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TC 11-05-97 Cupertino Telecommunications Commission Regular Meeting Nov. 5, 1997 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman Ernest Tsui at 7 p.m. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Bill Mannion, Sal Algeri, Mike Wincn and Emest Tsui. Absent: L.T. Outtadauro Staff: Donna Krey De Anza College: Ron Fish TCI: Dave Walton, Brace Dinger, Valerie Castellana, Kathi Nee Guests: Linda Grodt, Dean Chamberlain APPROVAL OF OCT. 1, 199'/MINUTES Algeri made a motion to appwve the minutes as written; Mannion seconded and the motion passed unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Nee introduced Castellana, director of government affairs for TCI's western region. C-rodt told commissioners two of her "Silicon Kids" shows were finalists in the WAVE Awards. Written: Krey called commissioners' attention to a letter she was asked to write to Fish. She said Los Altos Access Director Madlyn Ackeunan also received a copy of the letter and felt that the l0 p.m. air time for the show in question, as well as the current "disclaimer," were sufficient in protecting young viewers from the material. Tsui said he believes standards for both access centers should be similar;, Mannion said his concern was the use of public funds for such shows; Wincn said the nature of public access was an open forum for all; Algeri said unless there is a public outcry, there isn't much the commission can do, other than what has been done. Krey also circulated the most recent newsletter from the Alliance for Community Media and she read an e-mail message from a resident asking about Pacific Bell's plan for DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) in this area. Krey has responded to the resident; Tsui said he would do further research as well. COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION ON TCI REBUILD ISSUES This item was taken out of order as a courtesy to Castellana, whose office is based in Walnut Creek. Tsui summarized tho commission's recommendations and thanked TCI for taking the time to meet with two of the members. He said the commission's motivation in coming up with a response to TCI's most recent proposal was an interest in what was best for both the city ~ " and the cable company. He said the commission didn't want to be caught requiring more cable service in a few years, because of Cupertino's technically advanced population. For that reason, the commission's recommendations include adhering to the franchise-required 750 MHz system and ensuring there is enough spare fiber to support upstream communication in the future. Castellana told commissioners she was not at the meeting to respond formally. TCI will send proposed written amendments to the franchise agreement by the end of the November. She clarified the mason for the rebuild delay, saying the company wishes to incorporate its @Home service in the design. She also noted the city originally was interested in having bigger nodes and less equipment installed within its boundaries. TCI is discussing these issues internally and Noe assured commissioners that Cupertino's rebuild was getting the "highest level of visibility in the company." OLD BUSINESS 1997 project timeline: Wincu told commissioners he needed regular updates to make the timeline useful. He proposed e-mailing members each month. The timeline will appear in the December agenda packet, so that work projects can be reviewed. Telecommunications liaison with other cities: Wincn outlined differences between the Los Altos producer agreement and the De Anza producer agreement, saying there were only a couple of places where significant differences were evident. He said he didn't think De Anza's was missing anything, but Los Altos does not have "volunteer of record" or "office of risk management" forms. Commissioners thanked Wincn for his work on this. Production of Videotapes: Tsui reported that Marquita Byrd would not be able to continue with the cultural richness project due to her son's illness. She will return the grant money. Mannion said he had made contact with Nicol Lea, who seemed eager to pursue the project. He will meet with her, Tsui and Michael Chang to go over details on Nov. 13. Monta Vista High School has scheduled a meeting on cultural diversity Nov. 12; Krey suggested footage - from that meeting might be used for the video. Mannion prepared a handwritten script for the annual report video, which was used to develop a typed version by Krey. Wincn asked how the video will differ in content and fore,at than what the city council already receives. He also wanted to know how the commission could solicit input from the council and if there should be a built-in way to receive feedback. Tsui explained the council also would receive a written report; Krey said one way to discuss commission activities was to send a member to the monthly Mayor's breakfasts. Commissioners agreed the video would be aimed solely at the council, and perhaps PSAs would be developed for the access channel. Mannion and Tsui said they'd like to add information to the script about the educational grants amounts and the commission's role in advancing the cause of high-speed internet service. They will continue to work on the production of the video. Community Education Event: This item will be discussed at the December meeting. Promotion/awareness of channel: Krey passed out Channel 26 magnets; Fish will distribute to producers. Web page update: There was no report. COPA SUBCOMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION FOR SPECIAL PRODUCER AWARD Subcommittee members Tsui and Algeri recommended this year's award be given to Dorothy Stevens, of Cupertino Senior TV Productions. Algeri noted that Linda Grodt also was a finalist, and the decision was very difficult to make. Both Stevens and (3rodt would be excellent choices, he said, but Stevens was selected on the basis of the amount of programming produced. Commissioners encouraged Grodt to apply next year for the award. Wincn made a motion to accept the subcommittee's recommendation; Algeri seconded and the motion passed with three in favor. Mannion, who is a member of the senior production team, abstained from voting. NEW BUSINESS GRANT REQUF.~T FROM THE BETTER PART Commissioners reviewed a $421.91 request for purchasing high-grade tapes for library copies of The Better Part programs and for maintaining equipment needed for the project. Algeri questioned whether or not grant money should be used for maintenance of equipment. Other commissioners also had concerns about this. Wincn made a motion to approve the grant for materials only, amounting to $266.91, and to consider the issue of funding maintenance requests at the next meeting. Algeri seconded and the motion passed with three in favor. Mannion abstained from voting. Krey will include grant guidelines in the December packet. REPORT ON FAR WESTERN REGIONAL CONFERENCE Mannion said much of the subject matter from the conference was a repeat of last year's, however, he found one session on how to raise money for public access to be of interest. He said there were 345 videotapes submitted for WAVE awards this year and Cupertino had 25 of those. Of that number, Cupertino had 10 finalists and six winners. Mannion said he would pass along anything of interest from the conference to the other commissioners. Report from TCI: Dinger reviewed the company's monthly report, explaining that the call volume went up 11 percent. The 30-second answering time drop to 78 percent, still due to former Pacific Bell customers in San Jose calling for service. He said the October statistics would be more in line with no~mal activity. Report fr~m De Anza College: Fish said he has a new office at the access center and a -- graphics office has been created. He told commissioners many recycled tapes were donated this month and he has a source that will donate hundreds of others. The character inserter (bug) is working and looks good; the TV center has installed an ethernet hub that will facilitate a live chat room over the internet. He also said after reading an article on digital TV, that it wasn't too viable for public access now, but at least there is a standard to look at. Report from City of Cupertino: Krey told commissioners the City Channel's election coverage was very successful, but that TCI was doing some testing during the live broadcast. Walton asked her to let the company know whenever there was a live show going on. She also said a reception for outgoing councilwoman Lauralee Sorensen was planned Nov. 18 and th'bt the new city council would be sworn in on Nov. 20. ADJOURNMENT Wincn made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:11 p.m.; Algeri seconded and the motion passed unanimously. ATTEST: APPROVED: City Clerk _~/ Chairman