Speaking on behalf of the Media Center Board of Directors, Board President Janet West updated Greensburg’s City Council at its Wednesday working session of the group’s latest plans for constructing a County Commons building that will house not only the planned media center itself, but also the new county library, historical museum and extension office.
  In addition to the four entities sharing the same roof, each would be linked to share resources, such that the information provided by the books of the library or artifacts/displays of the museum would be supplemented by the video and Internet resources of the Media Center.
  Describing such an approach as “innovative,” West said the Commons could, in fact, serve as “a model for rural America.”
   “Never before has there been the combined resources of a library, museum, extension office and media center, which will include a small television studio and radio studio,” West said.  The video and audio broadcasts would be available via a web site maintained by media center staff.
   Speaking of the possibilities offered by such a resource, West asked the council to imagine a grandparent in Texas being able to watch, via the Internet, his grandchild performing in a play at Greensburg’s new Twilight Theatre, either live, or later viewing through an archived file of the performance.  Such a feat would be accomplished by the media center’s remote unit pulling up to the side of the theatre to plug into its connecting link, then broadcasting/taping the performance itself, then sending it back to the broadcasting facilities at the center.
   “Wouldn’t it have been great to have watched little (Andrew) Seiler’s last second shot that sent us (Greensburg High) to State (basketball tourney)?” West asked.  “And then having it archived, watching it over and over?  We can do those sort of things with this project and do them for Haviland and Mullinville as well.”
   To do, however, any of those things requires certain essentials, including fiber optic connections throughout town.  Whether or not Allegiance Communications, the cable television provider with whom Greensburg currently has a franchise agreement, is the entity best suited for that role is an open question according to West.
   Stating she’d recently been in contact with Allegiance vice president of operations, Sean Hendrix, West told the council she’d stressed to him the need for Allegiance to supply Greensburg with as many high definition channels as possible to everyone in the company’s basic package.  Hendrix had indicated at a May 19 council meeting that his company would offer HD channels, but in packages costing more than the basic level.  She said that while Hendrix has been quick to return her calls thus far and cooperative in tone, he’s provided few specifics, such as how many HD channels Allegiance can offer, and at what cost.
   West’s concern is that if Allegiance offers only a handful of HD options, and at an increased cost, many Greensburg residents will opt for satellite television, which typically offers upwards of a hundred or so channels in HD.
   “If they (residents) do that (choose satellite over the cable provider) the goal and mission of our media center is hampered,” West said.  “I hope Allegiance will offer the most premier services to the most people as possible in their basic package.”
   West went on to tell the council of her concerns in looking more closely at the franchise agreement between the City and Allegiance.  Saying the agreement was probably “okay before the storm,” West listed her concerns with the agreement as follows:
nIt doesn’t mention County entities (within city limits being connected);
nIt doesn’t cover details of cable networking;
nIt doesn’t mention particulars of HD service;
nIt doesn’t’ mention fiber connectivity;
nIt doesn’t mention service to public schools;
nIt does mention free service to the City library, though Greensburg’s is a County library.
   Referring to the agreement as an “obsolete document,” West suggested it be updated.
   Mayor Bob Dixson pointed out Greensburg’s franchise agreement with Allegiance is “not exclusive,” suggesting another cable company could be chosen over Allegiance as the community’s supplier if they were, for instance, better able to facilitate the media center’s plans for community and county-wide connectivity.
   Stating that other cable companies may put “forward formal proposals” City Administrator Steve Hewitt spoke of the need to “talk with Allegiance first.  We don’t want to get the reputation as someone breaking franchise agreements.”
   One such company with which project facilitator Bert Biles (of Kansas State University) has been in touch regarding the project is IdeaTek Systems of Buhler.  Whether firms such as IdeaTek will be included in further discussions likely depends on how successfully Allegiance can meet expectations of media center and other project planners.
   Hewitt agreed with West’s assertion the franchise agreement with Allegiance should be reviewed and possibly updated.  City Attorney Gordon Stull added the four-year evaluation with Allegiance was set for September 27, and that letting them know in advance of specific expectations could result in a more current agreement before that time.
   West also raised the possibility of scheduling a tech summit at which Allegiance, ATT and other companies such as Cisco could be present.  West has recently been in communication with Cisco’s David Clute—who returned from India only this past weekend—the networking giant’s customer solution manager about the role his firm could play in the media center’s plans to connect the community wirelessly to the Internet. 
   WiMax technology, an advance over the current WiFi wireless connection system, would be the means by which county residents would access the Internet from virtually anywhere in the county.  The range of a WiMax transmitter is typically 10 miles, meaning current plans to place a broadcasting antenna atop the grain elevators at Mullinville, Greensburg and Haviland would reach the vast majority of Kiowa County residents.
   Cisco’s role would be to design the infrastructure for transmission of data and voice throughout the network.  Biles referred to Cisco’s role as “the most complex piece of the puzzle.”  He said Clute should definitely be a part of any such summit.
    In addition to such firms, it was suggested community interests could be served at such a summit by including representatives of the school district, county hospital, city and county government, and others wanting to be included in the service.  West later said long-term recovery head Ray Stegman and a representative of the business community could also be invited.  The overall goal of the summit would be to provide opportunity for interested community parties to share what services they’d like to receive as part of the media center’s project, while giving concerned companies opportunity to address how they could best meet those needs. 
   Given responsibility near the work session’s conclusion for setting up the tech summit, West said Thursday morning she’s hoping a date can be found before the end of June, especially in light of Allegiance being ready to begin work on its infrastructure not long after that.
   “I still need to finalize who all needs to be there, and then work a date around when the key people can come,” she said.  “And I need to do it pretty quick so I can get letters to them to give them time to be thinking about what they need out of this project, or what they can contribute to it.”
Other details concerning the Media Center project…
nTimeline:  West said the earliest the Commons building could be up would be “in a year-and-half.”  She also said it might be possible to be ready to start broadcasting in as little as six months from a remote trailer, depending on funding.
nKey elements of the system’s online, wireless broadcasting system:  According to Biles, the three necessities are (1) design of the aforementioned network to support data and voice transmission, targeted for the expertise of Cisco; (2) plug-in spots, around town, where the media center’s mobile unit can connect to tape/broadcast remotely—West said at least eight would be needed around town, including three at the school on the football field, gym and BOE meeting room; (3) fiber optic connections to each home “installed by somebody,” be it Allegiance, IdeaTech, or another firm.
nThe system West outlined includes three public access channels, one devoted to school events, another to government and a third for overall community matters.  Broadcast of a high school football game would fall under the first, while showing a county commission or city council meeting would be included under the second.  Broadcasting events such as the annual rodeo, community worship service or similar occasions would be a part of the third.