Channel 43 in Abington Township
Overview
Citizens have wanted Governmental Meetings, Community, School,
School Board
and other programs aired on their Access Channel .
5-20-09 Current most urgent
requests:
1) That Zoning Hearing Board and Planning Commission meetings be aired
2)
That the
Finance and Budget meetings be aired
3) That the Township air
School Board meetings on Channel 43 regularly & in prime time
4) That the Township do its
utmost to maintain channel 43 rather than allow it to be moved
to a higher channel.
5) That an
overall plan for the channel be put forth with the input of residents
6) That no advertizing of any sort be allowed on the channel
MORE
DETAILS ON EACH OF THESE BELOW
1) That Zoning Hearing Board and Planning Commission
meetings be aired -
There is so much re-zoning going on - ( literally, residents
properties all over the township are slated for a zoning change moving
them from residential towards commercial - and nearly none as of
5-09 know that this is happening.)
The
anticipated with the York Rd Corridor revitalization
( 10 million in state funds will entice developers from all over to
our little neck of the woods )
Rydal Waters, Baederwood , the Williard and variances being
given all over the township. Those variances are used by the next
applicant to assure that he is not denied.
Only a select few meetings have been aired on these issues.
2)
That the
Finance and Budget meetings be aired -
Though some are being aired at the discretion of the Commissioners -
no commitment has been made to budget for & air ALL - as ALL of of
interest to the residents . Our township is meeting hard economic
times with additional unchecked spending in some cases, even invoking
eminent domain and suggesting they commit to projects with unknown
price tags. Residents need to see this.
3) That the
Township air School Board meetings on Comcast 43 and
Verizon 24 as many residents do not get
channel 850 . Instead of important School meetings, we have more
useless scrolling. The thing we've been trying to change
for 15 years . School meetings rarely air at prime watching times.
4) That the Township do its
utmost to maintain channel 43 rather than allow it to be moved
to a higher channel. If Comcast chooses to move us to a channel in the 800's many residents will
not get it (849) on their tv's and because few are likely to be
"surfing" through the "800's", and many viewers will discover
the new things on the channel just from surfing.
5) That an overall plan for the channel be put forth with the
input of residents - ALL residents who might care to
participate- and an open committee to guide the channel be
formed.
6) That no advertizing of any sort be allowed on the channel.
Thank you to sponsors should be simple and direct - alphabetical and not in
the form of ads which would favor one business over another -
including non-profits which are businesses just like the
others.
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6-09
Update : Verizon's channel is up and running as of May 09 . If
you still have questions about the digital changeover go
to :
http://dtvanswers.com
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Background of the channel
as of 1-08
Though Abington has had a Comcast Channel ( Channel 43)
for over 20 years, it had remained relatively unused for most of
those many years and in early 2006 could be seen with a
"Bulletin Board" or "Power Point" style scrolling of various
announcements (that we still largely see today ) Our channel was considered an EG Channel in
'06.....that is: dedicated for Education and Government.
Though they had asked before, in February '06, residents asked
the Commissioners more emphatically to get the channel
underway and fully operational with government meetings
and with school and community programming that would make
use of this
valuable resource . We already had cameras and full
capability to put all of these things on the channel at that
time.
Instead of just getting underway, first a poll was proposed, then a survey, then a Committee
was appointed which met for nearly 7 months. Residents had to
come to meeting after meeting where they made their wishes know
to the Commissioners and they also called and wrote to encourage the process. By
the end of 2006, Commissioners had approved only
12-15 meetings - and on a "trial" basis. No
other programming, other than the odd special meeting or event
was allowed either. The airings of the 12-15 meetings began
about April '07 with a two camera system - ( a new one was
purchased and used in conjuction with one of the existing
cameras). The only meetings airing at this point were
Full Board meetings, not the Committee meetings being
requested by residents or the important Budget meetings.
One or two special meetings were aired, but few people knew the
timetable or were aware. Negotiations with Comcast that had now wrapped up,
and these provided a second channel (channel 850) which was given to
the School District along with $75,000 of Comcast grant
money. The intent to air meetings was promised by the School
Board, so we hope that promise will be kept and we are
anticipating they may be on-line in early 2008.
The three mounted-camera system costing
$35,000 or more was approved was installed circa June or July, '07 but the quality
so far has been no better than it was with the two camera system and
sound problems and technical issues have interrupted the process
significantly, most often affecting the guest speakers at the
podium, who are often the residents. A single camera
view was never allowed to be tried, though some residents have
had success taping quite adequately in this manner with personal
cameras, without the expense of the more sophisticated
set-up that requires such experienced operators to run. One
tape that was shared with excellent quality cost only $60 and
was paid out of pocket by a resident.
Not long after the Full Board meetings got started in '07,
and residents could now listen to neighbors who got up to speak
at meetings. The then President of the Board decided
that apparently not to his liking and removed the "Open
Comments" section at the end of the meeting. That
had been the only place where residents could bring up a
non-agenda item. Despite much public outcry, the "Open
Comment" section was not reinstated until after the passing of
the budget and the year's end - and a new President. It was unclear for the final
months of '07 when residents would and would not be able to
speak- while important zoning and budget issues were before the
Board.
In November '07, the four Committee Meetings were approved to
begin airing in February '08. These are the meetings where
the "work" is done and people can see more of the process that
goes into the items that are given "final approval" at Full
Board meetings. The approved meetings were
Public Affairs, Public Safety, Public Works and Code Enforcement
- but Commissioners turned down the additional two meetings that
were proposed ( Zoning Hearing Board and Planning Commission ).
We were unsuccessful at getting any plan for the rest of the
channel. By the end of 2007 only one meeting a month was airing
and the very occasional other video. The rest of the time, the
channel was "scrolling", exactly as it had been the 2 years earlier-
and for the last 15 or more. .
At the outset of this year (2008) with the reinstatement of the Open Comments and also allowance that resident
comments can be made at the end of each section of the Full
Board meeting we anticipate a new start. Comments will be limited to 3
minutes, which may take residents some getting used to -
but we also have the airing of the Committee Meetings to look
forward to. And we have a menu for the channel that is
clickable from the front page of the township website. The hope
is that this will be the year of change - and a plan for the
channel that will benefit the residents will ensue - and
neighbors will be able to watch each other as they participate
in their governmental process - while the School and School
Board info gets underway on 850.
If you would like to know more -
please call or
email us .
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|Channel
43 Overview |
What Abington residents are saying
|
Contact someone about this issue
|
Your
Commissioners |
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