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TC 12-02-92CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Regular Meeting Dec. 2, 1992 Conference Rooms C & D, City Hall MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by chairman Mike W'mcn at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Wincn, Len Batchelor, Laird Huntsman, Carol Marble Absent: Jane Chiavacd ' Staff present: Donna Krey, Laura Domondon Lee Channel 30 staff: Dave Barney, Ron Fish, Bill Levan TCI staff: Chris Hernandez, Wendy Sefton Guests: Linda Grodt, Don Yeager, Martin Bishop, David Morris, Kathie Brinkman, Jerry Prizant, Barbara Thorp, Sylvia Machamer, Karen Burnett, Joe Hamilton, Glenda Diggles, Pat Robertson APPROVAL OF Nov. 4, 1992 MINLrTES Batchelor made a motion to approve the November meeting minutes; Marble seconded and the motion was passed unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Resident David Morris said he presently" receiV~Sf'~61e from Heritage Cablevision - (TCI-San Jose), but would like to be connected with TCI Cablevision of Cupertino~Los Altos and nave access to the City Channel. Krey told him that Heritage is owned by TCI ·and that the City Channel is available on Heritage. She also mentioned cable companies normally do not overbuild and certain areas incorporated in Cupertino agreed to stay with TCI San Jose. Batchelor suggested that Morris send a letter to the CTVAC or start a petition stating his interest in TCI Cablevision of Cupertino/Los Altos. · Don Yeager reported that "On the Move" signed an agreement with KTEH (Channel 54) to broadcast sega-tents from 15 shows. He assured the committee there are. no conflicts with other cablecast agreements. Written: There were none. Public Hearing to dete~eatine satisfaction with TCI Cablevision: No discussion took place due to lack of public inputc..~ ,. ...... OLD BUSINESS Discounted Rate Proposal: Martin Bishop distributed details on four pt6posals discussed during the Oct. meeting to decrease cable rates for low-income elderly and.' disabled community members. Included in the report were statistics on Cupertino's senic~rg, disabled, very low income elderly and total very low income persons (with income levels of'$7,800 or less). The U.S. Census Bureau's income information for Cupertino residents and salar)r'estimates for a part- time/full-time staff person to process applications at Cupertiti6 C0mmunity:' Services were also included. Bishop noted that there are 91 very low in~0me elderly and~..1,260'' poverty-level residents. He asked that only residents atPoverty-level be C6nsidered .for~.fi'?disCount larger than - 15 percent, which is currently offered to seniors. Sefton told the committee TCI believes its present'o!5 percent discount is fair. She said, however, that TCI is exploring options to lower rates overall by"offering a sCkled down package for viewers. Krey asked TCI to research tax credit issues so larger discounts can be considered. Marble commended Bishop for a thorough research job and Wincn asked TC! to respond to the proposals by January. Discounted rates will be included on the Jan. meeting agenda. Status of Re-franchising Effort (Activities, Timelines, Plans, Progress): Wincn suggested the committee work on council recommendations at the Jan. meeting. Paid Crew Members: Batchelor distributed background information on paid crews. Fish mentioned he is working with a network of volunteer crew members/student interns who need experience, as a class requirement. A list of 22 volunteers has since been generated and circulated to producer groups that need crew members. Committee members agreed to discuss paid crews when necessary. Grants Program Summary and Guidelines: Wincn suggested guidelines for the grants program be drafted by the Jan. or Feb. meeting. Krey said an application process should be decided soon and suggested the committee activate the grants subcommittee. She will give copies of the staff report and minutes on grant discussions to Chiavacci. NEW BUSINESS Discussion of Educational Opportunities in Cable: Marble welcomed guests and asked them to discuss their interests in I-Net. Bill Levan gave a brief overview of I-Net and channel capabilities (maximum: 24 channels out-bound; 14 channels in-bound with 10 usable for video). He said advantages are: shared resources; immediate communicability; use of off-load telephone line services through data transfer; instant feedback and viewer response; live broadcasts; and multi-language flexibility. Levan stated that some cities also use interactive networking for public safety at local parks and mentioned that I-Net cabling is on Stevens Creek Blvd., with spurs at N. Stelling, Blaney and Finch. Chris Hernandez said additional full-time staff will need to be hired for I-Net maintenance and existing, unmaintained I-Net cables have not been replaced because of lack o,~ use. Eventually, cable will be available for every school in Cupertino, starting with those that have requested the service. Hernandez will provide the committee with a list of schools scheduled to be connected. Sefton said TCI is interested in exploring new technology and channel realignment. Ron Fish told the committee that studio facilities are available for student production. Kathie Brinkman, coordinator for TCI's "Cable in the Classroom" for Fremont, Sunnyvale and Cupertino, said 14 of 28 schools in the district are active in cable. She mentioned that programs on The Learning Channel, Discovery, C-SPAN, CNN, Arts & Entertainment and USA Network air commerdal-free programs for Cable in the Classroom. Schools that receive cable are given free magazines with program descriptions and access to a data service (express news service). Jerry Prizant, Barbara Thorp and Sylvia Machamer represented Cupertino Union School District. Prizant discussed cable site locations and said all Cupertino schools in the district are hooked up to cable, as well as every classroom at Garden Gate, Regnart, Stevens Creek and Kennedy schools. Prizant emphasized the need to effectively use television for staff development activities and exchanges of information. His long-term wish is to obtain separate I- Net channels for primary, intermediate and upper grades. Joe Hamilton and Karen Burnett from Fremont Unified High School District would like cable in each classroom at Homestead, Cupertino, Monta Vista and Lynbrook high schools. Burnett mentioned that standardizing cable for ail schools in the district is important because schools are located in six municipalities. She also said TCI's involvement in training is necessary. Hamilton added that cable could help the school district communicate with the public. Dave Barney said enrollments in telecourses have tripled in five years (to more than 50 courses offered) and asked that TCI help update equipment and improve services. He requested increasing channels for the College and suggested allocating 20 percent of the channel spectrum to education. Barney said all senior citizen housing, city, school and college buildings, as well as .. police and fire departments, should be connected to I-Net. tie also requested adding an international news service (SCOLA) to TCI's Channel line-up. De Anza would like to offer service programs to residents and businesses on a pay-per-view basis and provide video .... ~nteraction between the schools and the College. Barney also suggested that the city and college libraries be interfaced by residents through the cable company. Glenda Diggles and Pat Robertson represented the County Office of Education. Diggles, producer/director of ITFS, said ITFS programming is a four-channel system used by public agencies, community colleges, schools (K to 12), and businesses in the valley. Diggles stressed the importance of instructional programming in multi-languages. She said the county reaches 200 schools and told the committee she would agree to house a headend at the ITFS site. Don Yeager asked that the disabled community be considered in future cable plans. Huntsman challenged TCI to provide a way to do this in the future and said education should consider checking into other grants, and not rely only on TCI. Reports were distributed from De Anza and TCI. ADIOURNMENT Batchelor motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:40 p.m.; Huntsman seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The next CTVAC meeting will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. in Conference Room A at City Hall. City Ciera- APPROVED: Cha~erson