HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-04-09-CAC-minTOWN OF LEXINGTON
COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF APRIL 9, 2013
Call to order. CAC Chair Jim Goell called the meeting to order at 6:31 PM in the
Selectmen's Meeting Room of the Town Office Building.
Present: CACMembers: Jim Goell, Chair; David Becker, David Buczkowski, Frank
Cai, Smita Desai, Maria Kieslich, Nick Lauriat, Kenneth Pogran, Linda Roemer. Others:
Tom Steel, RCN; Florence DelSanto, LexMedia; Melanie Blower and Geoffrey Xiao,
Committee Applicants.
1. Approval of previous meeting minutes. The minutes of the meeting of February 21,
2013 were approved, with one change made.
2. Selectmen's liaison report. Mr. Goell reported that a new Board of Selectmen
liaison to the Committee has not yet been appointed.
3. Carrier reports (Mr. Steel, RCN)
Mr. Steel reported that RCN gained customers, year- over -year, for the first time since
2007, gaining subscribers in all five of the Massachusetts communities where RCN
competes head -to -head with Comcast. In communities where RCN competes with
Verizon as well as Comcast, RCN lost customers at a slower rate than did Comcast.
Mr. Steel passed out a handout from the American Cable Association, a trade
association of smaller cable companies. Mr. Steel explained that there is "a lot of
pressure on rates" because of sports programming. In addition, broadcasters now
want payment from cable companies to carry their local channels. This trend is
continuing. The ACA has met with members of Congress, etc. regarding the issue,
which is a long term problem
As of April 10, RCN's system will be fully encrypted to prevent theft of service.
Subscribers with HDTVs with QAM tuners will no longer be able to receive local
broadcast stations without an RCN cable box or CableCARD.
Mr. Steel reported that RCN has decided that it can provide the Town with one High
Definition channel to carry LexMedia programming (PEG), if the Town will pay for a
modest equipment requirement. The new channel can be Channel 613, which is right
in the main series of HD channels that subscribers channel -surf, and also corresponds
to standard definition Channel 13, which is a LexMedia PEG channel. RCN will
provide public relations resources to work with LexMedia on a press release to
promote the new HD PEG channel, and is willing to include a notice of the new
channel in subscriber bills in Lexington. Mr. Steel reported that this will be RCN's
Communications Advisory Committee Minutes of April 9, 2013
Town of Lexington Page 2
first HD PEG channel. Recently, other towns, including Framingham, Newton, and
Stoneham have made similar inquiries to RCN.
Ms. DelSanto of LexMedia commented that this is unprecedented in the PEG
community. She said she is aware of just one town in Texas that has an HD PEG
channel, while Shrewsbury, Massachusetts has three HD PEG channels but runs its
own municipal cable system.
Mr. Goell and Mr. Pogran expressed the Committee's thanks to RCN for the decision,
and to Mr. Steel for championing this within RCN. Mr. Becker noted that RCN has
always been responsive to requests from the Town.
4. Chairman's Report (Mr. Goell)
a. Talk to be given to Town staff. Mr. Goell noted that he has been invited to give a
talk to a subset of Town staff about the purpose of the Committee and how it
functions.
b. Town building video requirements. Ray Drapeau has passed the issue of video
requirements of Town buildings to Dorinda Goodman. Schools have an issue that
with service providers going to all- digital, TVs in classrooms can't receive
programming without a converter box, and each school has just a few. Mr. Becker
pointed out that we would be in a better position to help if we could speak with
someone from the schools who understands what the needs actually are. Mr. Goell
agreed to contact Marianne McKenna.
c. Subcommitte appointments. Linda Roemer has asked to be relieved of her
assignment on the Negotiation Subcommittee. Nick Lauriat will take her place.
d. Next meeting. The next Committee meeting will be on Thursday, May 16, in the
Selectmen's Meeting Room of the town office building.
5. LexMedia update (Ms. DelSanto)
Status and plans regarding live video for Patriots Day. Fiber has been set up at
the Cary Library to take a live feed back to LexMedia. LexMedia will originate
programming from the Library side of the street. Microphone setup should be OK,
with no feedback. Currently no audio is being receive from that feed, but
LexMedia is working with RCN and the Town Facilities Department to resolve
the issue..
b. Closed captioning update. David Ilsley has reported that LexMedia hasn't found
any affordable automated closed captioning services. Mr. Becker reported that
very early on (before LexMedia), Town Meeting was closed- captioned "in real
time" by a person working for a flat fee for all Town Meeting sessions. Mr.
Becker recalled a fee of approximately $4000 being paid.
c. Backup server location suitability. Agreement has been reached regarding
location of the server. A broadband connection needs to be provided in the server
room. Ms. DelSanto will look into procuring this commercially. Mr. Buczkowski
suggested that Ms. DelSanto contact Mr. Steel at RCN.
Communications Advisory Committee Minutes of April 9, 2013
Town of Lexington Page 3
d. 4th channel qualification, per contracts. LexMedia's programming hours have
passed the threshold where our cable provider licenses entitle the Town to a
fourth PEG channel. Following discussion, it was the consensus of the Committee
that the Committee should approach each of our three providers with a request for
a fourth channel, if LexMedia believes they can supply appropriate programming.
e. Status of additional set -top box requests. This issue has been resolved, with
Comcast acting quickly following the previous Committee meeting. In a side
discussion, the issue was raised of providers other than Comcast providing cable
TV service to schools. Mr. Goell asked Mr. Becker to draft a note to inquire
whether schools are using other services.
6. LexMedia HD broadcasting. RCN has agreed to provide the Town with an HD
channel for LexMedia. See discussion under item 3, Carrier Reports, above.
7. Use of CAC funds for technical initiatives. Mr. Becker suggested that we consider
using "in lieu of Net" funds from Comcast and Verizon to enable the Town and
schools to purchase additional (commercial) Internet bandwidth to meet Town and
School needs. Mr. Goell suggested that he and Mr. Becker speak with Ms. Goodman
to learn her views regarding the Town's needs.
8. Contacting Rules concerning prompt removal of downed communication lines.
Mr. Becker suggested we should take steps to learn whether there are any rules
pertaining to prompt removal of downed communication lines. This is an issue that
has surfaced in the past following storms. Mr. Pogran suggested the Committee
contact the Commonwealth's Department of Telecommunications and Cable in this
regard. Mr. Pogran and Mr. Becker will discuss this further.
9. Contacts with communications advisory committees in other towns. (deferred)
10. Cary Memorial Building communications issues, including WiFi. Ms. Roemer
reported that Town Meeting passed the article funding design and costing work for
the Cary memorial building. She asked if the Committee should take a position at this
time regarding the inclusion of WiFi. Ms. Roemer will contact Pat Goddard to
determine what the current status is..
11. Liberty Mutual Building issues. Mr. Becker moved that the Committee direct Mr.
Goell send to the Board of Selectmen the letter drafted and circulated earlier
regarding issues associated with the Town's equipment in the Liberty Mutual
Building on Bedford Street. Mr. Lauriat seconded the motion, which was passed
unanimously.
12. Promotion of the CAC position on Town WiFi. The CAC report on WiFi in
Lexington advocated that the Town implement WiFi in Town buildings. The
Committee agreed that we should learn from Ms. Goodman what the Town's current
plans are in that regard.
Communications Advisory Committee
Town of Lexington
Minutes of April 9, 2013
Page 4
13. Comcast negotiations update. The next negotiation meeting with Comcast is set for
May 7 at 6:30 PM.
14. Wireless report. No activity was reported.
15. Complaints. Mr. Buczkowski reported that a Muzzey condominiums resident has
complained about Comcast's rates and bad signal, and asked if there was another
option. Comcast has an "exclusive" agreement with the building management. Mr.
Buczkowsi has asked Jane Lyman to contact the subscriber. Mr. Becker reported that
he received one complaint, but to date had not been able to reach the complainant.
16. Committee candidates. Committee applicants Geoffrey Xiao and Melanie Blower
introduced themselves and responded to questions from the Committee. The
Committee then discussed the applicants. It was moved and seconded that Mr. Goell
should approach Mr. Xiao to confirm that he would like to be appointed to the
Committee and that, if he would, that Mr. Goell recommend his appointment to the
Board of Selectmen. The motion passed unanimously.
17. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Kenneth T. Pogran