Agenda Packets - 2003/11/24 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 09F Meeting Date: 11/24/03 Type of Business: CB Administrator Review: _____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Kenneth Gammell, Television Production Coordinator Item Title/Subject: Resolution 6136 Authorization to Purchase Character Generator This report provides details for the proposed purchase of a character generator for cable production. The Capital Equipment fund (Account# 210-4350-7030) for 2003 is $10,000. Currently, the amount remaining is $1,150. The proposed purchase price for a new character generator is $3,100. This will require an increased appropriation of approximately $1,950 for the Capital Equipment fund. The source of the additional funds necessary to purchase this equipment will come from the Cable Equity fund. The Cable Equity fund for 2002 was $140,811, and has increased in 2003. 1. Background The Cable department uses a character generator to add the date and titles on the TV screen during televised meetings at City Hall. The graphics are necessary for the viewing audience to identify the type of meeting and date it was recorded. The graphics also display the current item being discussed, making it easier for the viewer to keep track of the proceedings. The current character generator is a Videonics TM3000, purchased in 1998, and has a life expectancy of five years. The Videonics model is considered non-professional, and was designed primarily for home video. Originally, long-term improvement plans called for replacement of the existing character generator in 2004. However, the current character generator has become increasing unreliable, and is affecting the quality of video production. 2. Problems with Current Character Generator Since I began working as Cable Coordinator in 2002, the Videonics C.G. (Character Generator) has had intermittent problems. The problems include certain keys on the keyboard not functioning, the video input connection cutting out, and not powering up properly. These problems have caused delays in meeting proceedings. One of these incidents occurred right before a City Council meeting in September. The nonfunctional C.G. prevented video from being recorded, and the first 14 minutes of the meeting was recorded with audio only. This later caused problems when the meeting was replayed, and elicited complaints from the public. Since then, the C.G. has continued to be unreliable, and needs to be replaced as soon as possible.