Cable Advisory Council
of Charter Communications

~ Minutes ~

Public Regular Meeting – Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Newtown, Connecticut

There was a regular meeting of the Cable Advisory Council called to order at 7:36 p.m., Tuesday, September 14, 2004 by Vice-Chairperson Carmella Amodeo at the Charter Communications facility, Newtown, Connecticut.

ATTENDEES:

Vice-Chairperson Carmella Amodeo, Thomas Amatruda (Woodbury), John Danscuk (Monroe), Kate Donahue (Trumbull), William Fredrickson (Southbury), and Jill Zaloski (Monroe).

For Charter: Dick Elwell and Greg Van Antwerp.

PUBLIC INPUT:

No public present.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

A motion was made by K. Donahue to accept the Minutes of the July 13, 2004 meeting as presented, the motion was seconded by W. Fredrickson. There being no discussion, a vote was taken and the Minutes of the July 13, 2004 meeting were approved. The motion carried unanimously.

TREASURER'S REPORT:

J. Zaloski, Treasurer, presented her report to the Council (July, 2004—September, 2004).

Opening balance of the checking account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,232.99
Check #208, Office Wizards (July Invoice) -388.64
Check #209, Earthlink (July—Oct. 1, 2004) -98.55
Check #210, Earthlink (Oct. 12—Nov. 11, 2005) -360.20
Closing balance (July, 2004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 385.60

Opening Balance on the Money Market Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $14,175.09
Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.82
Closing Balance (9/14/04).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $14,189.91
Total Funds Available $14,575.51

1 yr. plus CD @ $10,000 (Renewed ~ 8/27/04)
Opening Balance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 11,315.74
Closing Balance (as of last statement) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 11,332.60

TOTAL ASSETS: $25,908.11

A motion was made by K. Donahue to accept the treasurer’s report as submitted. The motion was seconded by R. Goodkind and carried unanimously.

J. Zaloski prepared a detailed outline of expenditures to facilitate discussion around ways to save money. She discussed specifically where money has been spent, citing the largest expenditure is secretarial services. A discussion ensued where it was determined that a good deal of money could be saved if the Council Secretary took notes at the meeting, and ran the tape recorder, after which she could send notes and tape(s) to Amy Holding for preparation of the minutes. This would result in a savings realized because a fee was not being paid to a person to be present at a meeting to take notes (approximately $300/year). Also, if notes were taken by the Council Secretary and submitted to Amy Holding along with the tape for minute preparation, it would aid in the production of minutes by eliminating the need to listen to the entire tape for content. Only those areas indicated in notes would need to be reviewed. This would save additional funds resulting from decrease in amount of time charged to prepare minutes. Postage and printing costs would also be reduced by sending minutes via e-mail to all Council representatives (except W. Fredrickson, as he is not on e-mail). With no hard copies being sent to those members, postage and printing charges would be reduced incrementally.

A motion was made by W. Fredrickson to implement the cost-savings measures discussed, i.e. having K. Donahue operate recorder and take appropriate notes, after which same would be forwarded to Amy Holding, in addition to electronically forwarding the Treasurer’s Report and other pertinent documents, for preparation and dissemination of minutes (members by e-mail, except W. Fredrickson). J. Danscuk seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

C. Amodeo tabled discussion until next meeting regarding savings related to webmaster duties being taken on by Council member Frank Catalano.

CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS REPORT:

G. Van Antwerp distributed public access report and newsletter.

G. Van Antwerp discussed upcoming information sessions on video production. He indicated he had created a spot for the James Diaz Memorial Video Festival. He further indicated that two entries had been received to date.

D. Elwell indicated DVR and HDTV are becoming more popular.

D. Elwell discussed an SEC investigation into Charter last year on how numbers of customers are reported. The SEC found no issues around the current management. Revenue for gross receipts was audited by Department of Revenue Services, basically routine.

D. Elwell indicated digital packages will be going up $1, effective October 1.

D. Elwell indicated Charter is looking to expand services to telephone service, bundling services, i.e. cable, pipeline, telephone. They are trying to keep prices low to compete with Dish.

COMMUNICATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE:

C. Amodeo reviewed correspondence received, including CATV reports, Charter’s quarterly telephone report which shows calls to call center, length of wait, etc., notice regarding plug and pay television utilizing cable cards.
C. Amodeo reviewed a letter received from D. Sorbella, dated 8/31. A copy was given to D. Elwell.

No other Council members reported receiving communication/correspondence directly.

OLD BUSINESS:

By-Laws ~ Update:

Changes made to three specific sections. 4.1 – change in title; 6.1 – same thing; 6.4 – same thing. Wording issues; wouldn’t change context of By-Laws. A motion to accept By-Laws as changed was made by K. Donahue and seconded by J. Zaloski. The motion carried unanimously. This will be Version 3.

Video Festival ~ Update:

J. Zaloski discussed the Video Festival. She indicated the July 30 article in the Newtown Bee was wrong. It doesn’t have 11/19 dateline.

Rachel resubmitted the press release to all publications previously notified for extended deadline.

Video Festival poster needs correction to town names to include those in new service area.

Jill sending acknowledgments on submissions.

Greg was to have notified first submitter of deadline extension.

Discussion on judging.

NEW BUSINESS:

Member Items and Issues:

K. Donahue offered responses from mailing. Towns are appointing people and they should be showing up. Paul – Winsted; possible teleconference.

ADJOURNMENT:

A motion was made by J. Danscuk to adjourn the meeting at 9:01 p.m. The motion was seconded by K. Donahue and carried unanimously.

Recorded by Lorna Szalay and respectfully submitted by: Amy Holding, Recording Secretary

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, November 9, 2004 at Charter Communications offices (OLD BUILDING) in Newtown, 7:30 p.m.

©2003 Cable Advisory Council
Designed by Ben Haase
PC Wizard