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TC 11-03-99 Telecommunications Commission Regular Meeting Novcanber 3, 1999 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair Sal Algeri at 7:07 p.m. ROLL CALL Commissioners present: Sal Algeri, L.T. Guttadauro, Ernest Tsui, David Eggleston Commissioners absent: Bill Mannion Staff: Donna Krey, Linda Lagergren AT&T: Eddie Gat'cia Guests: Linda Cu'odt, Brad Tice APPROVAL OF October 3, 1999 MINUTES Eggieston made a motion to accept the minutes, Guttadauro seconded the motion. A/ged and Tsui abstained from voting because they were not at the previous meeting. Because there was not a quorum to vote, the approval of the minutes was postponed until the December meeting. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Brad Tice, a Cupertino resident, introduced himself. Linda Grodt announced she had four finalists in the WAVE awards and no winners. She also mentioned the picture taken when a "Silicon Kids" student interviewed the U.S. Secretary of Education was used in the weekly publication of the Commonwealth Club of California. Written: A letter to AT&T from City Manager, Don Brown regarding the rebate coupon was included in the packets. The letter mentioned the coupon, "disguised" as a marketing piece for digital services, was not recognized by many people as a rebate. Eddie Garcia stated AT&T discussed this issue internally and felt they wanted to address the needs of customers who were negatively impacted and asked for a list of residents who complained about the coupon. They were not comfortable with issuing a blanket credit. Krey asked if there was a way that AT&T could track the coupons. Garcia said they could do it in Santa Clara, but not in Cupertino. A/geri said the city had a settlement with TCI in good faith to the customers. It looked as though TCI hid the coupon. Algeri said he was looking for the coupon and still threw it away because he thought it was a marketing piece. Eggleston said he thought AT&T should re-think its position. It's not very good marketing and not a very good idea that they are unable to track the data, he said. Garcia said they didn't put the coupon in the bill because they thought it would be hidden. Garcia said he would take the infol'laation back to AT&T and would respond in writing to Don Brown by next week. NEW BUSII',IESS TCI Representative - ~Home service - Garcia said last month he scheduled a marketing person to speak to the commission, but then realized the commission wanted a more technical person to come out. Garcia scheduled a technical person for tonight's meeting, only to find out that person had to get on a plane and head to Denver for a meeting. Garcia promised next month an engineer would come to the commission meeting to discuss ~-Iome. Garcia said he would come to a future meeting to talk about open access. The presentation would take approximately 15 minutes. Eggleston asked about AT&T's new customer service requirements. Tsui asked if Garcia could bring the new Terms & Conditions. Garcia said he would bring the new customer contract to review. Garcia said AT&T is working on language to reflect the new customer service guidelines. Commission said a side letter from AT&T would be acceptable as long as it was binding. Reports from: TCI: Garcia said AT&T wants to stan~ordize channel lineups and pricing structures in all areas. Krey distributed the AT&T service report and mentioned calls with complaints regarding cable services were down in the city offices. Crarcia mentioned he hoped the current upgrade would not be too painful for the Rancho Rinconada area. They will need to go into every house to exchange the cable boxes. NEW BUSINESS COPA subcommittee. The subcommittee on COPA nominations, consisting of Eggleston and Guttadauro, was unable to come to a decision. They will meet again and come to the Dec. 1't meeting prepared with a reconvnendation. OLD BUSINESS Activities Calendar. There were no changes or additions to the calendar. Review and update of producer gnidelines and agreement form with De Anza College access director - Bob Haber was to have a clean copy of the guidelines, however, he was on vacation. Haber will have the updated producer guidelines at the next meeting. NEW BUSINESS Reports from commissioners (Tsui & Aigeri) on antenna review - The subcommittee received a letter fi'om PlAnner Colin Sung to review two applications that will go before the Planning Commission. Tsui, representing the subcommittee, responded. The first application was from Apple Computer. They exceeded the height limit by a few feet. Tsui made a few recommendations regarding relocation of antenna and height limitations. Apple will come back with a new design. PCS Sprint Wireless had some complaints about coverage. They have a couple of antennas already. Tsui asked PCS Sprint to look at a smaller antenna about 35 feet. The height limitation is 55 ft. Tsui is writing a report for the Planning Commission with the subcommittee's _- recommendations. (Eggleston left at 8:10 p.m.) Krey publicly acknowledged Ernest Tsui's work on this project. Krey said people know they can come to the Telecommunication Commission and get good, accurate and complete information. On behalf of the city, she thanked Tsui, saying that it is rewarding for the commission to be looked upon as a resource. Reports from: City of Cupertino: Krey rel~inded Commission the Mayor's Swearing in Ceremony would be held on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. It will be the time the council says good bye to Wally and officially installs Richard Lowenthal. The council will also elect the new mayor and vice-mayor. Krey also reported the City Channel won two WAVE awards. K~/distributed the ~port from De ,~nT~ Television Studios. Haber was not in attendance. Commission agreed they wanted to present Bob Haber with a certificate for outstanding service during the COPA award cereinony. Krey will prepare the certificate. De A~za College: Haber was not in attendance at the meeting. ADJO~I~ Guttadauro made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:24 p.m.; Algeri seconded and the motion passed unanimously. ATTEST: APPROVED: