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BOOK IU2 PAGE 2i7 BACKGROUND: The franchise agreements between Indian River County and the two cable companies that currently serve Indian River County, TCI and Falcon, set aside one channel for use by all governmental agencies in the County. These channels, 13 on TCI and 35 on Falcon, have been used on a shared basis for several years. The County has worked with the other franchise holders in the County, primarily the City of Vero Beach and the City of Sebastian, and with the School District of Indian River County in an effort to provide adequate public viewing of County Commission, City Council, School Board, and Hospital Board meetings. Coverage of special meetings, such as budget workshops, have been cablecast; informational programs from Emergency Services, the Sheriff, and other agencies have been aired. The School District has functioned as the day-to-day programming entity and has filled vacant slots with a variety of educational and other School District related programming. A letter dated March 18, 1997 to Commissioner Eggert from Dr. Edwin Massey, President IRCC, requested time on the existing shared channel for Telecourses. From the meetings which followed, two sample schedules were created which included time for IRCC Telecourses. Because of the amount of time requested by IRCC and because of the time slots requested, the traditional playback schedule for BCC and City Council meetings will have to be altered to accommodate the Telecourses. Schedules A and B (attached) were sent to the School District of Indian River County and Indian River Community College for review. The School District of Indian River County responded in writing with a preference for Schedule B. Indian River Community College sent back a copy of Schedule B (attached) with additional weekend hours marked for Telecourses; this was supposedly the result of a meeting between the School District and IRCC in which the School District gave up some of the time that had been scheduled for them on the weekend. City Council playback on Friday was extended to 9:00 AM for more adequate coverage. This altered Schedule B is attached and labeled as Proposed Schedule. A recent related incident has elevated the complexity of this issue. The School District of Indian River County has requested that the City of Vero Beach institute the educational channel that was reserved in the franchise agreement between TCI Cablevision and the City of Vero Beach. The City Manager of Vero Beach has indicated that since the logical location for Telecourses would be on an educational channel, it should be understood that if the franchising entities agree to the IRCC Telecourses on Channel 13, it is only a temporary arrangement and that if a separate educational channel is established, the Telecourses will be moved to that channel. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners agree to the inclusion of Telecourses from IRCC on the shared access channel even though it will alter the traditional playback schedule. It is understood that the other franchising entities also must agree to the proposed changes since the channel is a shared resource and all of the franchising entities have a legal right to the channel by virtue of the language in the franchise agreements between Indian River County and the two CATV companies (TCI and Falcon). It is further understood that the proposed schedule is to be used as a basic guideline for daily scheduling and is subject to change to accommodate special meetings or programming. The integrity of the live coverage of meetings will be a priority. Since those enrolled in the Telecourses will be relying on the programming for college credit, 74 August 12, 1997