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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-11-09-CAC-MINLexington Communications Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes November 9, 2006 Meeting called to order at 6:45pm. CAC members in attendance: Jeanne Canale (CHAIR), Jim Akimchuk, David Becker, Jim Gonzalez Guests in attendance: Jeanne Krieger, CHAIR, Board of Selectmen Alan Lazarus, Chair, LexMedia George Preston, Exec. Director, LexMedia Updated from CAC Chairperson Jeanne Canale re: the public hearing administration and process o Legal notice appeared in The Lexington Minuteman 11/2/06 and 11/9/06. o Legal notice is scheduled to also appear 11/21/06. o There was discussion around whether or not a formal script needed to be followed -DECISION = NO. o There was also discussion around whether or not a formal transcript needed to be taken of the hearing -DECISION =LexMedia has agreed to air the hearing LIVE. In addition, the CAC will use the Selectmen office's tape recorder to maintain a record. CAC Chairperson Jeanne Canale informed the Board that Maria Kieslich has recused herself from the LexMedia evaluation process due to her dual roles on the CAC and on the LexMedia Board of Directors. o As of 11/21/06, Maria will no longer be a member of the LexMedia BOD. Review of the LexMedia evaluation process to date: o CAC Chairperson Jeanne Canale presented to the Board of Selectmen on 9/25/06. o A letter was due to LexMedia on 9/27/06 ~ did not happen timely. As a result, an extension of time was granted to LexMedia in order to allow them to appropriately respond to the CAC's questions. It was mutually decided that LexMedia would be granted until 11/2/06 to respond. o The Public Hearing is scheduled for 11/21/06. o The public is given a 2 week period following the hearing to provide public feedback. All feedback is due by 12/11/06. o The CAC must formulate a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen. This recommendation needs to be presented at the 12/18 Board of Selectmen meeting. o Notice of final determination is due from the Board of Selectmen to LexMedia by 12/22/06. • Mr. Preston asked when/how in this evaluation process can LexMedia enter into re-negotiating the terms of its agreement with the Town of Lexington. Mr. Preston was informed that the intent of this evaluation is to strictly to determine whether LexMedia has met the terms of it's agreement with the Town. He was also informed that any discussion of renegotiating terms needs to be formally handled outside of this evaluation. • The Board reviewed the list of questions submitted to LexMedia along with the responses submitted by LexMedia. NOTE: CAC member Jim Akimchuk was omitted from LexMedia's distribution of it's responses prior to the 11/9/06 meeting. o LexMedia's response to question #1 explicitly states that "logs of all meetings covered by LexMedia are available in our Quarterly report submitted to the town". It was noted that the CAC has never received any of these logs. Mr. Preston agreed to forward these reports to Jeanne Canale by 11/10/06. o Mr. Preston stated that he tried to group LexMedia's responses by responding in narrative form instead of answering each specific question. He stated that he did not feel he could meet all of the needs of the questionnaire. o Mr. Preston stated that he felt some of the contractual requirements placed on LexMedia were onerous. By way of example, Mr. Preston provided a demonstration of numerous "binders" which held corporate bylaws, insurance policies, financial information, etc. Mr. Preston's expressed concern with the work involved in copying all of these documents for the Board. As an alternative, CAC member Jim Gonzalez agreed to go to LexMedia's studio to review the documents. o It was explained to LexMedia that it was expected that they would be presenting their financials at the public hearing on 11/21/06. o CAC member David Becker commended LexMedia on its relationship with Lexington's Town Manager. o It was suggested that at the public hearing, we should sequentially go over the questions and LexMedia's responses. ^ The point of the hearing is to solicit comments and questions from the public. o Mr. Preston stated that FACIL - an access studio software application that provides for asset tracking, programming documentation, as well as numerous other studio functionality -has not yet been implemented, and as such, LexMedia is not yet able to provide the required reporting. ^ After much discussion, it was decided that a member of the CAC would perform "sample" testing to verify that LexMedia is meeting all of its contractual requirements. o After review, it was determined that LexMedia's response to Question #3 did not answer the question asked. o Question #4: The CAC requested that LexMedia provide a brief overview of it's discussions with Lexington Police and Lexington Fire. o Question #5 : LexMedia's 501D3 application was not filed until October, 2006. It was noted that the RFP required LexMedia to have filed its 501D3 application no later than December, 2005 -- and as such, LexMedia was in direct violation of the RFP. o LexMedia was reminded that this annual evaluation was intended to demonstrate whether or not the terms of the agreement were being fulfilled by LexMedia. Included in this scope is a public assessment of quality. o Question #10: It was noted that the response did not include any discussion about KLINE HALL. Mr. Preston stated that it is anticipated that the studio will be moving sometime in the summer/fall of 2007. It was requested that an update, to include transition plans indicating a plan for no interruption of service need to be presented. o Mr. Preston stated that no fixed asset accounting is currently in place. It was noted that this contract provision was intended to safeguard the assets of the Town of Lexington. It was further noted that the Town provided LexMedia with an inventory of equipment for which LexMedia was custodially responsible. Mr. Preston stated that Facil was purchased in January, 2006, and a barcode system was purchased in August 2006. He went on to state that in total, there were between 200-300 pieces of equipment that needed to be catalogued... and that cataloguing this equipment was a significant amount of work. Mr. Preston then stated that this has not been a priority of LexMedia... but that LexMedia would have a full fixed asset accounting system with barcodes in place by January, 2007. There was further discussion around the validity of Mr. Preston's estimate of work involved in appropriately documenting these assets. o Mr. Preston stated that LexMedia is a Public Access Station. A discussion ensued as to the definition of public access vs. local origination programming. Mr. Preston stated that LexMedia is producing some programming... but that it did not want to emphasize this at the public hearing because he felt LexMedia did not have the ability to provide this service to everyone. During a discussion around LEF's request to have LexMedia cover the Trivia Bee (11/9/06), Mr. Preston stated that LEF was offered a volunteer to broadcast the Trivia Bee live. o Question #14: LexMedia's response indicates that courses in basic television production are offered at the studio. Upon questioning, Mr. Preston stated that LexMedia's first training course took place in September, 2006 (one year after the signing of the contract). Mr. Preston stated that 25 people have attended new member orientation -with 50% of them having had some previous training. 13 people have been trained (2 classes) in basic camera operation. o Per Mr. Preston, LexMedia does NOT have a formal "Non- Discrimination" policy. o Mr. Preston stated that all employees are provided a copy of LexMedia's personnel policies and procedures upon hire. o There was a discussion around the programming that currently airs on LexMedia. Specific discussion centered around programming produced by LexMedia Board of Directors. Mr. Preston stated that currently, 4 programs are sponsored/produced by LexMedia Board members. (This did not include programming on LIFT). It was also noted that Lexington Selects is produced by Mr. Preston, and LHS Football is produced by LexMedia staff working the production. o There was a discussion around the show "DEMOCRACY NOW"; which airs 4 times daily (6pm-live, 12pm, Sam, 7am). This program is being produced by a LexMedia Board Member -and is delivered via a purchased dish-tv satellite dish installed at Kite's End. It was noted that this programming is broadcast from California... and it's value to the Lexington community was questioned. LexMedia was asked about it's policy on Conflict of Interest in regards to Board Member produced programming. Mr. Preston stated he would forward the policy for review. o There was a discussion around what activities LexMedia has offered the LHS television program. o Mr. Preston stated that LexMedia only controls one of the three PEG channels. There was lots of discussion around the validity of this statement. As an example, Mr. Preston cited LIFT -which he indicated was controlled by Rev. Gay Godfrey... not LexMedia. It was noted that Rev. Godfrey's relationship with LexMedia brings to question his position. o Mr. Preston stated that both Comcast and RCN have been unresponsive to LexMedia's complaints around technical issues. It was noted that this issue should be raised at the regular CAC meetings when representatives of both companies are present. Mr. Preston cited Comcast's re-assignment of a local technician. When asked whether Lexmedia was following the prescribed channel of communication with Comcast and RCN, he stated that the number he calls has provided him with no remedy. Mr. Preston was asked if he was calling the direct service telephone number provided specifically for access stations -and he replied that he new of no such number. o Mr. Preston stated that it is LexMedia's policy not to allow any commercial advertising on any of it's broadcasts. A discussion followed around the LexMedia's definition of "commercial advertising". It was specifically noted by Mr. Preston that it currently airs programming with station identifications (ie. A "bug" noting who produced the show), but that it did not allow any kind of "crawl". When asked if anyone had been denied the ability to apply a "bug", Mr. Preston stated that he no one had been denied that ability. o Mr. Lazarus mentioned that LexMedia had some questions for the town around it's performance within the contract. It was agreed that these questions would be added to the 11/16/06 CAC agenda. o It was asked that the following two questions be included in the public hearing: ^ What are the public expectations of LexMedia? ^ Are these expectations being met? Meeting closed 10:28pm. Jwa Lexington CAC Meeting Minutes November 9, 2006 Meeting called to order at 6:45pm. CAC members in attendance: Jeanne Canale (CHAIR) Jim Akimchuk David Becker Jim Gonzalez Guests in attendance: Jeanne Krieger, CHAIR, Board of Selectmen Alan Lazarus, Chair, LexMedia George Preston, Exec. Director, LexMedia Updated from CAC Chairperson Jeanne Canale re: the public hearing administration and process o Legal notice appeared in The Lexington Minuteman 11/2/06 and 11/9/06. o Legal notice is scheduled to also appear 11/21/06. o There was discussion around whether or not a formal script needed to be followed -DECISION = NO. o There was also discussion around whether or not a formal transcript needed to be taken of the hearing -DECISION =LexMedia has agreed to air the hearing LIVE. In addition, the CAC will use the Selectmen office's tape recorder to maintain a record. CAC Chairperson Jeanne Canale informed the Board that Maria Kieslich has recused herself from the LexMedia evaluation process due to her dual roles on the CAC and on the LexMedia Board of Directors. o As of 11/21/06, Maria will no longer be a member of the LexMedia BOD. Review of the LexMedia evaluation process to date: o CAC Chairperson Jeanne Canale presented to the Board of Selectmen on 9/25/06. o A letter was due to LexMedia on 9/27/06 ~ did not happen timely. As a result, an extension of time was granted to LexMedia in order to allow them to appropriately respond to the CAC's questions. It was mutually decided that LexMedia would be granted until 11/2/06 to respond. o The Public Hearing is scheduled for 11/21/06. o The public is given a 2 week period following the hearing to provide public feedback. All feedback is due by 12/11/06. o The CAC must formulate a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen. This recommendation needs to be presented at the 12/18 Board of Selectmen meeting. o Notice of final determination is due from the Board of Selectmen to LexMedia by 12/22/06. • Mr. Preston asked when/how in this evaluation process can LexMedia enter into re-negotiating the terms of its agreement with the Town of Lexington. Mr. Preston was informed that the intent of this evaluation is to strictly to determine whether LexMedia has met the terms of it's agreement with the Town. He was also informed that any discussion of renegotiating terms needs to be formally handled outside of this evaluation. • The Board reviewed the list of questions submitted to LexMedia along with the responses submitted by LexMedia. NOTE: CAC member Jim Akimchuk was omitted from LexMedia's distribution of it's responses prior to the 11/9/06 meeting. o LexMedia's response to question #1 explicitly states that "logs of all meetings covered by LexMedia are available in our Quarterly report submitted to the town". It was noted that the CAC has never received any of these logs. Mr. Preston agreed to forward these reports to Jeanne Canale by 11/10/06. o Mr. Preston stated that he tried to group LexMedia's responses by responding in narrative form instead of answering each specific question. He stated that he did not feel he could meet all of the needs of the questionnaire. o Mr. Preston stated that he felt some of the contractual requirements placed on LexMedia were onerous. By way of example, Mr. Preston provided a demonstration of numerous "binders" which held corporate bylaws, insurance policies, financial information, etc. Mr. Preston's expressed concern with the work involved in copying all of these documents for the Board. As an alternative, CAC member Jim Gonzalez agreed to go to LexMedia's studio to review the documents. o It was explained to LexMedia that it was expected that they would be presenting their financials at the public hearing on 11/21/06. o CAC member David Becker commended LexMedia on its relationship with Lexington's Town Manager. o It was suggested that at the public hearing, we should sequentially go over the questions and LexMedia's responses. ^ The point of the hearing is to solicit comments and questions from the public. o Mr. Preston stated that FACIL - an access studio software application that provides for asset tracking, programming documentation, as well as numerous other studio functionality -has not yet been implemented, and as such, LexMedia is not yet able to provide the required reporting. ^ After much discussion, it was decided that a member of the CAC would perform "sample" testing to verify that LexMedia is meeting all of its contractual requirements. o After review, it was determined that LexMedia's response to Question #3 did not answer the question asked. o Question #4: The CAC requested that LexMedia provide a brief overview of it's discussions with Lexington Police and Lexington Fire. o Question #5 : LexMedia's 501D3 application was not filed until October, 2006. It was noted that the RFP required LexMedia to have filed its 501D3 application no later than December, 2005 -- and as such, LexMedia was in direct violation of the RFP. o LexMedia was reminded that this annual evaluation was intended to demonstrate whether or not the terms of the agreement were being fulfilled by LexMedia. Included in this scope is a public assessment of quality. o Question #10: It was noted that the response did not include any discussion about