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TC 05-05-93CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Regular Meeting May 5, 1993 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by chairman Mike Wincn. ROLL CALL Present: Wincn, Len Batchelor, Jane Chiavacci, Laird Huntsman and Carol Marble. Staff: Donna Krey, Don Brown, Cheryl Kershner De Anza College: Ron Fish TCI Cupertino/Los Altos: Daryl Henderson Guests: Linda Grodt APPROVAL OF APRIL 7, 1993 MINUTES Chiavacci made a motion to approve the minutes as written; Batchelor seconded and the motion passed unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Grodt informed the committee that two Silicon Kids shows were named finalists in the 1993 BACE Awards. She also stated that the program will air on lVfilpitas access. Written: Krey made two supplements from Multichannel News available to the committee. The supplements dealt with cable and telco partnerships. Legal Overview of Cable Act and Refranchising:..Deputy City Attorney Kershner distributed a sumnm~ of the 1992 Cable Act and highlighted provisions pertaining to refranchising, including rate regulation, customer service, must carry and retransmission and PEG channels. Huntsman said the committee should come up with detailed information on good technical standards, as well as a definition of its relationship to De A~7n College. He also said a review of the city's current agreements is necessary. Chiavacci asked Kershner if she would recommend hiring a consultant to aid in refran~hising. Kershner replied that the Cable Act was complicated, but very straightforward and that the city attorney's office was comfortable with it and could competently negotiate for the city She also said Cupertino would be better off without a consultant because city officials are closer to the needs of the community. Kershner noted that according to the legal timeline, city negotiations with TCI should begin no later than August 1993. The committee agreed to wait until August to start that process since more regulations from the FCC would be available by then. OLD BUSINESS Status of Re-Franchising Effort: Marble submitted three additional recommendations for negotiation dealing with the I-NET/Educational areas. It was agreed to incorporate the first one with an existing recommendation and add the other two. Chiavacci made a motion to send the finalized recommendations to the city council; Marble seconded and it passed unanimously. Krey will present a report on May 17, accompanied by background information. The report will indicate that the committee will do more work on defining technical standards and issues about De Anza College. The committee will look at FCC standards in July. Henderson said he would try to have TCI engineer Mark Businius available for the July meeting. Wincn distributed copies of comments provided by consultant Kathleen Schuler on the committee's recommendations. He said Schuler would like to respond more fully at a later time and would also consider attending a meeting. The committee agreed to forward the comments to the negotiating team. The timeline was previously addressed by Kershner. NEW BUSINESS Legal Overview of Cable Act: Taken out of order and discussed earlier. Approval of Grant Proposal from Able Cable: Chiavacci expressed concern that no new producer had applied for the grant funding. Krey said the committee could have a goal next year to provide grant money to a new producer in Cupertino. Chiavacci said the goal this year was programming for the disabled and the Able Cable proposal fit the criteria. Batchelor moved to accept the proposal subject to receipts being submitted; Marble seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Discussion of Cogswell College as Access Site: This item was continued to give Henderson time to calculate a cost estimate. BACE Ticket Reimbursement: Grodt said the committee has in the past paid for BACE tickets for finalists' guests and requested reimbursement of $33 for one guest. Huntsman moved to make the reimbursement; Marble seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Public Access Progress Report: Chiavacci said she has noticed a deterioration in all three access channels over the last few years, with the City Channel having to deal with budget cuts and the educational channel now being used primarily as a revenue source for the college. She said she has seen inaccurate and outdated programs on the access channel and it appears there is less usage of the channel than there was in previous years. Other committee members raised questions about De Anza's philosophical commitment to access. Fish produced a log showing there were 22 active producers in April and 16 new shows were generated that month. Committee members asked for a list of producers and the shows that are current. They also asked Fish to let them know when there were scheduled producer meetings so that they could attend. In turn, Fish asked members to provide better direction on various access policies and procedures. Fish and Chiavacci will meet together at a later date. REPORTS De Anza: Fish reported the installation nf two new monitors and said he will purchase equipment to replace the things in Edit C. He said he is interested in seeking ways to promote the channel and welcomes ideas fi.om the committee. Henderson offered TCI's help with promotion. On the next Cupertino news show, Fish is planning a documentary-style segment on public access. Krey suggested he excerpt that se~nent and make it available in the library. Fish also said he has begun to set up the library of original music and he will be producing the upcoming show on De Anza Day. He concluded saying that Sunnyvale has abandoned plans for a public access program. Batcheior offered to contact Jim Webb in Sunnyvale to find out the reasoning behind the decision. The committee discussed the merits of pooling access resources. The Sunnyvale situation will be on the agenda in June. I-NET: Marble explained the I-NET demonstration will be postponed until August when the system has been completed and tested. She also said Jerry Prizant from the Cupertino school district will read a statement to the committee at its June meeting on original plans for the I-NET. City of Cupertino: Krey reported on the trouble that the government and access channels have had with the TCI-San Jose lineup, including channel changes with no notice to viewers. She said the city is working with the company to remedy some of the problems. She summarized the TCI press conference she attended with Batchelor and Huntsman and reminded committee members about the CREST awards. She also reported on The Better Part receiving a Golden Rule Award from J.C. Penney. TCI: Henderson said the system lost 66 basic subscribers and 97 premium viewers, but pay-per-view was up. He reported that a meeting will soon take place with engineers at De Anza to discuss who should be adjusting equipment. ADJOURNMENT Chiavacci made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:53 p.m.; Humsman seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The next meeting will be June 2 at City Hall. ATTEST: City Clerk APPROVED: