vii-aSL Logo

City Council

Agenda Request

Agenda Of:

12-01-09

Agenda Request No:

vii-a

Initiated By:

Doug Adolph dba

Assistant Communications Director

Responsible Department:

Communications

Presented By:

Doug Adolph dba

Assistant Communications Director

Department Head:

Pat Pollicoff Pat_Pollicoff_initials sig

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 No. 09-42

Clearances

Approval

Legal:

Joe Morris

City Attorney Proxy

Executive Director:

Judy JanecekJudy Initials

Director of Public Affairs

Purchasing:

N/A

Asst. City Manager:

N/A

Budget:

N/A

City Manager:

Allen BogardINITIALfor AB

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, 2009 City Council workshop, City Council directed staff to amend the City’s current policy on the use of the municipal channel 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.

 

At the November 17, 2009 City Council meeting, staff presented Resolution 09-42, which was tabled until modifications could be made to reflect Council feedback.

 

The attached p9olicy has been modified per discussion with City Council. Per the City’s Legal Department: If SLtv 16 is to remain a governmental access channel, the City must completely control content so programming is considered the City’s message, not a third party.  The City may accept or adopt information from third parties to be incorporated into the City’s programming. This ensures SLtv 16 remains a governmental channel instead of a community access channel. This is the basis for revising the sections of the resolution pertaining to “Objectives” and “Policy.” In addition, content mentioning a six-month pilot program was removed, and staff will monitor success of community content on an ongoing basis.

 

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 and homeowners 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.  The Communications department will immediately begin communicating the new program to all entities, HOAs and POAs through our various communication tools. 

 

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:

 

 

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 information provided by the City 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 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 events, meetings and City job listings;
• Provide, in a timely manner, crucial information to citizens before, during and after emergencies; and

• Inform residents about meeting and event notices of government and property association groups in Sugar Land.

 

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/Homeowner Associations (POAs/HOAs).  The City may accept text slides of notices of the meetings and events held by POAs/HOAs 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.

 

            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:

 

SIGNATURe