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TC 04-03-96 Telecommunications Commission Regular Meeting April 3, 1996 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chahman Mike Winch. ROLL CALL Present: L.T. Guttadauro, Bill Mannion, Ernest Tsui, Paul Rodwick, Mike Wincn Staff: Donna Krey De AnTa College: Ron Fish TCI: Kathi Noe Guests: Linda Grodt and Don Yaeger APPROVAL OF MARCH 6, 1996 MINUTES Bill Mannion made a motion to approve the minutes as written; Paul Rodwick seconded and the motion passed unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Linda Grodt informed the commission that for the first time in Silicon Kids history, she would be missing her deadline for a new show. She apologized to the commission since this particular show is one that received a grant from the commission. She said that it would be about a week late. Written: Donna Krey told the commission that she had flyers and brochures from two conferences sponsored by the Alliance for Community Media and suggested that any member interested in attending give her a call. One conference is in Washington and the other is in Santa Monica in October. L.T. G-uttadauro said that he had reviewed written info~ir~ation from last meeting regarding a particular service provider. He recommended that the commission keep the information on file but said that no action was needed immediately. OLD BUSINESS Discussion of promotion for new public access channel location: Mannion info.,~ed the commission that he had approached KKUP and was told that the radio station would be happy to run a 30-second PSA on thc public access channel. He also suggested to the commission that members participate in producing their own television PSAs and said that taping could occur in the City Hall conference room prior to each meeting. The commission agreed that they would become involved in producing short PSAs that could be run on the public access channel. Mann]on volunteered to write a script and Wincn will be the first member to be videotaped. That will occur at 6:30 p.m. before the next regularly scheduled meeting. On other items related to promotion, Krey passed around copies of two newspaper ads that she created along with thc 30-second PSA for KKUP and a list of costs that would be needed to adequately -- publicize the new channel location. She reminded commissioners that TCI had volunteered to help fund costs relating to this promotion and said that she estimated about $2,100 would be needed to cover items of a promotional nature, including the two newspaper ads, which would run for six weeks in the Cupertino Courier, a re-design of the banner, which would be hung over Stevens Creek Boulevard, and the purchase of about 72 T-shirts. That total is $2,121. She asked for Kathi Noe's reaction to this funding proposal. Noe replied that since it is a non-budgeted item, she would have to give it some thought and would come back to the commission with an answer. She also said that she might return with a proposal to provide in-kind services rather than actual cash. In the meantime, the commission approved the two newspaper ads with a change suggested by Rodwick, who said that the channel number, Channel 26, should be given more presence in both ads. Noe also asked that TCI Cablevision be mentioned in the ads. Krey said that she would make both of those changes. The commission approved the newspaper ads with those changes and the PSA wording as well. Rodwick made the motion; Guttadauro seconded and the motion passed ~m~nln~OUSly. The commission also indicated in that motion that TCI should be asked to provide funding for those promotional reimbursement costs. Discussion of work plan/goals for 1996: Mannion told the commission that he and Tsui were working on an article for the Cupertino Scene which would be given to Krey on the next day. He also suggested that the commission look very seriously at putting together a panel of telecommunication experts and televising that discussion. Commissioners agreed that the idea was worth looking into and will continue discussion on the item in May. Mannlon said he hoped to have the program ready by September and thought that it would be a good idea to tape the show at the Quinlan Center. Krey cautioned the commissioners about proceeding too quickly on this type of special event and said that there were many details that would have to be looked at by ail commissioners before an event of this magnitude could be scheduled.. Also to be discussed in May is a list of questions put together by Mannion, as well as a list of acronyms. These questions and acronyms are potential material for future Cupertino Scene articles. Also related to work plan and goals, Winch showed commissioners a draft of a timeline for certain projects and asked for feedback. Krey suggested the draft include dates and months rather than - weeks. Wincn said that would not be hard to change. All in all, commissioners approved the calendar and timeline with Rodwick saying that it was a wonderful planning tool for commissioners. In the future, updated versions of this timeline will be in commissioners' packets for each meeting. Rodwick also suggested that producer meetings be included among the entries in the calendar. Tsui presented a timeline for reviewing present and future requirements of the city's educational groups. He said the commission had time to make well-info,hied decisions, since competitive services most likely would not be available until 1997-1998. Members agreed that the timeline should begin with the May meeting, when discussions with school ~dmkn_istrators will take place. NEW BUSINESS Discussion of grant guidelines: Educational grants were discussed with Krey informing the commission that a proposal has already been received from Cupertino Union School District and Fremont Union High School District. The proposal is a joint one that asks for a total of $20,000 for both districts.. Krey reminded comnfissioners that thc city has $10,000 available