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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-11-21-CAC-min CommunicationsAdvisoryCommittee MinutesoftheMeetingofNovember21,2013 KenPogran FrankCai DaveBuczkowski DaveBecker NickLauriat DorindaGoodman MariaKieslich SmitaDesai(joinedlate) LindaRoemer(joinedlate) JoePato DavidIllsley(joinedlate) Meetingwascalledtoorderat6:33PM. Approvaloftheminuteswaspostponeduntilnextmonth,duetothelatearrivaloftheminutes. {ĻƌĻĭƷƒĻƓ͸ƭliaisonreportΑnoreportfromtheƭĻƌĻĭƷƒĻƓ͸ƭliaison.ThecommitteeaskedJoeaboutthe WiFiissue.JoesaidhewouldaskDebtoputitontheagendaforthenextavailableslot.Joewould wantKenorDaveBeckertheretopresentatthattime. CarrierreportsΑKensaidheheardfromTomSteeleandMaryLouFrere.Tomrequestedatimesloton nextƒƚƓƷŷ͸ƭagendatodiscussupcomingbillingchanges.MaryLouFrerereportedtoKenshewas leavingVerizon.SheisbeingreplacedbyJillReddish.AccordingtoKen,thisisMary\[ƚǒ͸ƭlastweek. /ŷğźƩƒğƓ͸ƭreportΑappointmentsΑKensaidhespoketoGeoffreyabouthisinterests.Geoffrey expressedaparticularinterestinLexMedia,andsoKensuggestedhejointheLexMediaworkinggroup. KenappointedGeoffreytotheLexMediaworkinggroup. KensaidhehadnotyetpostedthecommitteeopeningtotheLexingtonlist.Hesaidhewasworkingon recruitingsomeoneheknowswhohebelieveswouldbeagoodadditiontothecommittee.DaveBecker askediftherewasstillaregularpostingofcommitteeopeningsintheMinuteman.Thecommittee thoughttherewas,andthatitwasnotlikelyinconflictwithourownpostingtotheLexingtonlist. ThecommitteediscussedwhethertherewasstillafilemaintainedbyLynnregardingcitizenswhohad expressedaninterestincommittees.KenmadeanotetoaskLynn. NegotiatingsubcommitteeΑwereviewedthedraftminutesfromtheOctobermeetingwithComcast. DaveBuczkowskisaidthebigissuewasthechangeincalculationofinlieuofINetfundsfromastraight figuretoapercentageofrevenue.DavidBeckergavesomehistoryofthecalculation,andpointedout thatComcastrevenueshavebeendecreasingeachyearsince2006Αandifthispaymentwastiedtothe grossrevenues,itwouldhavebeendecreasing.MariapointedoutthatthiscostźƭƓ͸Ʒtiedtorevenue theyraisefromthesubscribers.Thecommitteeagreedthat,ifanything,thecosttomaintaintheInet shouldbeincreasing,notdecreasing.Theconsensusofthecommitteewasthatitwastooearlytotake apositiononthis,andthefurtherdiscussionwouldberequired. DaveBeckergaveabitofhistoryoncableTVsignaldistributionwithintheschoolsandothertown buildings.DaveBeckersaidhespoketoDorindaaboutthealternativeapproachofredistributingthe signalwithinthebuildings(especiallywithintheschools)overtheEthernet,anddescribedasolutionto thecommitteethatwouldallowthesignaltoberedistributed.Ken,Joeandmyselfexpressedconcern thatdesigningthissolutionwasbeyondthescopeofthecommitteeinthecontextofalicenserenewal. Aslongastherenewedlicenseiscompatiblewitheitherdistributionmodelwithintownbuildings (especiallyschools),theĭƚƒƒźƷƷĻĻ͸ƭroleisdone. Dorindasaidtheyhadatelevisioninthisbuildingthatstoppedworkingwhenthebasicservicegot encrypted.ShesaidshecalledMs.Lyman,andsaiditwasahassletogetanadditionalcableboxfrom Comcast.Shesaidtheydideventuallygetthebox,butMs.Lymanthoughtthat(1)thetownshouldbe payingforadditionalboxes,and(2)thetownshouldbeensuringitplacesanequalburdenonother providersaswell. LexMediaΑDavidIllsleydescribedacompanycalledSavanttodovideodistributionwithinahouse, controlledbyAppledevices.Mr.PatosaidhewasawareofanonApplealternative. DavidIllsleydescribedthecurrentstatusofthebroadbandconnectiontobackupserver.ŷĻǤ͸ƩĻ lookingintouseapairoftheexistingfiberintothebuilding,butareawaitingafinalanswerfromRCNΑ possiblyasearlyastomorrow. DaveBeckercomplimentedthenewApp.DavidIllsleysaidtheyhadtheirannualmeetingthisweek, andtheAppgotalotofattention. KenaskedaboutanongoingoutageoftheRCNHDchannel.DavidI.saidthathebelievedtheQAMfor theHDchannelfailed.ŷĻǤ͸ƩĻworkingwiththetechnicians.DavidI.saidthatŷĻ͸ƭreadyforKento nudgeTomSteelefromRCNsinceƷŷĻǤ͸ǝĻbeendowntwoweeks.Kenpromisedtodothat.Kenalso encouragedDavidI.toputanoticeontheLexMediawebpage.DavidI.clarifiedthatthiswasadevice purchasedbyRCNusing\[ĻǣaĻķźğ͸ƭmoney,andthiswasawarrantyreplacementissue. DavidI.saidthatHarryForsdickcomplainedabouttheaudiolevelontheHDchannel.Othersnoted unevenaudioonallLexMediachannels.ŷĻǤ͸ƩĻlookingatreplacingtheaudiodistributionboxΛͻ\[źƒźƷĻƩ 9ǣƦğƓķĻƩͼͪΜ͵LƷ͸ƭintheupcomingcapitalbudget,sincetheexistingboxisoutofdate. Dorindagaveanupdateonthefiberredundancyproject.Gotfinalquotationsinthatwerehigherthan expected.ͻ!ƓinterestingbroadrangeofƨǒƚƷĻƭ͵ͼTheoneƷŷĻǤ͸ƩĻselectingis$35k$37k.Therewas onequotethatwas$297k! Theyrecentlyhadacopperbreakbetweenpoliceandfire.Gettinganestimatetoputareplacement copperin,andplanonputtinginfiberatthesametime!Dorindasaidthiswasanimportantfirststepin completingaredundantfiberloopthroughoutthetown. DorindasaidthatshefollowedupwithMs.Lymanabouttheletterthetownreceivedaboutfree bandwidthforschools.WhenMs.Lymanclarifiedtheschoolscurrentlycovered(CottingSchooland MinutemanTech),DorindasaidͻƷŷğƷ͸ƭnice,butthoseğƩĻƓ͸ƷthoseƭĭŷƚƚƌƭͧͼMs.Lymanclarifiedthat theLexingtonschoolslikelywereinfacteligiblefortheͻ9ķǒĭğƷźƚƓ/ƚƓƓĻĭƷźƚƓͼprogramwhichoffers ͻЊЏupand3ķƚǞƓ͵ͼMs.Lymanwasconcerned,however,thatthetownwouldbeusingthisbandwidth forotheruses,whenitwasmeanttobeusedexclusivelybytheindividualschools. DorindareassuredMs.Lymanthatthiswasforemergencyfailoverfortheschool.DaveBecker suggestedthatweaskComcasttopoolthebandwidthintoasinglelink.Thecommitteeagreedthat thatwasbothnotlikelyacceptabletoComcast,andmayhavelowervaluetotheLexingtonschools,who wouldbenefitfromadiversityofconnections. Dorindasaidshedidtheresearch,gottheapproval,andhandeditofftotheschools. JoeaskedifKenhadsharedtheWiFipolicywithCarl.Kensaidhehadnot,butthathewouldsenditto Carl,withJoeontheccline. DaveBeckersaidthathegotVerizontocommittorefreshingthetown,includingthetownmanager,fire chiefandpolicechiefonemergencycontactinformationpriortoanystorms. WirelessreportΑnonewapplications. NocomplaintsinOctoberbeyondtheVerizonwirecomplaintstobediscussedseparately.Mariasaid thatshehadacomplaintinNovemberfromsomeonewhowantedaseniorcitizenorveterandiscount fromVerizon.ShehadnotyetpassedthatcomplaintalongtoVerizon.Thecommitteenotedthatthere havebeensimilarcomplaintsinthepast,andthecarriersoftenhadlittletooffer. FrankdescribedthesituationwiththewirereplacementΑVerizonwantstogetintoaĭǒƭƷƚƒĻƩ͸ƭhouse toremovethecopperwireandreplaceitwithfiber.Verizonhasescalatedfromphonecallstoplacing flyersonthedoorsofcustomerswhohavecoppertelephonelines. KendescribedhisconcernsΑtheflyerźƭƓ͸ƷclearthatthefiberǞƚƓ͸Ʒbeeligibleforleasingtoother carriers(unlikethecopper),andthattheflyerźƭƓ͸Ʒclearonwhetherthisisrequiredorjustsuggested. DorindasaidtheconditionofthecopperplantinLexingtonisinreallypoor.Shesaidthisisbecomingan