TC 06-01-88Cable Television Advisory Committee
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, June 1, 1988
Cupertino City Hall --Conference Room
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Leonard
Batchelor, Chairman.
ROLL CALL
Committee members present: Len Batchelor, Jane Chiavacci, Dorothy
Schmid, Michelle Mann, William Fletcher
Staff Present: Donna Krey, Community Relations Officer
Carol Frausto, Community Relations Assistant
Elliott Margolies, Channel 30 Director
Guests Present: Joe Wilcox, General Manager, United Cable
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF MAY 4, 1988
Mann moved to approve the minutes as written; Fletcher seconded
and the motion carried unanimously.
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Jim Cochrane, Channel 30 producer, was present and announced he
had an AARP tape regarding seniors he would like to show to the
committee. Committee members agreed to view the tape after the
.teeting.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
Batchelor read Cupertino Chamber of Commerce program flyer
regarding "Cupertino Cares". He also asked that Coastal Access
information be put in the next agenda packet.
STAFF REPORT
Krey has not heard anything back from Gillcable regarding their
renewal proposal. Krey was informed by City Attorney Chuck Killian
that the insurance carrier for Gillcable has canceled their
insurance. Gillcable has 10 days to come up with a new insurance
policy, a condition for operating the franchise is that they do have
insurance. The City Clerk sent them a letter requesting proof of
replacement of insurance. Krey passed out copies of the most recent
CTVAC budget which will be presented at the City budget hearing on
June 7. Krey reported one complaint regarding United Cable which
Wilcox handled.
REPORT FROM JOE WILCOX, UNITED CABLE
Wilcox reported the subscriber numbers continue to look good,
with a goal of 10,000 subs systemwide. Wilcox received a letter from
Batchelor requesting the Depreciation Schedules for studio and
production equipment provided by United Cable. Wilcox explained the
VAC Minutes June 1, 1988
policy of United Cable was to put equipment into general categories
and give it an estimated service life. Wilcox also met with
Margolies to discuss equipment needs for the new year, and he
included some of those in his Capital budget. He could not guarantee
approval of all budget requests. Wilcox reported that the switch -over
to the Master Headend in Hayward will occur about July 6. At that
time Channel 32 will be back on the air. Customers without a
converter will not get certain channels because they will be
scrambled through the Hayward Headend. United will carry the Spinks
VS. Tyson fight as a Pay -Per -View event in June. Wilcox also voiced
concern regarding United Cable's building use permit, which does not
allow trucks to be parked at the facility overnight.
ACCESS COORDINATOR'S REPORT
Margolies reported the arrival of several new pieces of equipment
purchased with the remaining capital assets budget. He reported that
several new pieces of equipment were recommended for replacement by
United's engineer Bob Austin. Margolies updated the commission on
the problems with several pieces of equipment including the character
generator and the 4800 portapak deck. Channel 30 was chosen as one
of the finalists for "Overall Excellence in Public Access
Programming." July 3-9 will be proclaimed "Public Access Week" in
Cupertino. On July 6, a Call -In Extravaganza will be held at Channel
30. Margolies also reported in May that two different physically
challenged crews were trained - one on portapak and one in the
studio. An outreach mailer and talks were generated to get community
groups involved in summer production. He presented a proposal for a
studio skeleton crew which would be a pool of technical people used
for groups that would like control room help. Over the summer
Margolies will put together a pool and make several time slots
available and report back to the committee members. The committee
agreed up to $2,000 could be used to orginate this program
UPDATE ON CTVAC BUDGET MATTERS
There were no questions on the budget.
NFLCP AD FUNDING
Margolies presented an idea for an ad for Channel 30 to be
included in the NFLCP program. Batchelor moved to approve the
expenditure of $145 for one 1/6th of a page ad in the NFLCP
Convention program; Mann seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
FUNDING FOR BATTERY ANALYZER
Mann moved to approve the payment of the battery analyzer not to
exceed $1,730; Batchelor seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
This amount represents one-third of the cost of the analyzer.
DISCUSSION OF NFLCP CONVENTION
Batchelor asked committee members to
programs they will attend at the convention.
information between the committee members.
attend convention as one of the delegates.
will attend as delegates from Cupertino.
delegate from Mountain View.
discuss the different
He asked for trading of
Margolies requested to
Batchelor and Margolies
Mann will try to go as a
VAC Minutes June 1, 1988
REQUESTS FOR SCHOLARSHIP TO NFLCP CONVENTION
Committee members discussed the disbursement of grants based on
--tethree applications received. Fletcher moved to approve a grant
of $500 each for two applicants, Jim Cochrane and Bill Heath, to
attend the NFLCP Convention. A condition of the grant is that
recipients supply- a written report on how they benefited from the
conference. Batchelor seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Krey said she will try to get the grant out of this year's budget.
Batchelor will send a letter to the third applicant.
ACCESS PICNIC FUNDS
Mann made a motion to approve $100 for the Access picnic;
Chiavacci seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Chiavacci moved to cancel the CTAVC meeting in July; Mann
seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Mann brought up the issue of Access and Municipal cooperation.
Committee members discussed the issue and decided to form a
subcommittee with Channel 53 Producer Kellyn Yamada, Margolies, Krey,
Mann and Batchelor.
ADJOURNMENT
Schmid made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:15 p.m.; Mann
seconded and the motion passed unanimously.