
you are called on by the host or presiding officer, you will be un-muted. You must state your
first name and last name for the meeting record.
Email Input
Public comments must be received prior to the closing of the meeting record (at the time of
adjournment unless otherwise noted) at the following: uptv@urbanaillinois.us. The subject line
of the email must include the words “PUBLIC INPUT” and the meeting date. Emailed public
comments labeled as such will be incorporated into the public meeting record, with personal
identifying information redacted. Copies of emails will be posted after the meeting minutes
have been approved.
Written Input
Any member of the public may submit their comments addressed to the members of the
public body in writing. If a person wishes their written comments to be included in the record
of Public Input for the meeting, the writing should so state. Written comments must be
received prior to the closing of the meeting record (at the time of adjournment unless
otherwise noted).
Verbal Input
Protocol for Public Input is one of respect for the process of addressing the business of the
City. Obscene or profane language, or other conduct that threatens to impede the orderly
progress of the business conducted at the meeting is unacceptable.
Public comment shall be limited to no more than four (4) minutes per person. The Public Input
portion of the meeting shall total no more than one (1) hour, unless otherwise shortened or
extended by majority vote of the public body members present. The presiding officer or the
city clerk or their designee, shall monitor each speaker's use of time and shall notify the
speaker when the allotted time has expired. A person may participate and provide Public Input
once during a meeting and may not cede time to another person, or split their time if Public
Input is held at two (2) or more different times during a meeting. The presiding officer may
give priority to those persons who indicate they wish to speak on an agenda item upon which a
vote will be taken.
The presiding officer or public body members shall not enter into a dialogue with citizens.
Questions from the public body members shall be for clarification purposes only. Public Input
shall not be used as a time for problem solving or reacting to comments made but, rather, for
hearing citizens for informational purposes only.
In order to maintain the efficient and orderly conduct and progress of the public meeting, the
presiding officer of the meeting shall have the authority to raise a point of order and provide a
verbal warning to a speaker who engages in the conduct or behavior proscribed under “Verbal
Input”. Any member of the public body participating in the meeting may also raise a point of
order with the presiding officer and request that they provide a verbal warning to a speaker. If
the speaker refuses to cease such conduct or behavior after being warned by the presiding
officer, the presiding officer shall have the authority to mute the speaker’s microphone and/or
video presence at the meeting. The presiding officer will inform the speaker that they may
send the remainder of their remarks via e-mail to the public body for inclusion in the meeting
record.
Accommodation
If an accommodation is needed to participate in a City meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s
Office at least 48 hours in advance so that special arrangements can be made using one of the
following methods:
Phone: 217.384.2366
Email: CityClerk@urbanaillinois.us
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