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TC 02-05-92CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Regular Meeting Feb. 5, 1992 Conference Room A City Hall MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by chairman Walter Trefz Jr. at 7 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Trefz, Jane Chiavacci, Laird Huntsman (entered 7:50 p.m.), Carol Marble, Mike Wincn Staff present: Donna Krey, Laura Domondon Lee United Artists Cable: Daryl Henderson Channel 30 staff: Suzanne Orcutt Guests: Len Batchelor, Linda Grodt INTRODUCTION QF NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS Krey welcomed new member Carol Marble. Winch read brief backgrounds on the two new members, Marble and Huntsman. APPROVAL OF lAN. 8, 1991 MINUTES Wincn suggested that "could" be added after "residents" regarding queStionFaire, s for re- franchising on p. 2. Trefz asked that "producer" . replace "user" agreements in the report from De Anza College. Chiavacci made a motion to appr6ve the minutes as corrected; Wincn seconded and the motion passed unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Producer Linda Grodt said she attended a "cable in the classroom" session and reported that all equipment in the access center is working. Written: Krey distributed articles about Senate Bill 12 not included in the agenda packet. A copy of the bill is available in the Public Information Office. OLD BUSINESS Re-franchising: Non-Profit Corporation Approach, Major Activi~ties, Timelines, Plans, Progress: Winch distributed a preliminary timeline of the re-franchising Process and Krey discussed a letter from the assistant dty attorney stating re-franchising time frames per the 1984 Cable TV Act. Wincn said the committee should review dates on the timeline and discussed a draft of a survey form. He mentioned that the city's bulkmail perm~ it could be used to mail surveys. Henderson said United Artists Cable could see that cable customers are contacted for input. Winch said technology and equipment issues should be addressed during the re- franchising process. Batchelor noted that in a discussion at an NFLCP conference he recently attended, contracts of seven to eight years were considered reasonable because of technological advancement. Huntsman said a yearly performance review of the cable companies could be implemented. Wincn and Huntsman agreed to research technical issues for the process. Krey - told committee members that public input is necessary when deciding on franchise renewal agreements. Re-franchising timelines and survey will be discussed at the March meeting. Batchelor reported he could not get in touch with Michelle Mann, who was involved in a non-profit approach of a public access channel at the city of Mt. View. Krey mentioned that former CTVAC member, David Keller, may have moved out of the area and could be difficult to cont,.ct. She suggested contacting the current access director. ELECTION OF 1992 CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON Nominations were taken for chairperson and vice chairperson for the CTVAC, Huntsman nominated Winen for chairman; Marble seconded and the motion to elect Winch as chairperson passed unanimously, Wincn nominated Chiavacci for vice chairperson; Trefz seconded and the motioned passed unanimously. OLD BUSINESS (cont.) Survey to United Artists Cable (TCI) Subscribers: Chiavacci mentioned that the survey may not reflect the access channel's contributions to the community. Committee members decided to include "frequently, seldom, never" to questions 3 and 4 regarding viewership of the government and public access channels. Krey suggested that the survey be kept to one page. Trefz encouraged CTVAC members to consider asking residents about billing, rates, etc. Huntsman and Marble agreed to think of ways to draw more attention to the survey. Discussion of the survey will take place at the next meeting. Cable TV Advisory Committee Yearly Report for 1991: Chiavacci made a motion to accept the report as written; Huntsman seconded and the motion to adopt the yearly report to council passed unanimously. Trefz will provide Krey with a copy of the report to be included in the Feb. 18 council meeting agenda packet. NEW BUSINESS Thank You to Retiring Members: Huntsman made a motion to accept thank you letters written by Trefz to former committee members Leonard Batchelor and Eunice Cox; Chiavacci seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The letters will be retyped on city letterhead and signed by Trefz. Cable TV Advisory Committee Responsibilities: Wincn summarized the subcommittees (education, re-franchising, and non-profit approach) and their functions. Marble agreed to work on the educational subcommittee. Krey explained the basic duties of a CTVAC member, including advising the council about cable legislation. She also discussed the committee's budget, grants and procedures. Batchelor agreed to inform the committee of non-profit issues and developments. Chiavacci mentioned that there was an inadequate amount of time to evaluate grants during the last grants process and said she supports a separate grants subcommittee. Subcommittees will be discussed at the March meeting. Funding for Hometown and BACE Competition: Orcutt told the committee that in the past, the CTVAC sponsored entries to the Hometown awards and United Artists sponsored entries to the BACE contest. She said BACE entries are $15 and Hometown $26. Henderson will research grants procedures with TCI and discuss findings with Orcutt. Chiavacci made a motion to award up to 10 entries to Hometown; Marble seconded and the motion passed unanimously. REPORT FROM THE CITY OF CUPERTINO Krey informed the committee that the city budget has been tightened and departments need to save about $600,000 this year and $1 million during the following year. This could lead to restructuring responsibilities at the City Channel. Krey told the committee that KBAY radio approached councilmember Barb Koppel about a 60-second public service announcement. Krey suggested that Koppel speak about cable re- regulation, urging the community to contact their congressional representatives. Chiavacci suggested that civic organizations, such as the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, be asked to support the City Channel for temporary funds. Krey stated that an internship program is in place, but that interns need to be supervised by available staff. REPORT FROM DE A1WZA COLLEGE ~-'Orcutt told the committee that she is looking into purchasing a new sync generator and three Sony cameras. She also reported that the high school student group produced a live prosram about redistricting, and discussed support of the ROP course. Orcutt said she and Dave Barney conducted an internal survey, included in the packet, and mentioned that Santa Cruz is researching the development of an access center. REPORT FROM UNITED ARTISTS CABLE Henderson said UA is conducting an instant install campaign and said an official name change to "TCI Cablevision of California" will take place soon~ Henderson stated that HR/Operations Development Director, Sally Cole, visited the Cupertino office and that a full- time customer service representative, Kathleen Crawford, transferred from the Hayward office. Henderson told the committee that VCR Plus equipment is compatible with UA's system and said UA has installed "sniffers" to detect signal leakage. Henderson also provided statistics on pay-per-view fees, saying that United Artists derives quite a bit of income from this program, with the average customer price of $5.35 per month. He offered to include subscriber statistics for pay-per-view each month in his report. ADIOURNMENT Chiavacci made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:15 p.m.; Huntsman seconded and the motion carried unanimously. The next Cable Television Advisory Committee meeting will be Mar. 5 in Corfference Room A at City Hall. ATTES~ CZity Clerk/~ APPROVED: Ch~per s o~n