Agenda Request

	City Council
	Agenda Request
Agenda Of:	11-17-09	Agenda Request No:		vii-b
Initiated By:	Doug Adolph Assistant Communications Director		Responsible Department:	Communications
Presented By:	Doug Adolph Assistant Communications Director	Department Head:		Pat Pollicoff Communications Director
		Additional Department. Head (s):		N/A
Subject / Proceeding:	Adopt Resolution 09-42 to Amend a Policy to Publicize Government and Property Association Meeting and Event Notices on Sltv16.
Exhibits:	Resolution 09-42
Clearances			Approval
Legal:	joe morris, city attorney		Executive Director:	Judy Janecek Director of Public Affairs
Purchasing:	N/A		Asst. City Manager:	N/A
Budget:	N/A		City Manager:	Allen Bogard
Budget
Expenditure Required: $			N/A
Current Budget: $			N/A
Additional Funding: $			N/A
Recommended Action
Adopt resolution 09-42 to amend a City Council policy that addresses the use of the municipal channel to allow consideration of meeting and event notices from governmental agencies and property associations within Sugar Land.
Executive Summary
At the October 27^th City Council workshop, staff presented two options for public use of SLtv16. City Council directed staff to amend the current policy to allow governmental agencies and property associations to publicize meeting and event notices on the SLtv16 Bulletin Board along with an assessed fee of $25 per notice. City Council also directed staff to further define a process to allow non-profit groups to post meeting and event notices on SLtv16, which will be presented to Council within 60 days. Per the amended policy, the City may accept text slides containing notices of meetings and events of governmental entities located within Sugar Land for broadcast on the municipal channel’s bulletin board. The City may also, within its complete discretion, accept text slides of notices of the meetings and events held by property owners associations located within Sugar Land for broadcast on the municipal channel bulletin board. The Communications Department recommends the City Council approve Resolution 09-42. The amended policy will take effect after the second reading of an associated fee ordinance, and the Communications Department will then immediately begin accepting and reviewing requests from approved entities. SLtv16 is the City’s cable television channel, available to Comcast subscribers living within the corporate City limits of Sugar Land. Approximately 11,500 homes have access to the channel, which is also streamed live on the City’s Web site at www.sugarlandtx.gov and will also be available to River Park Residents upon annexation.
Exhibits

Adopted by Res. No.

Date of adoption:

Effective date:

RESOLUTION NO. 09-42

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SUGAR LAND, TEXAS, AMENDING THE CITY COUNCIL POLICY GOVERNING THE USE OF THE MUNICIPAL CHANNEL.

WHEREAS, the City Council wishes to amend the polity governing the use of the City’s municipal channel to allow the City to provide information on meetings and events held by governmental entities and property owners’ associations; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL

OF THE CITY OF SUGAR LAND, TEXAS:

Section l. That the City Council adopts the following amended policy:

City Council Policy

USE OF THE MUNICIPAL CHANNEL

PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance on the use of the City’s municipal channel which is made available to the City by the local franchised cable provider for governmental use only as allowed by federal law (47 USCS § 531). The franchise agreement restricts the governmental access channel to non-commercial government uses under rules and procedures established by the City.

SCOPE

The policy applies to material aired on the municipal channel.

OBJECTIVES

The municipal channel offers a communication medium to deliver City governmental related information to citizens, enhancing and complementing the communication tools currently utilized by the City of Sugar Land.

POLICY

All information aired on the municipal channel is considered governmental information provided by the City for the benefit of the public to serve the following public purposes:

• Educate Sugar Land residents on City services, policies, and programs;
• Improve accessibility of City Council deliberations by providing broadcast of meetings;
• Inform residents about City sponsored events and City job listings; and
• Provide, in a timely manner, crucial information to citizens before, during and after emergencies.

The City Manager or designees have the authority to control the information aired on the municipal channel and may exercise the discretion to accept, reject, or edit any information submitted to the City for broadcast on the municipal channel under the guidelines of this policy, including:

- Obscene, libelous, slanderous material or content that violates federal, state, or local laws;

- The solicitation of funds or promoting the sale of products or services or promotions and endorsements for individuals seeking public office;

- The unauthorized use of copyrighted information or trademarks;

- Religious content if it does not (1) primarily serve a secular (non-religious) purpose; and 2) its primary effect is intended to advance or inhibit religion.

- Information that advocates or encourages discrimination on a status protected under Federal or State law (race, color, creed, religion, etc.).

BROADCASTS OF MEETINGS OF GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES

Videos of the meetings of governing boards of local governmental entities will be considered for broadcast on the municipal channel.

BULLETIN BOARD NOTICES

Local Governmental Entities. The City may accept text slides containing notices of meetings and events of local governmental entities for broadcast on the municipal channel’s bulletin board.

Property Owners’ Associations (POAs). The City may accept text slides of notices of the meetings and events held by POAs located within the City for broadcast on the municipal channel bulletin board. All information submitted will be considered for broadcast based on relevance, subject matter, and compliance with this policy.

Request Deadlines: To allow for proper production, scheduling and publicity, community bulletin board requests must be received 15 business days in advance of the scheduled event. Information that is not date specific will be aired at the discretion of the Communications Department staff.

Quantity of Community Content: Meeting and event notices for the community bulletin board will be limited to no more than one notice/event announcement per organization per week. Items are eligible to begin airing 30 days before event. Bulletin board content will run for 30 days or until the event or program is complete, whichever comes first.

Content Requests: Requests for meeting and event notices on the community bulletin board should be submitted to pubinfo@sugarlandtx.gov or they may be delivered in person to the Sugar Land Communications Department at City Hall, 2700 Town Center Blvd. North. Upon approval and payment of an administrative fee, updates will be posted each Friday.

Administrative Fees: An administrative fee of $25 will be assessed for each meeting and event notice submitted by qualifying groups. Before meeting and event notice requests are processed and aired on the community bulletin board, payment must be received at City Hall, 2700 Town Center Blvd. North, Sugar Land, Texas, 77479. Cash or checks payable to the City of Land are accepted. (Credit card payments are not currently accepted for payment of this fee).

No fee will be assessed for meeting and event notices for events or programs sponsored by the City of Sugar Land or organizations in Sugar Land that receive funding from the Sugar Land City Council.

* The community bulletin board will be offered as a pilot project for a period of six months.

Section 2. That Resolution No. 05-21 is repealed.

APPROVED on _____________________________, 2009.

_________________________

James A. Thompson, Mayor

ATTEST:

_____________________________

Glenda Gundermann, City Secretary

Reviewed for Legal Compliance: