HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-01-21-CAC-min TOWN OF LEXINGTON
COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF JANUARY 21, 2021
(Conducted via remote participation over Zoom)
1. Call to order and roll call: Ken Pogran
CAC Chair Ken Pogran called the meeting to order and conducted roll call at
6:32pm. Mr. Pogran then read the Executive Order regarding remote participation.
CAC Members Present: Ken Pogran, Chair; Bob Avallone, Smita Desai, Dave
Becker, David Buczkowski, Dorinda Goodman, Nick Lauriat P.K. Shiu, Ramin Taraz
and Rita Vachani.
CAC Members Absent: None
Quorum: A quorum of members was present
Others Present: Mark Sandeen, Select Board Member; Florence DelSanto,
LexMedia Executive Director; Tom Steel, RCN.
Materials Referenced: Draft Minutes of the November 19, 2020 and December 17,
2020 CAC meetings; LexMedia Audited Financial Statements for FY 2020; RCN
transfer of control cover letter and draft resolution; RCN transfer of control FCC
application (non-confidential portions)
2. Select Board Liaison Report: Mark Sandeen
Mark Sandeen reported that he and Doug Lucente, Select Board Chair, are working
on design guidelines for wireless cell sites. The proposed process for review of
permits for cell sites will be automated as much as possible so that the total
approval time meets the shot clock requirements defined by FCC. The new process
and guidelines will be ready for review at the Town Meeting in March. CAC's
involvement will continue, as before, to review the technical details.
3 & 4. Service Provider Reports, RCN acquisition and license transfer: Tom
Steel, RCN
a. Tom Steel reported on the status of Stonepeak's acquisition of RCN and the
next steps. FCC Form 394, seeking approval from the Town of Lexington
Select Board (Issuing Authority) for the transfer of control was filed and a
hearing is scheduled for Monday January 25, 2021 as part of the Select Board
Meeting. Tom Steel and a representative from Stonepeak Infrastructure
Partners will attend the hearing.
i. Ken Pogran noted that the non-confidential material related to the transfer
of control had been distributed to the committee by email. The confidential
material was delivered in hard copy form to the Town Manager; it cannot be
delivered electronically as that would make the material public per State
guidelines. Ken has reviewed the confidential material.
ii. The CAC then considered, and voted on, a motion to recommend to the
Select Board that the transfer of control be approved. The motion was
unanimously passed.
iii. Tom Steel said that the sale is on target to close in the second quarter of
2021. Customers are not expected to see any changes.
5. Minutes of November 19 and December 17, 2020 CAC Meetings: Dave
Buczkowski, Nick Lauriat
The minutes of both the November 19 and December 17, 2020 meetings were
reviewed and approved unanimously, subject to the edits suggested.
6. Chairman's Report: Ken Pogran
Ken reported that he had sent out an email to the Lexington List to solicit new
members to join the CAC. In the past, the Lexington List has been a very successful
way to reach out and find new members for the Committee.
7. LexMedia Update: Florence DelSanto
Florence reported that LexMedia continued to pump out programming over the past
couple of months, though live production in the studio is still very limited. Recent
LexMedia coverage included Martin Luther King Jr Day ceremonies in Town,
League of Women Voters meetings, Lexington Symphony Holiday concerts, as well
as two studio produced Christmas shows. LexMedia has already started
coordinating with the Town Celebrations Committee for coverage of Patriots Day
events since the celebrations will be virtual this year.
Florence also reported that LexMedia has completed the update of their studio
control room to 4K. LexMedia also purchased equipment to enable live streaming of
events. They have been using it to live stream Lexington High School sports -
currently available on LexMedia's YouTube channel and will be available from the
website soon.
8. Review of LexMedia FY2020 financial report: Bob Avallone, Smita Desai, Rita
Vachani
Rita Vachani reported that Ken Pogran and the LexMedia subgroup (Bob Avallone,
Smita Desai, Rita Vachani) met with Jim Shaw, Florence DelSanto, and David
Ilsley, of LexMedia, to review the FY 2020 Financial Statements. The only question
the team had related to the $67K fundraising expense in the Income Statement—a
very high amount for LexMedia to have spent on fundraising. David explained that
the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) standards for non-profits, that
LexMedia has to comply with, require each employee to allocate their time to
different activities and the expense categorization is based on that. One of those
activities is fundraising and outreach, and the LexMedia staff time is actually spent
on outreach rather than fundraising. In the Income Statement, the activity was
reported as fundraising, rather than fundraising and outreach. Rita also reported
that the team reviewed LexMedia's capital spending to date in FY21, and that it is
on track to stay within this year's capital budget plus carryover.
Rita stated that the PEG TV revenue for Q2 FY21 will be reported on at the next
CAC meeting. Dave Becker asked if the steeper revenue loss in Q1 was due to a
reduction in the number of subscribers or the per subscriber revenue. Rita replied
that the cable providers usually send their Forms 500, which include the year end
subscriber count, in February/March, so she could not answer Dave's question until
the Forms 500 are available.
9. Verizon FiOS license renewal status: Dave Becker, Dave Buczkowski,
Nick Lauriat
Dave Becker reported that the town's cable attorney, Peter Epstein, had put
together a draft license based on other towns' recent licenses as well as the Town's
original 15 year old license, to submit to Verizon for its response. Dave Becker said
he anticipates sending the draft license to Verizon in the next couple of weeks,
asking them to respond in March, and working together to get to a final statement.
This schedule is consistent with Verizon's expectations and will meet the
Department of Telecommunications and Cable timeline requirements.
10. Town IT Update: Dorinda Goodman
Dorinda reported that the IT department had purchased and installed equipment in
one of the frequently used meeting rooms at 201 Bedford Street which should
enable LexMedia to broadcast from that room. Dorinda also reported that the
department had selected a vendor for web meetings and that they are near final
negotiations.
11. Wireless Applications: Nick Lauriat
Mr. Lauriat reported that there were no new applications or updates on previously
filed applications.
12. Complaints: Nick Lauriat (December), PK Shiu (January), Smita Desai
(February)
No complaints were received. Dave Becker requested the Chair to send him the
historical complaints data so the ROS license renewal group could review
complaints related to Verizon service over the past years.
13. Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 7.55 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Rita Vachani
Recording Secretary