Hartford Area Cable Television Advisory Council
Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Simsbury, West Hartford, Windsor
By-Laws of The Hartford Area
Cable Television Advisory Council
Amended and Adopted By Vote of the Council February 19, 2014
Article I: - Name
Section 1: The name of this organization shall be The Hartford Area Cable Television Advisory Council, hereinafter referred to as the Council.
Article II: - Purpose and Scope
Section 1: Pursuant to the State of Connecticut Public Utilities Commission Docket No. 11407, Section 16-333-25 thru 30 and State of Connecticut File #697, and act concerning "Proposed Regulations concerning the Establishment of Advisory Councils for Cable Television Franchise Areas", this Council is established for the purpose of:
A. Advising the Franchise Area Cable Television Operator, Local Station Operators, the general public and the Department of Public Utility Control, (PURA), or its successor on matters related to the administration of CATV statues and regulations;
B. Shall encourage PEG access stations that operate within the franchise area, to administrate general PEG access policies for the franchise holder. Give advice to the franchisee upon matters affecting the public subscribers as deemed necessary. File any written reports as required by Federal and State.
C. Assisting libraries within the franchise area in the utilization of CATV services;
D. Relaying information pertinent to, but not limited by, items A, B and C above to the Operator;
E. Acting on such other matters as a majority of Council members present at any meeting shall deem appropriate, provided that such matters relate to the provision of CATV services to the public and/or private sectors of the towns with the franchise area and are not specifically excluded by the above mentioned Docket;
F. Advocating cost containment;
G. Continuing to advocate for the needs of franchise members;
H. Raise the public awareness of the Advisory Council, inform the community of the Advisory Councils role and solicit public opinion and needs.
Article III: - Membership
Section 1: Membership of the Council shall be as set forth in: 1) in the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies Docket No 11407, sections 16-333-25 through 16-333-28, inclusive, and shall include voting members representing the general public and the boards of education of the towns within the franchise area, one voting member representing all libraries of public use within the franchise area and one non-voting member representing the Operator.
Section 2: Insofar as possible, only one representative from each town could be an active member of the board of that town's Public Access Channel.
Section 3: The Council shall make such preference known to the appointing body of each member town.
Article IV: - Functions
Section 1: The Council shall, as set forth in Docket No 11407, Section 16-333-30, give advice to the Operator upon such matters affecting the public as it deems necessary.
Section 2: The council may, insofar as such actions are not specifically prohibited by any provision of the above mentioned Docket, request information from and provide information to the Operator, the public and/or private sectors of the franchise area towns and the boards of education and libraries of said towns.
Section 3: As additionally set forth in Section 16-333-30, the Council shall file a written annual report with the Public Utilities Commission or it successor. Such reports shall be filed no later that the first day of August and shall cover the activities of the Council for the preceding twelve months ending the last day of June.
Article V: - Officers and Elections
Section 1: The Council shall elect from its membership a Chairperson, A Vice –Chairperson, a Secretary and a Treasurer. At its option, the Council may, by majority vote, employ a paid Recording Secretary, not a member of the Council in addition to the Secretary elected from the membership. Such a Recording Secretary shall serve for a term determined by the Council and shall have no vote in Council activities.
Section 2: Officers shall be elected at the regularly scheduled May meeting and shall serve for a period of one year or until their successors are elected. The term of office shall commence from the time of election.
Section 3: Names may be placed in nomination by any Council member at or after the March meeting and up to the time of balloting.
Section 4: In the absence of a motion for election by acclamation, voting shall be by secret ballot. Proxies and absentee ballots shall not be recognized.
Article VI: - Nominating Committee
Section 1: If by the time for adjournment of the April meeting, names have not been placed in nomination for all offices, a nominating committee of not less than three (3) Council members shall be appointed by the Chairperson. Such appointments shall be the last order of business for the April meeting and shall take precedence over any motion to table or adjourn.
Section 2: Said nominating committee shall present a slate of candidates at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the May meeting; the names of the nominees shall be included with the agenda of the May meeting and shall be mailed to all Council members.
Article VII: - Duties of Officers
Section 1: All officers shall perform the duties prescribed by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Council and by other action of the Council itself, except that the following Sections of this Article shall take precedence in any case of conflict.
Section 2: The Chairperson shall preside at all regular and special meetings, shall be a voting member ex officio of all committees and subdivisions of the Council, shall prepare an agenda for inclusion with the notice of all regular and special meetings and shall insure that notice of all meetings is sent to all Council members.
Section 3: The Vice-Chairperson shall perform the duties of the Chairperson in the absence of that Officer and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned by the Chairperson of the Council.
Section 4: The Secretary shall keep minutes of all meetings and shall send copies of such minutes to all Council members, the Connecticut State Library, The Operator and any other individual or agency named by the Council. The Secretary shall also notify the news media of the date, time and location of each meeting of the Council. Any or all of these duties may be performed by a paid Secretary.
Section 5: The Treasurer shall maintain the books of the Council, shall disburse funds in accordance with these By-laws as directed by the Council or the Chairperson, shall prepare a monthly financial report and shall issue notice of assessments due.
Article VIII: - Meetings
Section 1: The Council shall meet on the third Wednesday of each month from September to June, inclusive; the times and locations of such meetings shall be made known to all Council members not less than one week prior to each meeting.
Section 2: Special meetings may be called by the Chairperson or by written request of three (3) members; at least seven (7) days notice shall be given of such meetings. The purpose or agenda of any special meeting shall be included in such notification.
Section 3: Meeting dates and/or locations may be changed at the discretion of the Chairperson or by majority vote of the members present and voting at any meeting; due notice of any such changes shall be given to all members.
Section 4: For all regular and special meetings, a quorum shall be defined as not fewer than six members, including at least one elected officer and shall include representatives from at least three (3) member towns.
Article IX: - Rules
Section 1: Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall govern the proceedings of all meetings of the Council and its constituent parts insofar as they do not conflict with these By-laws or with any provision of Docket No. 11407.
Article X: - Committees
Section 1: Council committees shall be established at the discretion of the Chairperson.
Section 2: Subject to a majority vote of the members present and voting at any meeting, non-members of the Council may serve on committees, but shall have no voting privileges at the meetings of the Council.
Section 3: The Chairperson of each committee shall be elected by the committee from among the Council members.
Article XI: - Funding, Budgeting and Disbursements
Section 1: Council expenses shall be shared equally by all towns in the franchise area.
Section 2: Each member town shall be assessed a uniform annual fee; this fee shall be determined in the budgeting procedures as described in Section 3 of this Article and shall be due and payable on or before the date of the November meeting.
Section 3: At the June meeting of each year, a budget for the coming year shall be prepared and presented for consideration. The budget, as proposed or amended, shall be adopted at the following September meeting by a majority vote of members present and voting.
Section 4: Disbursement of funds for any reason shall be made through the checking account of the Council, except where the amount is ten dollars, ($10.00) or less. All receipts and requests for reimbursement shall be directed to the Treasurer.
Section 5: Amounts up to fifty dollars, ($50.00), may be expended at the discretion of the Chairperson; expenditures of over fifty dollars, ($50.00) shall require approval of a majority of members present and voting at any meeting.
Section 6: Council records shall be available to the appointing agencies of member towns at all times; a year-end report of expenditures shall be sent to the chief elected official of each member town. This year-end report shall be incorporated in the Annual report required under Article IV, Section 3, of these By-laws.
Article XII: - Attendance
Section 1: Members or their alternates are expected to attend all regular meetings of the Council.
Section 2: Should any member be absent from and fail to send an alternate to three (3) consecutive meetings, and fail to attend or send an alternate to the next meeting, the Council shall direct the Chairperson to contact that individual in writing requesting their resignation and request a replacement be named from the appropriate appointing agency.
Article XIII: - Consultants
Section 1: When it deems it necessary, the Council may seek and employ consultants to provide advice or perform specific tasks as directed.
Article XIV: - Guest Policy
Section 1: Members of the public shall be welcome as guests at any regular or special meeting of the Council.
Section 2: Members of the public may present written requests for information to any Council member at any time; a period of time during each regular meeting shall be made available for questions or comments from guests.
Section 3: Guests shall have no vote in Council matters, but may be invited to participate in discussion of such matters.
Section 4: Guest policies at special meetings shall be at the discretion of the Chairperson.
Article XV: - Amendments
Section 1: These By-laws may be amended by a majority vote of the Council members present and voting at any regular or special meeting, provided that a written copy of any proposed amendment(s) was submitted to the Council Chairperson at the previous regular meeting and provided that copies were mailed to all Council members within one (1) week after such submission.