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TOWNOFLEXINGTON
COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF MARCH 16, 2017
Call to order. CAC Chair Kenneth Pogran called the meeting to order at 6.32 PM in the
Parker Room (G-15) of the Town Office Building, 1625 Massachusetts Avenue.
Members Present: Ken Pogran, Chair; Dave Becker, Dave Buczkowski, Smita Desai,
Dorinda Goodman, Steve Iverson, Nick Lauriat, Rita Vachani.
Members Absent: Ben Moroze.
Quorum: A quorum of members was present.
Others Present: Joe Pato, Board of Selectmen; Tim Counihan, LexMedia; Tom Steel, RCN.
Materials Referenced: CAC_Minutes_2017_0216_DRAFT;
CAC_Agenda_2017_0316_Final.
1.Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of February 16, 2017 were unanimously approved.
2.Carrier Reports
a.RCN: Tom Steel informed the committee that RCN’s ownership change was
completed and the transaction was closed.
He also said that RCN will be upgrading the PEG channels in all but 5 communities in
MA, to HD. LexMedia has already been provided with the equipment for 3 HD
channels, and the upgrade for Lexington is scheduled after Burlington, which is
currently in progress.
b.No representatives from Comcast or Verizon were present.
3.Selectman’s Report
Joe Pato indicated that he will be the official liaison from the Board of Selectmen to the
CAC.
4.Chairman’s Report - Ken Pogran
a.New member solicitation
Ken Pogran will reach out to community organizations to solicit new members.
b.Meeting with new town Finance Director
Ken will set up an introductory meeting and include Dave Becker and Rita Vachani.
c.May 2017 CAC meeting
The May meeting is planned to be held at LexMedia premises.
5.RCN hub relocation license amendment - RCN (Tom Steel)
RCN has drafted the amendment and required process will be followed to have it
approved. RCN will absorb full costs for publication of notices.
Question from committee (Dave Becker): language in the license should be reviewed to
ensure that any new payments from the town to RCN for fiber runs based on run length
are not higher due to the hub location in Arlington instead of Lexington.
6.Cable Operator Revenues – Dave Becker and Rita Vachani
Reviewed trends from 2006 – 2015 (information for 2016 was not complete) for: number
of subscribers by operator and in total; revenue by operator and in total. The total number
of subscribers shows a slight downward trend from 2013 on, consistent with national
trends. However, the total revenue still shows a slight upward trend as the average
revenue per user (ARPU) is still increasing.
Need to monitor these trends closely as the revenue is used to fund LexMedia and other
related technology needs.
7.LexMedia July 2017 contract extension – Smita Desai, Steve Iverson, Ken Pogran
The contract extension process has started and needs to be completed by July 2017. It will
go through the required steps of performance evaluation, public hearing, budget review
and formal presentation to Board of Selectmen. Performance evaluation started on March
1, 2017.
8.Wireless services update - Ken Pogran
The responses to the police station cell tower RFP are due this week. The deadline was
extended due to the storm.
No further updates on the planned Verizon small cell installation.
9.Town IT update - Dorinda Goodman
No update as Dorinda had to leave the meeting early due to a conflict with another
meeting.
10.Complaints - Nick Lauriat
One complaint was received from a resident of Avalon in March. The resident would like
RCN to provide service in the complex; currently, Comcast is the only provider at Avalon.
The request was forwarded to RCN.
Adjournment.The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Rita Vachani, Recording Secretary