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TC 03-06-91Cable Television Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Cupertino City Hall Mar. 6, 1991 MINUTES ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by chairman Walter Trefz Jr. at 7 p.m. Committee members present: Trefz, Eunice Cox, Mike Wincn. Absent: Jane Chiavacci, Katherine Trujillo Staff present: Donna Krey, Len Batchelor, Laura Domondon Channel 30 staff: Dave Barney United Artists Cable staff: Wayne Ezell, Elaine Tirsell Channel 30 producers: Linda Grodt, Don Yeager ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Producers introduced themselves. Producer Linda Grodt told committee members that the San Jose Historial Museum Association News featured "Silicon Kids" in this month's issue. Producer Don Yeager reported that two "On the Move" access shows will sign contracts to be on the community college satellite network. Trefz said he will contact committee members to identify their areas of interest to form sub-committees. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Trefz read a resignation letter from committee member Katherine Trujillo stating that she will be moving to Sunnyvale. Krey mentioned that she will check with the City Clerk's office to see if applications from the last recruitment could be used to fill the vacancy. Yeager reported that he received a letter from De Anza President De Hart, which states that the college will install a buzzer for the disabled access door and will extend painted lines to the street to designate the area as a disabled access way. Trefz read a letter he composed on behalf of the CTVAC, expressing his gratitude for Chiavacci's "excellent contributions" as past chairman. The committee agreed to send the letter to Chiavacci. FOLLOW UP ON FEB. 6 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Barney said the piano bench in Studio A has reappeared. He said the issues of putting a critical monitor in the control room and aligning cameras and monitors are continuing equipment problems which should be handled by United Artists Cable. Ezell mentioned that he will pass the information to Daryl Henderson and agreed to copy Tom Lacey. Barney also said that the back door can be used as an access to move materials and equipment. LEGISLATION REFERRED BY COUNCIL By consensus, the CTVAC authorized Krey to inform the city clerk that they will not advise the city council on Bill S-12. Batchelor noted that the committee only had 2 weeks to review the bill. Krey said she will mention to the clerk's office that the committee would appreciate more notice to advise the council on future bills. STATUS OF TRIPARTITE AGREEMENT Krey said she understood Ralph Steinke was to meet with Tom Lacey at De Anza to evaluate alternatives to removing a tree which is interfering with United's receiver. She said as far as she knows all economic issues have been agreed to. Barney commented that he will contact the De Anza attorney to get in touch with Cupertino's attorney regarding an amended agreement. Ezell said approximately 10 - 15 ft. needs to be cut from the tree top to help interference problems. Ezell mentioned that good reception and picture quality can be transmitted from the parking lot, however transmitting from the lot would use valuable parking spaces. He also said that the main trunk of the tree is in direct alignment with the feed. Barney told the members that De Anza's board of trustees is in charge of trees on campus and that Mel Leal, director of operations, is the board's main contact. Barney said he will contact Lacey about meeting with Leal to discuss the interference problem. UPDATE FROM DE ANZA COLLEGE ON EDITING FACILITIES Updates are included in Suzanne Orcutt's report. PRESENTATION OF FIVE YEAR ACQUISITION PLAN Barney said Suzanne Orcutt mentioned to him that it is difficult to formulate a 5-year plan without a chief engineer. He also discussed format and instructional programming as primary concerns at the college. Barney mentioned that Edit C still needs to be replaced and that new monitors are necessary for Studio A. He reported that the studio cameras should be replaced within the next 2 - 3 years and noted that each camera costs between $8,000 - 10,000. Krey asked Barney to submit a proposal to the CTVAC and said that the committee should know when the college expects to employ an engineer. Barney cited salary complications as holding up the hiring process. Wincn offered to meet with Barney to work on interpreting technical problems for committee members. A proposal for the 5-year plan will be submitted and discussed at the June meeting. BUDGET FOR 1991-92 Krey reported that De Anza requested $19,195 for fixed assets. She said the budget is divided accordingly: 30% reserve; 17-1/2% CTVAC operation; 17-1/2% government channel and 