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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-12-21-CAC-MIN Lexington Communications Advisory Committee – Meeting Minutes - December 21, 2006 By Jim Gonzalez Meeting called to order at 6:35pm. Present were CAC members Maria Kieslich, Ed Vail, John Rommelfanger, Jeanne Canale, Dave Becker, Dave Buczkowski, and Jim Gonzalez. With 7 of 10 members present, this constituted a quorum. Also present were Jane Lyman from Comcast and CAC candidate Linda Roemer. Selectmen’s Liaison Jeanne Krieger arrived approximately 6:50pm. LexMedia chair Alan Lazarus arrived approximately 7:00pm. LexMedia board member George Burnell arrived approximately 7:10pm. Minutes of the November 9, November 16, November 20 and December 4 meetings were reviewed. No comments or corrections were offered. Dave Buczkowski moved that they be accepted as distributed. Maria Kieslich seconded. All members present voted in favor. Jane Lyman made a verbal report on behalf of Comcast. Repairs at the Museum of Our National Heritage were made, and declared “acceptable” by Comcast’s tech and an unnamed representative of LexMedia. Jeanne Canale asked about complaints of hum on the live feed. Jane responded that she was unaware of a complaint. Jeanne Canale asked about the work on the “second drop” at the Museum. A ticket had been pulled for test of the second outlet. Dave Becker sought clarification on whether the second jack could be used at the same time. Jane responded that it could, with a second modulator. Regarding an INET connection at the Lexington Historical Society, Jane Lyman stated that Comcast corporate policy limits installation of drops to Town buildings, including schools. Depot Square does not qualify. Jeanne Canale noted that there is an RCN INET drop at Depot Square. Jeanne agreed to inform Susan Bennett at the Lexington Historical Society of the decision. Tom Steele was absent from the meeting, and there was no written report on behalf of RCN. Jeanne Canale had two items to report related to RCN. The first was that she had seen numerous complaints regarding failures with their digital TV service following a firmware upgrade to the set top boxes. Jeanne also passed along a complaint from Hank Manz regarding audio quality. Lynn was absent. Jeanne Canale distributed a letter and related material regarding changes to Verizon’s TV packages. It constituted a price hike. Jeanne Canale made her report. Printout from the accounting system was distributed. The printout included recent payments from RCN, Comcast and the first payment from Verizon. Questions were raised regarding payments to Anderson & Krieger. Jeanne Krieger stated that she would investigate. Jeanne Krieger introduced George Burnell, who was appointed as the Selectmen’s appointee on the Board of LexMedia. Jeanne Canale introduced Linda Roemer, who is seeking appointment to the CAC. Dave Becker then reported on the status of the upgrade of the Selectmen’s Meeting Room electronics. He started by offering a history of the effort. He then reported that ADTECH had responded to his specification with a new proposal, which was priced substantially higher than their original and not meeting the specification. The new proposal was priced at $48k. Dave talked with ADTECH’s principal, Jim Welsh, in an effort to address the technical issues and bring the price down. The subsequent proposal was “closer to the mark”, and down to $34k, which was still higher than the original. Jeanne Krieger conveyed a request from Tom Griffith that at least one of the cameras in the new setup be “high quality”, for use in picking up image of the projector. Dave responded that this was not necessary, because the new projection system includes a high quality camera. No vote was taken on the expenditure for the SMR electronics. Jeanne Canale mentioned the latest invoices that George Preston had copied by email to members of the CAC. LexMedia has a board meeting scheduled for January 8, so it is expected that LexMedia’s appearance before the Board of Selectmen would happen on January 22. Jeanne will email copies of the approved CAC minutes to LexMedia representatives, and arrange for LexMedia to automatically received copies of future minutes as they are sent to the Town Clerk and Selectmen’s Office. Jim Gonzalez made spoke briefly about the presentation of the LexMedia evaluation report to the Board of Selectmen. George Burnell, who was recently added to the LexMedia Board as the Selectmen’s appointee introduced himself. Mr. Burnell asked for an “informal read” on the relationship between LexMedia and the CAC, current performance, etc. Jim Gonzalez explained that the “39 Questions” were viewed as “easy pitches”, and expressed surprise at LexMedia’s response to them. Linda Roemer expressed shock at learning at the public hearing that there was no complaint log. Mr. Burnell identified money, volunteers, Kline Hall and fundraising as issues. He also mentioned “human relations” as something to be addressed. st Ed Vail reported on behalf of the Wireless Subcommittee: 1Sprint proposal in process, nd 2 Sprint proposal just received, old proposal for the Church of Our Redeemer coming back to life, by-law rework underway. Jeanne Krieger advised on timing of presentation to other Boards and Committees relative to the next Town Meeting. Under new business, Jeanne Canale asked for contributions to the CAC’s section of the Town annual report. The contributions were to be to her no later than Wednesday, December 27. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15pm.