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TC 06-03-98 Telecommunications Commission Reguiar Meeting June 3, 1998 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman Bill Mannion at 7:02 p.m. ROLL CALL Comntissioners present: Bill Mannion, Sal Algeri, Ernest Tsui, L.T. Guttadauro, Mike Wincn Staff: Donna Krey, Linda Lagergren De Anza College: Bob Haber TCI: Eddie Garcia, Dennis Seace Guests: Linda Grodt APPROVAL OF May 6, 1998 MINUTES Guttadauro made a motion to approve the minutes as written; Algeri seconded and the motion passed. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Linda Cyrodt said her shows were finalists in two categories and she won one first-place award for best community event at the 10th annual BACE Awards program. She also received a certificate from Congressman Tom Campbell. Written: Krey said there were several written communications in the commissioners' packets. The first was a letter to Dave Walton in regard to the last meeting. The second were the letters Chair Mannion sent to the Rotary and to TCI regarding the meeting in the fall. Also included was a memo from Donna Krey to Don Brown and the city council concerning the update on the TCI rebuild project. The last item was a report to city council on the TCI rate increase. OLD BUSINESS Project timeline: Wincn asked for any updates on the timeline. There were no updates. Chair agreed to take CUSD New Business item out of order. NEW BUSINESS Update on CUSD grant funding - S-7snne Sanders said she had hoped to have the finished product from the sixth-graders at Lincoln School, but they were still madly working on the finishing touches. Ms. Sanders wants to come back in the fall to show the finished video product. She said it was exciting for the kids to be involved in this production. Part of the grant was to develop video maga~nes they would broadcast to the community as well as to the school. The first part involved purchasing the equipment and training the teachers on the equipment. Sanders said the exciting part is the kids are really involved in the creation of this product, so it is not perfect and the editing part is the most difficult challenge for the children. The objective of the grant was to not only create the video, - but also to disseminate information about the school to the community. Sanders briefed the commission on the two grants awarded last year at Kennedy and Stevens Creek schools. They do video broadcasting on site, with daily announcements from both kids and principals. One of the visions that Sanders has for the district is to help all the schools do this same kind of project because it helps promote community. Tsui asked Sanders how the schools are set up on the Internet. She said all the schools in the district, except for seven, are wired in ail the classrooms to access the Interact. Sanders said CUSD is trying to create projects that address the following three major components: continue to seek ways to increase access, training for teachers and integrating technology into the curriculum. Krey mentioned with approval of the next budget year, the city will be sending out grant forms in August and the deadline will be November. OLD BUSINESS TCI Rebuild Update - Dennis Seace, the project manager for the South Bay upgrade projects, was introduced. Eddie Garcia reported that the written report that was faxed over is the first of the monthly reports to be provided to the commission on the upgrade. The report is divided into three categories: system design, comlxaction and customer notification. (Wincn asked Garcia about getting an electronic copy of the report. Garcia will check into it). The entire system walkout is now complete. Twenty miles of the upgrade system has been designed and an additional 50 miles is near completion. The fiber overlay design is complete and ail 14 nodes have been selected and mapped. Krey asked if our Public Works Depa~U~ent has been notified of the sites of these nodes. Garcia said it is being deait with through the contractor and they have had many conversations with them, but (}arcia said that he has aiso spoken directly with the Public Works Deparh~lent regarding permitting processes. They have not all been submitted, but they will be. One-quarter mile of existing conduit has been evaiuated for quaiity and usefulness. Full construction is scheduled to begin during the finai week of June. The resident customer notification letter was sent to all residents in Cupertino, whether or not they subscribe, to let them know what is going on. TCI worked with Krey to provide infoLmation for the Scene. The first of the biweekly cable upgrade notices in the Cupertino Courier are scheduled to be included in the Sune 17 edition of the newspaper. Garcia aiso mentioned that the behind-the-scenes work is being done in preparation for the door hangers and notification letters to the people affected by the pedestals. Commission reviewed a map that Seace brought which showed the location of all the nodes. Wincn asked if it was possible to get an electronic copy of the map to post on our web page. Garcia said they had met today to see if they could get Cupertino mapped out electronicaily so when they put out their newspaper notices they can shade in the areas that have been completed. He will check into this and hopefully by the next meeting can report on the status. Krey said she would pass on each month to council the rebuild report. There was a question on how we can determine that we have a 750 MHz system. Current FCC performance tests are available for commission to review. Tsui requested commission have thc opportunity to look at the upstream certification process. Garcia said for Tsui to give him a call and they could go down to TCI and look at the public records. Tsui indicated he would go down to the TCI office to review the records. (TCI representatives left at this point) Recommendation on use of additional access channels: After gathering all the input, Algeri and Tsul recommended ailocating one of thc two channels to De Anza College to expand their Distance Learning Program. On thc second channel, there were a number of people who have given input, however, it was their recommendation to.reserve final judgment on that until more evaiuation could be done. There isn't any other group that can carry a full channel, but there are still some ideas that might come in over the next few weeks and there is still time to make a decision. Mannion asked if there was a drop-dead date for the decision. Krey said if the council agreed with the recommendation, we should let De Anza College know as soon as possible that a second channel will be available for them because they need to plan if they want to include it in their next class schedule. Commissioners said it is very clear that De Anza College has the highest need right now for another channel, and thc college presented a very compelling case for that need. In regard to the other channel, the Fire District has some programming available, but not enough to support a whole channel. The Sheriff's Depa~haent is looking at some things, but they are not ready to put a channel together. The government channel doesn't need another channel, but they have some ideas, which they will put in writing. Krey said we don't have to have something in place by the end of the year, because it will always revert back to the city'when we need it. But, she said it would be nice to have a plan of action, even if we can't use it for six months. Krey said she would do a report to council for the June 15 meeting on the use of the channels. She said she would continue to feed ideas for the extra channels to the subcommittee. Production ofvideotapes- cultural diversity video: Mannion reported the subcommittee has been meeting successfully and members have the fourth version of their script. They will tape the show on JulylS. They will have an audition for a host on June 23. Joyce Davids has done "Campus Talk" and she has agreed to be a backup to Fariba Nejat. Joyce has agreed to do the narration and the voice- over portions of the taping. The difficult thing right now is trying to develop a theme song and a graphic, said Mannion. The first attempt at a graphic didn't work out, so the committee met again. One gentleman in attendance at the meeting was very computer literate and is taking on developing a graphic. His son, a musician and a student at Monta Vista, is going to compose some music. Mannion said the project is coming together quite well and Shawn Spano is doing a good job. He said they have a back-up, Carroll McNeill, who is willing to take on the second show. The plan is to do it quarterly. Schools - survey -forum - Tsui said he attended the Technology Forum at CUSD that included teachers and concerned parents. They have nine students per computer and they would like to get it down to five. They have 16 schools on a wide area network and all schools have some access to the Interact. The question was raised what the role oftbe commission is in this project. It was decided the role of the commission is to let CUSD know that the commission is available as a resource. Krey wrote a letter asking TCI to adhere to the franchise requirements based on what was heard from CUSD. Krey mentioned that the other purpose was to add another school to the list. Eaton is opening and our franchise agreement specifically states the city has the ability to provide 30 days written notice if they need some other facility added on. Krey said she felt it was good for the commission to attend the quarterly forums at CUSD or keep a contact at the di~k'xct. Algeri asked if the district publishes minutes of the meetings. Tsui said he would find out. FUHSD hag not responded with info~ -mation on their technology plan. FUHSD will be responding within the next couple of months to give a report. NEW BUSINESS Consideration of grant application from David Cain - Krey said David Cain could not be at the meeting because this is the night that he airs his show. He requested a grant for $250, but his expenses are higher. Winch said he has seen his program a couple of times and it looks pretty good. Guttadauro made a motion to approve the grant subject to the money being spent on supplies, like film stock. Algeri seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed. Consideration of grant application from Shawn Spano - Mannion said the cultural diversity video is expected to air on cable in the September/October timeframe. After brief discussion, Wincn made a motion to approve the grant for $250. Guttadauro seconded the motion. All in favor, motion - carried. Krey said both grants would go to city council on June 15 for approval and if approved the producers would get their checks in two weeks. Consideration of summer meeting cancellation - Commission discussed the possibility of cancoling thc July or August meeting. Mannion made a motion to cancel the August meeting. Cruttadauro seconded thc motion. Mannion, Guttadauro, Algeri, and Wincn voted - aye. Tsui voted nay. Motion passed. Reports from: TCI: Commission reviewed written material from TCI. City of Cupertino: Krey informed commission the nomination form for the COPA award was updated and forwarded to Bob Haber at De Anza College. It will be publicized in the July Scene and nominations are due in September. The budget study session with the city council was held last week and it is basically a status quo budget this year. The city is in good financial shape. We have some big capital projects coming. Council has approved $200,000 in new programs. The first public hearing for the budget was Monday night and the second will be June 15. Thc new budget will go into effect July 1. Krey distributed pencils that are a part of the promotion for the Government Channel. Krey said she wants the video crew to be a little more recognizable in the community when they arc out shooting. Thc city is in the process of putting together a group to go to Toyokawa, Japan for the 20th Sister City celebration. The trip is scheduled Aug. 12 to 17. Participants will stay with host families. Toyokawa will send their delegation to Cupertino Oct. 2 to $. De Anza College: Bob Haber said the next producer meeting would be Monday, June 29 at 6 p.m. A new producer, Payvand TV, began shooting this week and held auditions for their on-air talent. On Saturday, May 2, a three-camera shoot was completed, utilizing a remote video-switching cart at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. This program hopefully will air by the end of June. Haber announced the BACE award w~nners. He also mentioned that they had plans to tape a new episode of "Cupertino Access Pub" this month. ADJOURNMENT Outtadauro made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:08 p.m.; Tsui seconded and the motion passed unanimously. ATTEST: APPROVED: Ci ' Chairperson