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TC 05-02-90Cable Televi ion Advi 0 Committee ReGular Meeting May 2, 1990, 7 p.m. Cupertino City Hall Minutes ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by chairman Jane Chiavac¢i at 7 p.m. Committee members present: Chiavacci, Dorothy Schmid, Walter Trefz Jr., (Bill Fletcher entered 7:30 p.m.) staff Present: Donna Krey, Susan Robinson and Len Batchelor Channel 30 Staff: Access Director Suzanne 0rcutt; access producers, Linda Grodt, Bill Lauer, Dorothy Stevens Guests: Joe Wilcox, United Cable APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR MEETING APRIL 4, 1990 Schmid made a motion to approve the minutes as presented; Trefz seconded and the motion passed unanimously. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS There were none. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS There were none. STAFF REPORT Krey noted the resignation of Michelle Mann due to professional obligations. She asked committee members to encourage Cupertino residents with a knowledge of the cable industry to apply for the position by May 18. Interested applicants should go to the City Clerk's office. REPORT FROM JOE WILCOX, UNITED CABLE Wilcox reported that subscriber numbers for April were up. Complaints were also up due to miscelIaneous causes. Abandoned calls were down and should improve as the sqmmer progresses. United is working on a contract with the Sports Channel. Their office hours now include Saturday walk-ins from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with phone lines open Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wilcox plans to attend the BACE Awards dinner and May 10 he will attend a Bay Area Cable Club dinner on cable in the classroom. REPORT FROM SUZANNE ORCUTT, ACCESS DIRECTOR Orcutt reported that she and Channel 30 staff have begun producing "Cupertino Magazine," a half hour program featuring events at De Anza and in the City of Cupertino. They plan to produce one show per quarter and go live for De Anza Day, June 3. Producers questioned if they are covered by insurance in the case of an injury on a remote shoot. It was noted that Ch. 30 producers have the same coverage as De Anza employees when on campus. Orcutt will investigate off-campus coverage and report at the next meeting. Orcutt noted that Ch. 30 has reserved three tables for the BACE awards banquet Friday, May 18. The CTVAC purchased one table. She also said that eighteen flats for Studio A's set construction have been built and when covered with the velcroable material will create 6-8 sets. Other report items included information about Edit Suite A which is now configured for editing S-VHS to 3/4" to accomodate the Panasonic AG 450 S-VHS Camcorders. She noted a concern that De Anza engineering is unwilling to build the switch needed and Ch. 30 is unable to purchase it commercially. Krey suggested contracting out for the work. Wilcox offered to contact Dave Massey to build a switch for the edit suite. Orcutt further noted that as the college is purchasing a spare record deck for Edit suite A, she would like to upgrade Edit Suite C with a Sony record deck from Control A. This would require the purchase of a Sony controller for about $2,000. She asked that fixed acquisition of Sony Controller for upgrading Edit Suite C be on the June agenda. The committee reached a consensus to begin paperwork for the purchase of a Sony controller for Edit Suite C. Krey noted that funds can be encumbered for the purchase in next year's budget. The audio board in Studio A may also need to be replaced and the Chyron ACG Character Generator is being worked on. Grodt mentioned that producers are angry over Edit Suite C being down and that the fan in Edit suite A is very loud making it impossible to do voice overs. Lauer noted a concern that Ch. 30 staff is using the equipment and producing shows while being paid. He feels that producers are not receiving the service and support that they need. Committee suggestions included incorporating volunteers into the crew and spending less time on outside projects. This will be discussed further at the June producer meeting at City Hall. There will not be a meeting in July. Oructt will be on vacation June 15 through June 22nd. DISCUSSION OF REVIEW AND REVISON OF GRANT GUIDELINES Krey noted comments at the last meeting indicated that the grant applications need further clarification and the committee may want to form another subcommittee to review them. Trefz, Orcutt and one producer will be on the grant committee. A report from the Grant Task Force will be on the June agenda. APPROVAL OF CTV GRANTS Better Part requested $200 to produce seven programs. Fletcher made a motion to approve the~grant request by the Better Part; Trefz seconded and the motion passed with one abstension by Schmid who is a member of the group. Dorothy Stevens requested expenses to the NFLCP Convention in Washington totaling $1,087. Krey noted that in the past grants have been used to produce programs with the exception of one grant of $500 last year for a registration fee due to excess funds. Fletcher made a motion to fund airfare and registration at a cost of $617; Chiavacci seconded. The committee discussed the need to develop guidelines for the future. Suggestions included making conference expenditures a line item to be divided among producers and having producers report back on activities. Trefz requested that Stevens give an oral presentation for the producer meeting at the end of the summer. The committee then passed the motion unanimously. A discussion on whether to use a portion of the grant money for producers to attend conferences will be on the October agenda. CHANNEL 30 LOGO DESIGN CHANGE Orcutt showed samples of logos for Ch. 30. She would like to make a plaque to velcro onto sets and order new address labels. She would phase out the old materials slowly only as new items were needed for purchase. Orcutt offered to try the new logo on the newsletter to see how it transfers onto paper and in the studio. Fletcher made a motion to adopt the new logo in a phased approach. There was no second and the committee discussed a concern over losing the studio's identity. Krey suggested posting logo samples in the TV Center for a public vote. Trefz suggested animating the logo. No consensus was reached. CLARIFICATION OF DE ANZA ADA 0rcutt said that the state-regulated funding is based on student classroom attendance. However, De Anza has reached a ceiling on ADA funding so offering classes for producers is of no financial benefit. If classes were taught, instruction personnel may have to teach them rather than Orcutt. An alternative would be receiving credit through short courses yet the Tripartite Agreement forbids this. Orcutt noted that Access producers have insurance coverage through the college and do not need to be students for that reason. Lauer requested that producers receive a certificate of insurance coverage or that one be posted at the TV Center. DISCUSSION OF NFLCP CONFERENCE The NFLCP Conference in Washington is July 25-29. Schmid, Chiavacci and Orcutt would like to attend and requested that Krey get the information and registration fee. Orcutt will find out how the fee has been paid in the past and discuss this with Krey. AMENDMENTS TO TRIPARTITE AGREEMENT Batchelor passed out the city attorney's amended agreement. Wilcox will contact United's attorneys. De Anza and United attorneys will provide their ammendments to the agreement and Krey will forward it to the City Attorney. Chiavacci noted a concern over Dave Barney's absenses and would like a letter sent to him. Krey will draft the letter for the committee. BUDGET SUBMISSION 90-91 Krey reported on the budget meetings between her, City Manager Don Brown, Batchelor and Finance Director Blaine Snyder. She noted that this is the only committee that receives nothing from the general fund. She said that as part of a new budget plan for the CTVAC the additional Heritage 2% franchise fee will be recommended to go to CTVAC and a written policy for the committee's reserve fund has been developed. The plan will also provide ongoing support for all channels, including 53. Krey passed out a breakdown of the proposed budget. The proposal includes a reserve fund of 30%, Cable TV fund of 17.5%, Public Education and Access of 35%, and government fund of 17.5%. Krey noted that the draft does not increase CTVAC responsibilities for the government sector, though the committee may request reports depending on the focus desired. She noted that reserves roll over at the end of the year. APPROVAL OF BUDGET BREAKDOWN AND RESERVE POLICY Fletcher made a motion to approve the resolution of the budget breakdown and reserve; Schmid seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Fletcher made a motion to approve the budget following members' direction to increase conference and meeting expenses by $2,000 and decrease grants by that amount; Trefz seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Schmid noted on behalf of The Better Part that the producer meeting by Kellyn was excellent and that producers would like another one. It was attended by 25 people. ADJOURNMENT Fletcher motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:40 p.m.; Schmid seconded and the motion passed unanimously. ATTEST: APPROVED: