TC 10-04-95 Cable Television Advisory Committee
Regular Meeting
October 4, 1995
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by vice-chairperson Donna Poggi.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Laird Huntsman, Donna Poggi, Paul Rodwick (arrived 7:05 p.m.), Ernest Tsui
Absent: J.M. Winch
TCI: Kathi Noe
Guests: Linda Grodt and Don Yaeger
APPROVAL OF SEPT. 6, 1995 MINUTES
Laird Huntsman made a motion to approve the minutes as written; Ernest Tsui seconded and
the motion passed unanimously.
At Kathi Noe's request, the chairman took TCI's report out of order.
TCI: Noe said she is still fmc-tuning TCI's opemtious report. Everything at the top of the
page remains the same. The number of disconnects is for the year, not the month. For the month of
September, there were 157 disconnects. Service and installation requests have been added to the
report, as well as number of requests completed on time. She said she hopes to have the outage report
for the months of September and October at the next meeting. The information will contain the date
and time of the outages, the completion time, number of subs affected, and the cause and resolutions.
Noe informed Ron Fish that at the Sept. 26 meeting between TCI and Cupertino city officials,
the mayor said access producers had told him of their concerns about the change in the channel line-up.
Vaierie Castellano of the TCI division office made a commiiiiient to take a look at the costs for
publicizing the new channel position. Fish will provide a cost analysis for new letterhead, a new PSA
slide, new T-shirts, promotional items, etc., for changing the channel number.
COMMUNICATIONS
Oral: Linda G-rodt said she was made an honorary member of the De Anza Optimists Club
£ollowing her presentation about the Silicon Kids show. She also said Silicon Kids will be videotaping
the city's parade this coming Saturday.
Don Yaeger requested the committee to agendize the public access interconnecting of
Sunnyvale and Cupertino for the next meeting. He will provide inforx,,ation to Sunrlyvaie about what
he is requesting from TCI and will give a copy of the list to Krey for inclusion in the committee's next
packet.
WHiten: Huntsman asked Noe to explain in more detail the response from'TCI to Shawn
Hernandez's request to broadcast Cupertino access programming on Sunnyvale's access channel. She
told him that TCI did not have the personnel and there is no way of knowing which way the laws are
going and how future technologies will be integrated. At this time TCI does not have the capital and
the resources to investigate how to go about interconnecting Cupertino and Sunnyvale. Noe said TCI
will be looking into this matter some time next year. Following discussion, the committee asked that
next month's agenda include formalizing what information is requested of TC! as it pertains to
interconnecting Cupertino and Sunnyvale access channels, as well as setting a timeframe for a response
from TCI.
Krey distributed a newspaper article about Pacific Bell and TV service, and showed the
committee an article from San Jose Film Clips about Silicon Kids. She also brought a copy of an
access channel newsletter from the NATOA conference.
OLD BUSINESS
Discussion of expanded role of committee: Following discussion, thc con~nittee agreed that
certain key points be included in the ordinance, among them:
· The committee would do periodic evaluations of telecommunication providers;
· The committee would make recommendations to the city council on telecommunications
· The committee would provide educational information to the public on the types of services
that were available
· The committee would also be an advocate for access, specifically public access
· The committee would examine ways to obtain equivalent franchise fees from various
service providers
· The committee would periodically update the telecommunication policy and check the
application of it
· The committee would also be an advocate for the consumer and a liaison to the providers
· The committee would provide public open forums for residents and telecommunication
providers
· The committee would make every effort to enhance the city's use of telecommunication
facilities
Discussion of cable-related educational issues: Krey updated the committee on the second
educational channel saying that the schools were dealing directly with TCI in getting required drops at
-- Cupertino High School. Equipment has been donated by the city and De Anza College, and the
channel is expected to be on the air Nov. 1. A meeting will be held some time in the future between
the city and the schools.
Grants program update: Rodwick attended the producers' meeting and distributed a flyer
that he had created. The committee discussed other ways of promoting the grants program. Poggi
reported she sent a letter to all producers. Grants that come in will be reviewed at the November
meeting following the recommendation of the grants subcommittee.
Review of information re TCI headeud move: This item was removed from the agenda at
TCI's request.
Mayor's breakfast: Poggi will attend the next mayor's breakfast.
City of Cupertino: Krey gave a report on the NATOA conference, saying that there was a lot
of very good information on recent legislation and equipment buying for new technologies. At that
national conference, The City Channel received a second place award for community and public
meetings.
She also informed the committee of the upcoming Far West Regional conference in Sacramento
sponsored by The Alliance for Community Media and urged any member who wanted to attend to let
her know as soon as possible.
De AnTa College: Fish distributed copies of his access director's report. He picked up the
1,500 recycled tapes from Sacramento and said they were in very good condition and should provide
producers with quality recycled tape for about two years. The remote studio is missing one vital
component which has been on backorder for several months. He's hoping to get the remote studio in
- the field in November. Training classes will start this quarter on 3-D aniraation. Also, he requested
addresses and phone numbers for all CATVC members.
ADJOURNMENT
Huntsman made a motion to adjourn at 8:45 p.m.; Tsui seconded and the motion passed
unanimously. The next meeting will be held Nov. 1, 1995, at 7 p.m.
ATTEST: APPROVED:
City ~~ [ (~Wt~ ~)' ~2~t~1'
Clerk Chairperson