KLINE HALL. Mr. Preston stated that it is anticipated that the studio will be moving sometime in the summer/fall of 2007. It was requested that an update, to include transition plans indicating a plan for no interruption of service need to be presented. o Mr. Preston stated that no fixed asset accounting is currently in place. It was noted that this contract provision was intended to safeguard the assets of the Town of Lexington. It was further noted that the Town provided LexMedia with an inventory of equipment for which LexMedia was custodially responsible. Mr. Preston stated that Facil was purchased in January, 2006, and a barcode system was purchased in August 2006. He went on to state that in total, there were between 200-300 pieces of equipment that needed to be catalogued... and that cataloguing this equipment was a significant amount of work. Mr. Preston then stated that this has not been a priority of LexMedia... but that LexMedia would have a full fixed asset accounting system with barcodes in place by January, 2007. There was further discussion around the validity of Mr. Preston's estimate of work involved in appropriately documenting these assets. o Mr. Preston stated that LexMedia is a Public Access Station. A discussion ensued as to the definition of public access vs. local origination programming. Mr. Preston stated that LexMedia is producing some programming... but that it did not want to emphasize this at the public hearing because he felt LexMedia did not have the ability to provide this service to everyone. During a discussion around LEF's request to have LexMedia cover the Trivia Bee (11/9/06), Mr. Preston stated that LEF was offered a volunteer to broadcast the Trivia Bee live. o Question #14: LexMedia's response indicates that courses in basic television production are offered at the studio. Upon questioning, Mr. Preston stated that LexMedia's first training course took place in September, 2006 (one year after the signing of the contract). Mr. Preston stated that 25 people have attended new member orientation -with 50% of them having had some previous training. 13 people have been trained (2 classes) in basic camera operation. o Per Mr. Preston, LexMedia does NOT have a formal "Non- Discrimination" policy. o Mr. Preston stated that all employees are provided a copy of LexMedia's personnel policies and procedures upon hire. o There was a discussion around the programming that currently airs on LexMedia. Specific discussion centered around programming produced by LexMedia Board of Directors. Mr. Preston stated that currently, 4 programs are sponsored/produced by LexMedia Board members. (This did not include programming on LIFT). It was also noted that Lexington Selects is produced by Mr. Preston, and LHS Football is produced by LexMedia staff working the production. o There was a discussion around the show "DEMOCRACY NOW"; which airs 4 times daily (6pm-live, 12pm, Sam, 7am). This program is being produced by a LexMedia Board Member -and is delivered via a purchased dish-tv satellite dish installed at Kite's End. It was noted that this programming is broadcast from California... and it's value to the Lexington community was questioned. LexMedia was asked about it's policy on Conflict of Interest in regards to Board Member produced programming. Mr. Preston stated he would forward the policy for review. o There was a discussion around what activities LexMedia has offered the LHS television program. o Mr. Preston stated that LexMedia only controls one of the three PEG channels. There was lots of discussion around the validity of this statement. As an example, Mr. Preston cited LIFT -which he indicated was controlled by Rev. Gay Godfrey... not LexMedia. It was noted that Rev. Godfrey's relationship with LexMedia brings to question his position. o Mr. Preston stated that both Comcast and RCN have been unresponsive to LexMedia's complaints around technical issues. It was noted that this issue should be raised at the regular CAC meetings when representatives of both companies are present. Mr. Preston cited Comcast's re-assignment of a local technician. When asked whether Lexmedia was following the prescribed channel of communication with Comcast and RCN, he stated that the number he calls has provided him with no remedy. Mr. Preston was asked if he was calling the direct service telephone number provided specifically for access stations -and he replied that he new of no such number. o Mr. Preston stated that it is LexMedia's policy not to allow any commercial advertising on any of it's broadcasts. A discussion followed around the LexMedia's definition of "commercial advertising". It was specifically noted by Mr. Preston that it currently airs programming with station identifications (ie. A "bug" noting who produced the show), but that it did not allow any kind of "crawl". When asked if anyone had been denied the ability to apply a "bug", Mr. Preston stated that he no one had been denied that ability. o Mr. Lazarus mentioned that LexMedia had some questions for the town around it's performance within the contract. It was agreed that these questions would be added to the 11/16/06 CAC agenda. o It was asked that the following two questions be included in the public hearing: ^ What are the public expectations of LexMedia? ^ Are these expectations being met? Meeting closed 10:28pm. Jwa