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Home My WebLink About2013-12-19-CAC-minCOMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE DRAFT MINUTES THURSDAY, December 19TH, 2013 The meeting was called to order at 6:35pm by Chairman, Ken Pogran, in the Parker Room(G15) of the Town Office Building. Present: CAC members Ken Pogran, Linda Roemer, Nick Lauriat, Frank Cai, Dorinda Goodman, Smita Desai, David Buczkowski, Geoffrey Xiao and David Becker Minutes - The minutes of the meetings of October 17th and November 21st were approved as circulated. Selectman's Report - Joe Pato was double - booked and was unable to attend the meeting. Joe provided the following Selectmen Liaison Report through email: The ad hoc Cary Memorial Building Renovation Design Committee presented their recommendations to the BOS on 12/16. Among these recommendations was the suggestion to spend $200,820 from the PEG ACCESS account to fund the remaining portion of AV system ($190,230 to be funded from the general fund for a $391,050 total). The BOS unanimously voted for a motion to support the Cary Memorial Building renovation project as proposed by the Cary Memorial Building Renovation Design Committee, and to recommend said project to the Community Preservation Committee for consideration of CPA funding. Carrier Reports - Jane M Lyman from Comcast notified Board of Selectmen on December 18th 2013 that starting January 22, 2014, new prices would apply to select Video services and equipment as reflected in the Triple Play Packages and XFINITY TV services. In the letter, among the price changes, a Broadcast TV Fee is itemized to identify some of the rising costs of retransmitting broadcast television signals. No Carrier reports from Verizon RCN Report - Tom Steel from RCN planned to join the meeting but was not able to come due to the traffic jam. He email explained his focus on the $3.98 Broadcast TV surcharge and the $1.97 Sports programming charge. The CAC discussed the concerns on subscribers who were offered a price "assurance" plan which gave them some predictability for RCN rates going forward for two years past the sign up date. [It was later confirmed by Tom through email that RCN would honor the rate predictability. Chairman's Report - Ken updated on the CAC membership recruitment. After the holiday, will post the recruitment announcement to Lexington mailing list. LexMedia Update - Florence and David didn't attend the meeting. a) Broadband connection to backup server - The issue is with underground T1 cable (not fiber cable); but need to dig for fixing. Due to underground water freezing, the fix won't happen until April. b) RCN HD Channel Repairs - Email from Tom Steel: The good news is that the HD channel service for PEG is great. However, the equipment we are using to transmit in HD is causing audio problems with the SD channels. We believe we have a solution and the holdup has been getting the vendor to sign off on our corrective action. If this fails we have alternative equipment in mind which would allow for separate cablecast of HD and thus not impact SD. I can't get too technical in this regard but know that if alternative equipment is required RCN will pay for it. I have spoken to Florence about this and we should be able to work this out to a final solution early next year if not by the end of this year. c) Status of Cary Library camera installation problem - two issues: 1) Permanent camera mount; 2) technical issue with radio feed (yellowish picture when connecting with laptop therefore can't use laptop). Ken is to write a memo to Facilities (Pat Goddard) if the work to relocate the camera (or the light fixture blocking it) isn't performed. LexMedia Working Group - Linda updated on the contract renewal for next phase. There are some obsolete languages in the current contract need to be revised before the contract renewal. The LexMedia subgroup will follow up by reviewing the contract. Wi -Fi Policy Recommendation to Board of Selectmen - CAC already sent draft to Joe. It's clarified that CAC gives to BoS the report of Wi -Fi recommendation instead of Wi -Fi policy. It's BoS who develops and finalizes the Wi -Fi Policy. CAC also reviewed the current draft version, and made the following two changes unanimously on the Policy Principals section: FROM: 1. The Town should notguarantee communications privacy for non - employees. It will be the responsibility of the user to provide privacy protection if desired. TO: 1. The Town should notguarantee communications privacy for non - employees. FROM: 2. The IT Department will provide necessary security protection for Town employees who use the wireless communication system. TO: 2. The IT Department will provide necessary security protection for Town employees officially use the wireless communication system. Cary Memorial Building Project Status - Updated by Linda Roemer. There are two issues: one is the process for following project, for each following projects, where does the fund come from, PEG fund vs. CPA? The other issue is the potential redundant wiring project. David B pointed out that the PEG revenue comes from Cable TV, which is decreasing; therefore we need to watch for funding LexMedia operations. Ken is to follow up with Joe to get the Town Government to understand if we spend PEG fund now, then the Town Government needs to fund LexMedia from other source. Ken will also follow up with Joe Pato regarding the BoS' intent regarding their vote to spend PEG funds for a portion of the Cary Hall renovation audio - visual budget. Ken will also follow up with Pat Goddard regarding planning. Comcast Negotiations Update - No new updates since last meeting. David Becker will follow up on circulate the Comcast negotiations with the Town Clerk. Town IT Updates - Dorinda Goodman. A) Regarding the infrastructure redundant fiber project, checked with Verizon in November. Have a quota from contractor; B) No updates on Comcast bandwidth => remove the item; C) Have put Fiber request for Community Center; D) Need to connect the Tourist Center to the Town network; Also suggested to install a automatic People Counter in the Tourist Center to count how many adults and children visit the center. It's suggested by Dorinda for LexMedia to broadcast from the Tourist Center on occasions such as Patriot's Day. It's also suggested that LexMedia could take on a big project to relocate from its current location to the Community Center, to take advantage of fiber facility). It's agreed by CAC members to put on the January Agenda. Ken to follow up on Dorinda's suggestion that LexMedia consider an eventual move to the new Community Center by contacting David Ilsley. Downed Wire Identification and Removal Procedures - Dave Becker post a question: Is there a legal obligation for electric company on notifications? At least, DPW, Police Chief should be on the notification list. Ken will ask RCN's Tom Steel if RCN has specific storm - related contact numbers, or a storm notification email list like Comcast and Verizon do. Verizon Wire Replacement Program - Refer to Ken's forwarded email from Verizon. It's a technology replacement (changeout) Wireless Report - Frank Cai: No new updates Complaints Assignments - Frank Cai, Maria Kieslich and Linda Roemer have Complaint Assignments for the months of October, November and December 2013 respectively. Geoffrey Xiao (January) and Ken Progran (February). CAC Meeting adjourned at 8:31pm Respectfully submitted, Geoffrey Xiao