this year for grants and commissioners agreed that guidelines were needed prior to disbursing any money. Tsui volunteered to come up with a draft of guidelines which will be discussed in ]Vlay. Also at that meeting, special visitors will include Karen Burnett from the high school district and Harvey Barnett from the elementary school district. Commissioners will ask those school administrators for input on guidelines. Among thc items conunissioners discussed which should be included in thc educational grant guidelines were a del'tuition of the boundaries of the guidelines. In other words, who would be eligible to apply, requirements of some kind for an application process, and a description of how the funds would be used. Also needed according to commissioners, would be an accounting of how the money was spent. Rodwick suggested that commissioners should include a philosophical statement on how the funding should be balanced, as well as any activities that the commission would like to specifically encourage. Members agreed that the process should be efficient and should not discourage applicants. On public access producer grants, Krey gave a copy of the current grant application to Rodwick with changes that Mannion had suggested and asked Rodwick to look over those changes and come back to the commission with any feedback. Rodwick will try to get the computer disk from former 'member Donna Poggi so that making any changes would be facilitated. De Anza College: Fish reported that the Monta Vista News program will begin live shows. He said also that he has been working on Channel 26's web page and encouraged commissioners to take a look at it. Channel 26 also videotaped its first little league game in March and Fish said it was very successful with parents and staff members requesting tapes and programming times. He said that they now have a spare edit suite as a back-up in case existing equipment is not able to be used, and he indicated that there is a new show in the lineup called "Got It Got It Need It Got It." That show highlights collectors of all sorts every Saturday at 7:30 p.m. He told Krey that he has been working on quarterly budget reports that will be directed to her in the next couple of days. Cmttadauro asked Fish to explain his usage report on programming and television shows. Fish went through the numbers and explained what they meant. He also said he would try to revamp the report so that it was a little more easily read. TCI: Noe said that the management group in the San Jose office was changing and that the company has just completed 67 transfers of cable systems in the Bay Area. These include acquisitions from other cable companies. She said TCI would develop a South Bay Region from Sunnyvale to Milpitas, which would include San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, and that she would also be responsible for the Santa Cruz and Monterey Peninsula areas. She said TCI is trying to get general managers back to local systems. In addition, she said TCI in March celebrated its one year anniversary of the company's on-time guarantee. This refers to installation appointments and she said that TCI hit more than 99 percent of the ~mrantee time. Tsul asked Noe to expand a bit on her report and questioned some of the numbers as they related to penetration in Cupertino. Noe said that the report has been expanded and she would have to get back to the commissioners on some of the questions raised. She also said the turnaround time was very difficult to have the report available at the beginning of each month because she did not receive figures and numbers until the end of the prior month. She suggested that the report would be mailed as soon as it was ready and it could be included for the commission's next month packet. The commission did not have a problem with receiving reports at a later time, as long as the reporting was regular and consistent. Ciiy of Cupertino: Krey told commissioners she has received a number of complaints from the North Point Condominium development. This is as a result of having her name and phone number in the homeowners' association newsletter. Most of the complaints dealt with installation problems and technical problems. She said she has been in contact with TCI's customer service manager Bruce Dinger and he is taking care of each individual problem as it arises. The major problem at North Point is that installation was not done very well to begin with and TCI officials say that the entire system will, of course, be ripped out when the new system is put in within the next 28 months. In the meantime, residential problems are being taken care of as they are reported and commissioners should be aware of that if they get any phone calls. Krey also told members that The City Channel is working on a presentation station in the city council chambers and this will include computer interface with video projectors, a telestrator, and equipment that will allow staff and audience members to make visual presentations to the city council. She said she and Don Brown attended a meeting at De Anza earlier in the week with President Martha Kanter, and the new Dean of Telecommunications, Willie Pritchard, and the Director of Marketing, Terri O'Conner. She indicated that the meeting was called to share information about the public access channel and to update the De Anza officials about the history of the charmel and the current requirements of the TCI franchise agreement. Finally, Krey informed the commissioners that the city's annual CREST Awards ceremony would be held May 16 at 7 p.m. and invited everyone to attend. She also said she would put on their agenda in May consideration of canceling one of the meetings in the summer, noting that the July meeting was scheduled for July 3. ADJOURNMENT Rodwick made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:10 p.m.; Tsui seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The next regular meeting is May 1, 1996. ATTEST: APPROVED: