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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-11-20-CAC-min TOWN OF LEXINGTON COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Minutes of the Meeting of November 20, 2014 Parker Room (G-15), Town Office Building Committee Chair Ken Pogran called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Attendees CAC members: Dave Becker, Dave Buczkowski, Frank Cai, Dorinda Goodman, Steve Iverson, Nick Lauriat, Maria Kieslich, Ken Pogran and Linda Roemer Selectmen’s liaison: Joe Pato LexMedia: Florence DelSanto, David Ilsley CAC member not in attendance: Smita Desai 1. Selectman’s Liaison Report – Mr. Pato - A draft policy for public Wi-Fi service in Town buildings is being prepared by Town staff, and will be provided to the CAC for review. - The Town’s ability to control locations of cellular antennas and towers may be limited by recent FCC orders. The CAC should review these documents to understand any changes. - The CAC may have a role in advocacy for mobile phone users. The Committee will continue to investigate, and, if it seems reasonable, will submit a proposal to the Board of Selectmen to give this added responsibility to the CAC. 2. Minutes of Previous Meeting The CAC voted to accept the minutes of the October 16, 2014 regular meeting, subject to correction of identified spelling errors. The Chairman reminded members that draft minutes should be submitted within two weeks of the CAC meeting 3. Cable Operator Reports - RCN Tom Steel notified us that the American Cable Association (trade group for smaller cable operators) is very concerned that skyrocketing retransmission fees are driving up subscriber costs unsustainably. He also confirmed that the modulator for the High-Definition PEG channel is now operating properly. - Comcast. Jane Lyman announced increases in subscriber fees due to increased transmission fees and other factors. Lexington Communications Advisory Committee Minutes of November 20, 2014 Meeting - Verizon No representative was present and we did not receive a written report. However, Jill Reddish told Mr. Pogran that she plans to come to a CAC meeting early in 2015. - General Traditional cable operators and satellite companies (such as Dish Network and DirecTV) are resisting efforts by content providers to significantly increase fees. In some cases, content providers are advertising that viewers will lose popular channels if operators do not accept their terms, hoping that viewers will pressure operators to sign up. But some operators have dropped channels, at least temporarily, insisting on “reasonable” fee schedules to lower the rate of increase in subscriber costs. Losers will ultimately be the viewing public, including Lexington subscribers. 4. Chairman’s Report Mr. Pogran said that the most important message, from his point of view, is that the CAC needs more applicants. He will continue to advertise our needs, and wants current members to ask friends and family whether they might be interested. 5. LexMedia update Florence DelSanto reported: th - Approximately 40 people attended the annual meeting on November 17 - Two Board members were elected at the annual meeting: John Cini and Fred Johnson. - LexMedia currently has cash reserves sufficient to cover heavier than usual monthly workloads. - LexMedia producers Raquel Leder and Joe Gatto won Alliance For Community Media national video awards for the "This Mom Needs Help" and "From Scratch" series, respectively. - LexMedia met its fundraising goal for this year with a single large task: They received about $12,000 from a law firm to dub onto disks recordings of Town Meetings, Board of Selectmen meetings and other meetings from 2005 to the present, in support of a lawsuit. Ms. Roemer asked whether it would be cost-effective to commission a reliable survey to identify LexMedia viewership. Ms. DelSanto will look into this question. It may be that there are existing records of “On Demand” viewers, but it is not clear whether these records distinguish between separate subscribers and multiple accesses by a single subscriber. It was noted that the LexMedia Web site now mentions the RCN High Definition PEG channel, but not the schedule. LexMedia is working on this. th LexMedia plans to celebrate its 10 anniversary in 2015, with events demonstrating how well their capabilities have advanced. Members suggested that LexMedia should advertise its content more actively, perhaps by messages on The “Lexington List” or a “Constant Contact”-type service. LexMedia will consider whether this is feasible for them (and allowed under the Lexington List terms of service. 2 Lexington Communications Advisory Committee Minutes of November 20, 2014 Meeting 6. LexMedia Oversight LexMedia sent the CAC its Fourth Quarter 2015 Report and the CAC’s LexMedia Working Group has given their comments to the CAC for concurrence. Essentially, the Working Group was pleased with the Report, noting only that “Compliments and Complaints” lists were not working, and should be fixed soon. A motion to formally transmit the Working Group’s response to LexMedia was unanimously passed. LexMedia has also sent the CAC their Reports for the full year of 2014 and for the first Quarter of 2015, and the Working Group intends to provide their reviews of these two documents to the full CSC within the next two weeks. The CAC will be asked to vote at the December meeting on transmitting official responses on these Reports to LexMedia. Note that, under the current contract, Fourth Quarter report content will be included in the annual report, and not issued separately. 7. Town IT Updates – Dorinda Goodman Nothing to report. 8. Discussion of Potential 2014–2015 Committee Activities - Cable TV in Public Buildings Mr. Becker proposed that the Committee review the way the Town asks operators to provide basic cable service to public buildings (as required by state law and explicitly in our cable TV licenses) to ensure that our needs are met with fairness and effectiveness. Discussions on this topic will continue. - Improving Cell Phone Coverage As indicated in (1), above, Mr. Pogran suggested that the CAC could be effective as an advocate for mobile phone users in improving service from operators, e.g., in gap-filling areas of Lexington that have poor cellular reception. The CAC will continue gathering information to support a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen that the committee be given this responsibility. - Ms. Kieslich has proposed other activities, which will be discussed at the next meeting. 9. Cable TV Licensing Training Mr. Becker presented the first of several proposed lessons on federal and state licensing law, regulation and practices to prepare members to participate in licensing activity. 10. Wireless Report No activity this month 11. Complaint Handling Assignments Previous Months: October 2014, Ken Pogran November 2014, Steve Iverson Mr. Iverson is handling one open complaint. 3 Lexington Communications Advisory Committee Minutes of November 20, 2014 Meeting Upcoming: December 2014, Nick Lauriat January 2015, Smita Desai The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM. Respectfully submitted, David Becker 4