TC 03-02-94Cable Television Advisory Committee
Regular Meeting
Mar. 2, 1994
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by chairman Laird Huntsman.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Huntsman, Jane Chiavacci, Carol Marble, Donna Poggi, J.M. Wincn
Staff: Donna Krey, Laura Newman
TCI Staff: Daryl Henderson
De Anza College: Dave Barney, Ron Fish
Guests: Clarence Millner, Linda Grodt, Len Batchelor
APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 2, 1994 MINUTES
Mike Wincn made a motion to approve the minutes as written; Carol Marble seconded
and the motion passed unanimously.
Huntsman said that as chairman he wanted to conduct the meetings in a professional
manner and his goal was to accomplish all business by 8 p.m.
COMMUNICATIONS:
Oral: Linda Grodt informed the committee that her show, "Silicon Kids," has been
shown in Tucson, Arizona. It will also be shown nationally via a satellite uplink on public access
for three months.
Clarence Millner, member of the Cupertino Ronndtree Board of Directors, informed the
members that the homeowners have had interrupted service over the course of several years and
the quality of installation of wiring has not been satisfactory. Cables have been found laying in
the ivy bordering the buildings. Daryl Henderson, general manager of TCI, responded that TCI
has been aware of the problem. The problem for installing new wiring is that TCI cannot use the
complex's pre-wiring. New drops are required which will have to be placed under the sidewalks.
Henderson explained the procedures for installing wire. A representative from TCI will be asked
to attend the next homeowners' association meeting. The committee asked Mr. Millner to let
them know what progress has been made following the next homeowners' association meeting.
Written: Huntsman wanted to discuss the Feb. 15 letter from Henderson regarding the
billing policy. He asked that this item be placed on the agenda for the April meeting. He was
concerned about the $5.00 late fee being charged nine days following the due date. He wanted
the committee to put some teeth behind the franchise. Huntsman asked the committee for its
consensus on revisiting this item in negotiations. Chiavacci thought customization of the due
date was a good idea. Her biggest concern was how the publicity would be handled to get the
word out. Krey said she would include an article in the next issue of the Cupertino Scene.
Marble felt TCI should not receive any money until closer to the next due date. Wincn was
comfortable with the nine day grace period. Poggi also agreed with the nine day grace period.
The consensus of the committee was that customization of the due date with a 14-day grace
period would be an improvement over the current three day period. The negotiating team will
inform TCI at the next meeting.
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Letter dated Feb. 15 from Tom Lacey to Krey regarding the new system for wiring inside
the house. Henderson informed the group that a detailed brochure will be sent out which
addresses what is covered for wiring. This item will be included in Henderson's report at the
next meeting.
Barney stated De Anza College would be responding to Item 1 in the January 28, 1994
letter from TCI to Mike Wincn. He said the college disagreed with the reasons for the outages as
outlined. Krey requested Barney provide the committee with a copy of his response.
OLD BUSINESS:
Status of re-franchising effort:
CTVAC meeting.
There was no meeting held prior to this month's
NEW BUSINESS:
Discussion of 1994-95 Committee Goals: One goal that was discussed was publicity for
the local public access channel. The grants budget line item was also discussed. Krey pointed
out that De Anza College receives approximately $40,000 from the city every year. About half
of that money is used for fixed assets and the rest of the money is used for publicity and
assistance with part-time staff. She said that if the committee felt it would use more money for
publicity, then more money should be added to the materials and supplies line item. The
committee felt it would be appropriate to request $1,000 for materials and supplies, which would
be an increase from the current $800.
Fish was asked to provide the committee with information from the former NFLCP
organization. The committee agreed to leave the conference and meeting line item at $1,200. It
was also decided to request $2,000 for the grants budget. Huntsman made a motion to direct
Krey to increase the materials and supplies budget line item by $200 and add $300 to the grants
line item (total $2,000). Poggi seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Discussion of proposal to air Cupertino Public Access on Sunnyvale's Public Access
Channel: Winch stated he discussed the proposal with TCI. TCI thinks the cost to implement
this is minimal. There would be some increase in cost but not much. TCI doesn't see benefit to
Sunnyvale residents because they are not using their public access channel currently.
Poggi said she spoke with Phyllis Hartsell of Sunnyvale about the possibility of airing
Cupertino Public Access programs on Sunnyvale's Public Access Channel. She distributed a
memo outlining details of the discussion. Marble said she was concerned that there be
safeguards about Sunnyvale producers using Cupertino's facility. Dave Barney said he would
like to see some rules for potential Sunnyvale producer users
Len Batchelor brought up the fact that during negotiations of the franchise, the tripartite
agreement will probably be brought up for discussion. After discussion, Poggi made a motion
that the committee send a letter to the City of Sunnyvale in support of the proposal and urging
them to pursue the matter with TCI; Wincn seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Poggi
volunteered to write the letter and provide a copy to the other committee members.
Discussion of role of local television during emergencies: Chiavacci told the
committee about a recent visit to south Florida where she heard some discussion during the
hurricane disaster and the role of local network and local access television. The local cable
company had turned off the signal following the disaster possibly due to the fact that there was
no profit in keeping it on. She expressed concern about what role Cupertino's local television
would play in such an incident. She offered to explore the various ways in which the local PEG
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channels can play a role following a disaster. Krey explained that the City of Cupertino has an
emergency plan which is required by the State. There is also an EBS network which is available.
Videotapes in different languages would be very useful. Barney said the access channel in San
Francisco does have videotapes in different languages which he has seen. Chiavacci said she
would explore the concept of how the access channel can augment the city's emergency plans
and would try to have a report available at the next meeting. Messages could also be scrolled
during an emergency.
Consideration of alternate meeting place for April meeting: Henderson offered to
host a meeting of the committee at the TCI facility in San Jose in April or another date
convenient to the group. While there, the members would also tour the site. The committee
expressed interest in the idea and asked Henderson to make the arrangements for a future
meeting. Henderson will inform the committee what date it will occur.
Review format and content of reports from TCI, De Anza College and City of
Cupertino: Huntsman said he wanted to look at the way the information is presented to the
committee and see if there were any other ways in which it could be provided. He said he would
like to see a technical section added to TCI's report which would include the number of outages
and their ramifications. Henderson said he would put together a list to show what kind of
information can be provided in future reports.
Fish will add a column that shows the total number of hours of operation. The tape log
column will be reduced to reflect the change in policy of using recycled tapes.
Krey asked what the committee would like to have included from her reports. Chiavacci
said she would like to hear about any important issues from the City Council meetings. Marble
asked if the budget printout could be made darker. Krey said she would certainly try to put this
information in her reports.
Huntsman asked the committee how they would feel about rotating attendance at the
monthly lunch meetings with the mayor. The members agreed that rotating the attendance by
alphabetical order would be beneficial to everyone. Chiavacci will attend the March luncheon.
Huntsman asked what the policy was regarding placing the CTVAC agendas and minutes
on CityNet. Newman responded that once the agenda has been sent to the committee members,
it would be made available to CityNet users. The minutes, once approved, would also be
available on CityNet.
I-NET/Educational: Marble said she spoke with both Harvey Barnett of the Cupertino
Union School District and Karen Bumett of the Fremont Union High School District to find out
if they had any concerns about I-NET. Both mentioned interconnectivity between the TCI
service areas and the schools, which is a high priority issue with both of the districts. All the
high schools have had the I-NET drops installed except for Homestead. Marble urged the
negotiation team to push for interconnectivity and the ability to broadcast from a central location.
City of Cupertino: Krey thanked all the members for their attendance at the annual
Commissioners' Dinner. Since Poggi was unable to attend the dinner, Krey presented her with a
City pin and certificate of appointment.
She reminded the committee that the deadline for grant applications is April 15. The
grants subcommittee will have to meet sometime between April 15 and the next meeting in order
for their recommendation to be discussed and voted on at May's meeting. Chiavacci and Marble
offered to review the grants and make recommendations at the May meeting.
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Krey stated that the CREST Awards ceremony, at which time the city recognizes
community volunteers, will be held May 20 at the Quinlan Center. She urged the members to
consider nominating someone they feel deserves recognition.
The City Channel will be involved in SWING (Student Week in Neighborhood
Government) by videotaping the final event, which is a mock city council meeting and will also
be replayed during the month.
De Anza College: Fish said the Cupertino News Show has completed its seventh
program which will air during March. Opening day ceremonies for Little League baseball at
Wilson Park will be cablecast for broadcast the next day. A booth at Vallco Fashion Park will be
used later in the month in an attempt to distribute publicity about the access channel. Fish will
be meeting with the public access director at Foothill College to discuss a mutual publicity plan.
Foothill College has objected to use of Cupertino infomercials since they advertise businesses in
Cupertino, not Los Altos. Huntsman suggested a joint meeting between the Los Altos and
Cupertino cable committees. Krey will extend the invitation to her counterpart at the City of Los
Altos.
Fish supplied Huntsman with a copy of the videotape of"TCI This Week" for review and
discussion at a future meeting. He also showed the committee three infomercials he wants to air
on the public access channel. A business featured in any infomercial would not be charged a fee
in exchange for a gift certificate which would be presented to a viewer. The idea for the
infomercials is to find out how many viewers are watching programs on the access channel.
After discussion, it was decided that Fish would limit gift certificates to $35. He will air the
infomercials for one month and report back to the committee at its next meeting.
Barney distributed copies of a memo regarding the education channel's network
downtime. Henderson said TCI had spent eight to 10 hours working on the problem that
particular day. The committee reminded Henderson that TCI was going to schedule a meeting of
all the I-NET users to discuss the problem. Huntsman asked that a representative from TCI be
available to discuss the problem at the next meeting. Krey asked that Henderson contact all
parties involved in the I-NET next week and let her know when the meeting with the I-NET
users has been scheduled. This would be the first step in attempting to find out where the
problem is happening.
TCI.' Henderson's written report was unavailable for the meeting. He said he would
provide a copy for inclusion in the next month's agenda packet.
The Cupertino office staffwill be moving to the San Jose office by the end of the week.
The FCC has said another 7 percent reduction in rates is appropriate. The existing 393
forms will still need to be examined until May 15. After May 15, the FCC will have a new
format.
He also reported that the proposed merger between TCI and Bell-Atlantic was called off.
This will not affect the fiber loop which is scheduled to be completed this year.
Wincn was presented with a card in appreciation of his service as chairperson by his
fellow committee members.
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ADJOURNMENT
Poggi made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:35 p.m.; Marble seconded and the
motion passed unanimously. The committee will meet next on April 6.
ATTEST:
City Clerk
APPROVED:
Chairperson