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TC 02-01-95 Cable Television Advisory Committee _ Regular Meeting Februaxy 1, 1995 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m. by past chairperson Mike Winch. ROLL CALL: Present: Donna Poggi, J.M. Wincn, Paul Rodwick, Ernest Tsui Absent: Laird Huntsman, chairperson Staff: Donna Krey, Laura Newman TCI Staff: Kathi Noe De Anza College: Ron Fish Guests: Linda Grodt, Sam MacNeai, Len Batchelor, Daniel Wade, Don Yaeger APPROVAL OF JANUARY 4, 1995 MINUTES Donna Poggi made a motion to approve the minutes as written; Ernest Tsui seconded and the motion passed unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Donna Krey introduced Paul Rodwick and Ernest Tsui, the newest members of the committee, and gave each their certificate of appointment and city lapel pin. Rodwick is a software product manager with a marketing background. T sui is an electrical engineering manager and is interested in developing programs for schools having to do with cable and technology. Introductions were performed by the other committee members as well as members of the audience. Sam MacNeal indicated he had infom-~ation he wanted to convey to the committee, however, he was concerned about time limitations. Chairman Winen told MacNeal that he would be happy to place MacNeal first on the agenda for the next meeting where he could present this information without time constraints. MacNeal agreed to return next month. Written: None. OLD BUSINESS Report on insurance for access producers/equipment: This item was continued to next month's meeting due to the absence of Laird Huntsman. Update on letters of complaint from TCI subscribers: Kathi Noe said Mr. HolTman, one of the residents who has complained' about TCI's service, has talked on numerous occasions with supervisors in the organization regarding the franchise fee, which he does not want to pay. Because he does not want to pay the franchise fee, his bill ends up in the collection process. She went on to say that he has received a number of credits in order to help bring his bill current. Grants subcommittee re-establishment: The re-establishment of the grants subcommittee came out of a session from the Far West Conference which Poggi attended last October. Because the committee had been having trouble getting access producers to apply for grants, members wanted to re- evaluate the process. Rodwick and Poggi will work together and look at the current grants program and bring recommendations back to the committee. NEW BUSINESS _ Letter From Mayor Dean: Mayor Dean sent a letter requesting that the committee make a recommendation to thc city council which would include maintaining the equivalent of the 6% franchise fee now collected from TCI for other, non-traditional cable service providers. Krey said the concern is how the city would keep the cable franchise fees if other providers, such as the telephone company, are not required to pay the fee. Krey will research what other cities are doing regarding this issue. She reminded the committee that there are several cities in Santa Clara County that are meeting with Pacific Bell on this same issue. She said the committee is being asked to make a recommendation for Cupertino. De Anz~ College: Run Fish distributed copies of his access director's report, which included a list of all current access producers. Fish said the "live" bingo game, which took place on Jan. 30, was a success. Approximately 600 bingo cards were distributed to businesses in Cupertino and the Senior Center prior to the show, as well as appearing in the Cupertino Courier. Fish said he reviewed the material provided by TCI on profanity and felt the access channel was not in violation of any of the guidelines. Krey will include this information in the next packet. City of Cupertino: Krey informed the members that she will be making a report to the city council at its Feb. 6 meeting recommending approval of the basic cable rate as shown on the Form 1200s. Her report will also include an update on the quarterly rate increases, which the cable company is authorized to do by the FCC, and a status report on franchise negotiations. She also met with educators from Fremont Union High School District, De Anza College and Cupertino Union High School District last month regarding the second educational channel. TCI has informed the city it is willing to give us the channel, however, it will not be as wide open as the current education channel we have now. The current channel broadcasts telecourses from Palo Alto to Morgan Hill and several community colleges in that area receive programming. The second channel will only be within the confines of Cupertino. It will not be broadcast anywhere else. TCI has asked the committee to select which channel should be pulled off the air in order to accommodate the second educational channel. TCI will provide a list of channels which may be selected. The educators confitftied that they wanted to have the second educational and that they had enough programming to keep it alive from 6 a.m. to midnight. Surlllyvale has a silllilar type of channel in operation. Rebecca Haugh from TCI will be invited to attend the next meeting of the educators and explain TCI's operation in Sunnyvale. Ralph Steinke of De Anza College was going to explore the possibility of locating the second educational channel at the college, where there is already an education channel. TCI: Noe informed the committee that Darryl Henderson had been transferred to TCI's offices in Denver to work on two task forces which will be looking at how to improve operations and services. Dale Bennett, fo,l'ler southwest division vice president, is heading up a task force to take TCI into the future, which will include looking at the billing system as well as how the company is structured. He is also in Denver. Noe said TCI will be hiring a customer relations manager who will be responsible for tracking city complaints, as well as trends in order for TCI to track systemic problems. Noe distributed copies of TCI's monthly status report for January 1995. She asked that if any of the members had suggestions about changing the format of the report to feel free to call her. She also distributed two bill inserts which are required by the FCC to be included in bills annually. Krey reminded Noe to bring the TCI complaint logs to the next meeting. Election of new committee officers: WinCh made a motion to nominate Poggi as chair; Poggi - declined and made a motion to nominate Wincn as chair; Rodwick seconded,. Wincn accepted, and the motion passed unanimously. Winch made a motion to nominate Poggi as vice chair, Tsui seconded, Poggi accepted, and the motion passed unanimously. ABJOURNMENT Poggi made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m.; Tsui seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The next meeting will be held March 1, 1995 at 7 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: