HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-03-16-CAC-min RECEIVED
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TOWN OF LEXINGTON TOWN CL,ERK
COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
LEXINGTON MA
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF MARCH 16, 2023
CONDUCTED BY REMOTE PARTICIPATION
1. Call to order and roll call.
Communications Advisory Committee (CAC) Chair Kenneth Pogran called the meeting to order
at approximately 6:40 PM and called the roll. The meeting was conducted remotely via Zoom.
Members Present (via Zoom): Ken Pogran, Chair; Bob Avallone, Dave Becker, Dave
Buczkowski, Smita Desai, Steve Kaufman, Nick Lauriat, P.K. Shiu, Ramin Taraz
Members Absent: Dorinda Goodman, Rita Vachani
Quorum: A quorum of members was present.
Others Present: Doug Lucente, Select Board.
Materials Referenced: Draft minutes of the February 16, 2023 CAC meeting.
2. Review and VOTE to approve minutes of the CAC February 16, 2023 meeting
The minutes of the February 161h meeting were reviewed and approved by all except for two
abstentions.
3. Select Board liaison report: Doug Lucente
Mr. Lucente mentioned that the Select Board (SB)was busy preparing for Town Meeting and the
budget. The budget is tight this year, but it was helped but an influx of additional money from
the Commonwealth due to the new governor.
The part of the budget that affects CAC is the PEG appropriation for which Mr. Lucente expects
no issue.
Mr. Lucente discuss remote vs. in-person meetings. The Commonwealth has not yet approved
the continuation of remote meetings. He told the group that Town Hall has a couple of rooms
that are equipped to allow a hybrid meeting.
4. Service provider reports
No service providers were present, so no report this month.
5. Chairman's Report: Ken Pogran
a. Ethics and conflict of interest law acknowledgement and training reminders.
Mr. Pogran reminded the members to fill out their ethics forms and complete
their training if it is their time to do so.
b. Remote vs. in-person meetings;potential legislative action and committee
member preferences.
There was a discussion among the members regarding in-person vs. remote
meeting. The issue is that the Commonwealth at this time has not extended the
deadline of March 31, 2023 to allow remote meetings to continue.
Most members prefer a hybrid approach where they would attend in person
where possible but remote in when necessary. Mr. Pogran will look into
setting up an in-person meeting for April. Members should inform Mr. Pogran
if they are unable to attend in person in April.
c. Cable provider subscriber information.
Mr. Pogran asked members if they would like to receive the detailed
information sent by providers. Only Mr. Becker and Mr. Buczkowski were
interested. Mr. Avallone suggested that the documents could be put on the
web site for viewing by members as desired.
7. Comcast Cable television license renewal update—Ken Pogran, P. K. Shin, Dave Becker,
Dave Buczkowski and Nick Lauriat
Mr. Pogran opened the discussion by describing how this was done in the past. The hearing
would be opened by a member of the Select Board (SB) and then turned over to a member of the
CAC who would solicit comments from the public. The public would be invited to submit
written comments. The meeting would be ended by the SB member. It would be reopened at an
SB meeting for the purpose of accepting the written comments from the public. Mr. Pogran
mentioned that although our cable attorney, Mr. August, would prefer a SB hearing, there is no
legal requirement to do so.
Mr. Lucente said that the SB holds hearing like this all the time, they tend to be short, and it is
not a burden for the SB to conduct them.
Mr. Pogran then invited the CAC members to give their opinion as to what we should do this
time. Messrs. Becker, Buczkowski, Lauriat, Shiu, Taraz and Ms. Desai all favored the idea of
having the CAC conduct the hearing but Messrs. Kaufman and Avallone favored having a
preliminary hearing by the CAC but follow that with an SB hearing. After some discussion, Mr.
Pogran determined that the consensus was to have a hearing by the CAC but follow that up by a
hearing at the SB.
This was followed by some discussion as to where to publicize the event, such as having
Lexington's public officer send a notice in his newsletter to residents. Mr. Avallone suggested
the Lexington Observer.
8. Town IT Update—Dorinda Goodman
Ms. Goodman was absent from the meeting so there was no report, but Messrs. Pogran and
Lucente reported that there was a telephone outage at both Town Hall and the school system.
8. Wireless facility applications —Nick Lauriat
Mr. Lauriat reported that there was no activity this month.
9. Complaints
There were no complaints in the period February and March (to-date).
10. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7.40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Avallone
Recording Secretary