HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-12-08-CAC-min RECEIVED
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TOWN OF LEXINGTON TOWN
C
COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEELEXINGTON MA
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2022
CONDUCTED BY REMOTE PARTICIPATION
1. Call to order and roll call.
Communications Advisory Committee (CAC) Chair Kenneth Pogran called the meeting to order
at 6:34 PM and called the roll. The meeting was conducted remotely via Zoom.
Members Present (via Zoom): Ken Pogran, Chair; Bob Avallone, Dave Becker, Smita Desai,
Dorinda Goodman, Nick Lauriat, P.K. Shiu, Ramin Taraz, Rita Vachani
Members Absent: Dave Buczkowski, Steve Kaufman
Quorum: A quorum of members was present.
Others Present: Doug Lucente, Select Board; Niall Connors, Verizon
Materials Referenced: Draft Minutes of the October 20, 2022 CAC meeting; Draft CAC
response to the LexMedia FY22 Annual Report; LexMedia's FY22 Annual Report.
2. Review and VOTE to approve minutes of the CAC October 20, 2022 meeting
The draft minutes of the October 20, 2022 meeting, as amended by B. Avallone were reviewed.
B. Avallone moved to approve the minutes, R. Taraz seconded. The committee approved, with
D. Goodman abstaining.
3. Select Board liaison report: Doug Lucente
Board supported $100,000 item in budget to support loss of PEG revenue. D. Lucente indicated
that this is a year when costs have increased significantly, and budgets are tighter than ever. D.
Lucente said that LexMedia may be the only program improvement request approved this year.
D. Lucente thought it was unlikely Town Meeting would strike the item once it's been approved
by the Select Board.
R. Vachani indicated that she heard from Michelle Ciccolo, one of the State Representatives for
Lexington, that the Commonwealth may be pursuing mechanisms to ensure funding for public
media. D. Lucente said he would put this on his list of questions for M. Ciccolo.
4. Service provider reports
Niall Connors from Verizon indicated that he understood concerns about loss of PEG revenue.
N. Connors indicated Verizon continues to renew licenses. They have 114 communities in
Massachusetts, and while they're not looking to expand, they continue to renew licenses. N.
Connors indicated that they consider Lexington to be a very important municipality to Verizon.
N. Connors said they have never exercised a termination clause in any of their 1,175 locations in
the numerous states served by Verizon.
N. Connors explained the difference between Title 2 and Title 6 providers.
5. Chairman's Report: Ken Pogran
Ken Pogran thanked committee members for providing contact information and said he would
follow-up with anyone who did not indicate whether it was okay to share contact information
with other committee members.
K. Pogran said that B. Avallone volunteered to help with updating the committee webpage. K.
Pogran said the town can no longer post"potential meetings" without an agenda, and therefore
the committee web page should include regular meeting times and locations. K. Pogran also
noted that contracts linked on the page are obsolete.
D. Lucente sympathized that the committee couldn't post"normal meeting times" in the town
calendar and said the previous Town Clerk had strongly discouraged posting "pro forma"
agendas. He said the new Town Clerk might feel differently but didn't expect significant
change.
6. Review LexMedia Annual Report: Ken Pogran, Rita Vachani, Smita Desai
Several committee members met with Florence DelSanto ahead of the CAC meeting due to the
conflict with the LexMedia annual meeting.
K. Pogran described LexMedia's efforts to develop a local news offering.
K. Pogran noted that while the contract was specific about requirements for quarterly reports, it
was largely silent on requirements for the annual report. The annual report also serves as the Q4
report. Rita Vachani reviewed the annual report for the committee and indicated the LexMedia
working group was complimentary for the production quality and content of the report.
B. Avallone moved, S. Desai seconded a motion to approve the committee response to the
LexMedia annual report.
6. Comcast cable television license renewal update—P.K Shin
P.K. Shiu indicated there was a working group meeting scheduled for next week.
7. Town IT update—Dorinda Goodman
Dorinda Goodman said the major topic was the phone outages this fall, including the unexpected
disconnection of copper phone service (both POTS and TI service). IT had to pick up the slack
since the Facilities person responsible retired.
N. Connors talked about the Network Transformation project, and indicated he was surprised the
town wasn't better notified. D. Goodman said that Verizon sent individual letters to the service
address, but that it wasn't a well-organized notification program. N. Connors promised to
investigate.
8. Wireless facility applications—Ken Pogran, Nick Lauriat
Ken Pogran briefly described the history of the zoning bylaws and the special permit process.
K. Pogran noted that AT&T is finally prepared to build the cell tower site behind the police
station, and that Ed Pare had reached out to the committee on behalf of AT&T because that's
what was specified in the bylaws, even if it was no longer strictly required.
K. Pogran said the zoning bylaw was really"broken" at this point, and that the committee needed
to reach out to appropriate town personnel to revise the process. Likely after the first of the year.
9. Complaints
There were no complaints in the period October to December (to-date). K. Pogran said that he
thought it was testament to our providers performance.
D. Goodman said that she had received (through the Town Manager) a complaint about a lack of
wireless coverage for a new house here in Lexington. The committee briefly discussed its role in
supporting wireless carriers.
10. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 7:41 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Nicholas Lauriat
Recording Secretary