35% public access/educational programs (including fixed assets, community info£mation and professional services). Batchelor stated that at least $40,000 is currently in reserve and that this year's budget increased about $1,000 - 1,200. Krey asked members to consult with Trefz by March 12 to identify any special budget needs. Trefz, Batchelor and Krey will meet with the finance department on March 12 and send a drafted copy of the proposed budget to committee members soon after. The 1991-92 budget will be discussed at the April meeting. STAFF REPORT Krey said there were no technical problems reported by the City Channel during the last month. She also mentioned that the format of the mayor's luncheon was discussed and that input is requested. The CTVAC members agreed to keep the format as is and continue to have all commission and committee chairs represented at the luncheons. Als0 discussed was the idea of rotating presentations between commissions at each meeting and reporting back to other members. UNITED ARTISTS CABLE REPORT Office Manager Tirsell introduced herself and said that her priorities are: 1) getting the phones answered as quickly as possible; 2) measuring the number of people who are not able to get through to the service representatives; 3) managing and cleaning up the complaint log. Tirsell stated her definition of a complaint as "anything that cannot be controlled and solved by a customer service representative and anything that cannot be solved in one call and escalates to a supervisor." She also said United Artists Cable will keep track of any ongoing complaints. - Tirsell told the FAC that she will provide her definition of a complaint in writing. Ezell added that a complaint is logged when a customer requests to speak with a supervisor even if a service representative may be able to resolve the problem. He went on to say that in previous complaint reports, only written complaints were logged. Barney suggested that "programming content" be added to the customer complaint summary. Trefz asked that "reception" also be included. Ezell reported a microwave fade problem during the weekend of Feb. 23. He also said Channel 29 will be down on March 7 for approximately 10 minutes. Ezell mentioned that he is willing to attend a CTVAC meeting every other month to answer technical questions. Tirsell said she also will try to attend CTVAC meetings. Tirsell told the group that a program for educators "Cable in the Classroom Teleconference" will broadcast on March 13 at 6 p.m. on Channel 43. She invited the committee to a reception at the Radisson Hotel from 5:30 - 8 p.m. to watch the premiere and ask questions. Tirsell also said that the International Channel will preview on April 1 and focus primarily on the Asian culture and language, however, other ethnic groups, such as Spanish, French, Arabic and German, will be included. She stated that the channel will be on 24 hours and.feature news, movies, soap operas, game shows and sports. Ezell reviewed a letter sent to Mayor Koppel from Daryl Henderson regarding the official name change and program updates. Tirsell mentioned that subscribers to the Cable Guide will receive -- four free issues of the TV Guide and a discount on a cable-heavy TV Guide subscription. Ezell added that United Artists is planning to include programming information in local newspapers. Tirsell said that an additional premium guide will be provided to pay-service subscribers. DE ANZA COLLEGE ACCESS REPORT Barney said two of the four camera control units are not in workable condition. He said the crosspoint latch switch has not been replaced since September, as promised. Barney went on saying that a switch for Edit A has not been installed and that De Anza has not been able to find out if the switch was ordered. He asked the committee to go on record requesting that united Artists Cable get all equipment working before the Tripartite Agreement is signed. Krey said that she could ask City Manager Don Brown to renew negotiations, however, she thought that the request should come from De Anza. Krey suggested that a CTVAC member draft a letter to Tom Lacey asking him to respond to college requests and copy to Brown and the college. Trefz and Barney agreed to draft a letter. A copy of the letter will be included in the next packet and discussed at the April meeting. Yeager commented that producers were told not to count on using Edit C during the next quarter. He said that Edit A is eating tapes and cannot separate two channels of audio. Yeager also reported looping problems with the teleprompter. ADJOURNMENT Wincn moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:43 p.m.; Cox seconded and the motion passed unanimously. April 3, 1991. City ~lerk ~ The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, APPROVED: Chairpe r~ o~n ~ ~F