issueforthetown,sincetheydependoncopperwiresforalarms,communicationscircuits,etc. Committeemembersnotedthatthebatterybackupestimatesforthefibersolutionwerelikely optimistic,andbasedonbrandnewbatteries.Memberssuggestedthatbatteriesacoupleofyearsold werenotlikelytooffertelephoneserviceformorethantwohours,insteadofthepromisedeighthours, orindefinitely,inthecaseofcoppertelephonelinespowerfromthecentraloffice. Kensaidthatwehaveanewstandingagendatopicforthecommittee,andofferedtoinvitethenew Verizonrepresentativetodiscussfurther.Kenclarifiedthatherlegalresponsibilitytothecommittee endswithcabletelevision. Kenencouragedthecommitteetocontinuetothinkaboutthis.Mariasuggestedeventuallyinforming thepopulationΑͻĬǒƷaslongasitfactĬğƭĻķ͵ͼ LindaupdatedthecommitteeontheLexMediacontractnegotiation.LindaaskedKentotalktoRob AdelsonabouttheͻŷğƌŅǤĻğƩͼissue.KenaskedLindatoprovideͻƷğƌƉźƓŭƦƚźƓƷƭͼforthatdiscussion. LindasaidsheattendedtheLexMediaannualmeetingonMondaynight.Thecommitteereceivedthe firstquarterreportfromLexMedia.Theresponsehasbeenhastilydrafted,andthecommitteehasnot yetreviewedit.Kenaskedifwecandelaytheapprovaloftheresponsetothenextmeeting.The committeeagreed.ThecommitteenotedtheymaybeaskedforaresponsebytheTownManager, sincethereporthasalreadybeenfiledwiththeTownManager. DavidI.saidthattherehavebeenalotofproblemswiththeupgradeperformedatthelibraryΛͻƌźŭŷƷƭ hunginfrontofĭğƒĻƩğƭͧͼΜ͵LexMediawasnotinvolved,itwasrunbythetownfacilitiesdepartment, andtherehavebeennumerousproblemsthatƷŷĻǤ͸ƩĻcurrentlypayingtoremediate. LindareviewedtheCaryHallrenovationplanswhicharesuddenlymovingveryquickly.Lindasaidthat LexMediawasgoingtobeexpectedtopayforcamerasoutoftheirownbudget.Andthatitwouldhave tobethe2015capitalbudget.Thecommitteewasconcernedthatthewiringforthecamerasshould notbetakendirectlyoutofLexMediabudget,andthatLexMediashouldbeconsultedtoensurewiringis compatiblewiththecamerasLexMediaintendstopurchase.Thecommitteegenerallydiscussed supplementingtheLexMediabudgetifitturnsoutLexMediaisresponsibleforthewiring.DavidI.said thatifƷŷĻǤ͸ƩĻpayingforanythingoutoftheirbudget,ƷŷĻǤ͸ƩĻgoingtodemandasayinwhatequipment isinstalled. Lindasaidtherenovationcommitteemaynotmeetagain,andthattheprojectwasnowinthehandsof facilities(PatGoddard). DorindaupdatedthecommitteeonthemajoroutageatBowmanSchoolduetoafailureofnetworking equipmentintheITcore.Theylostallphoneandallnetwork.DorindawasabletoprovideaVerizon WirelesshotspottogetessentialInternetservicetemporarilyrestored. Dorindasaidthecompanionissueisthatwithpoorcellularcoverage,theywereparticularlyvulnerable. DorindasaidshethoughttherewasamandatoryFCCreportingrequirementfordroppedcalls,butthat ƷŷĻƩĻ͸ƭnovisibilityintothoseresults.Thecommitteethoughtthatadvocatingforbettercoveragemay beavaluabletopicforfuturediscussions,butthatitmayconflictwiththeĭƚƒƒźƷƷĻĻ͸ƭroleinreviewing antennaapplications. LindasaidthatLexMediahadpoorstatisticsformeasuringcommunityimpact.LindaandMariasaid theyhadverylittleinformationabouthowmanypeoplewatching,orwhichdemographicswerebeing represented(ornot).Thecommitteethoughtthatitwasafuturedirectionforthecommittee,andan areawhereadditionalworkwasrequirednextyear. ThenextcommitteemeetingisscheduledforDecember19 th. Frankmovedtoadjourn,Mariaseconded.Thecommitteeadjournedat8:23PM. Respectfullysubmitted, NickLauriat