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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-12-21-CAC-min 1 TOWN OF LEXINGTON COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF DECEMBER 21, 2023 PARKER ROOM, TOWN OFFICE BUILDING CONDUCTED IN-PERSON AND BY REMOTE PARTICIPATION 1. Call to order and roll call. Communications Advisory Committee (CAC) Chair Kenneth Pogran called the meeting to order at 6:35 PM and called the roll. The meeting was conducted in-person in the Parker Room of the Town Office Building and remotely via Zoom. Members Present In-Person: Ken Pogran, Chair; Bob Avallone, Shabbir Bagasrawala, Dave Buczkowski, Steve Kaufman, Nick Lauriat. Members Present via Zoom: Dave Becker, Smita Desai, Dorinda Goodman, P.K. Shiu, Rita Vachani Quorum: A quorum of members was present. Others Present: Florence DelSanto, Lex Media Materials Referenced: Draft minutes of the November 16, 2023 meeting; Draft Response to LexMedia 2024Q1 Report, Draft Response to LexMedia Annual Report 2. Welcome new member. The chair welcomed the newest member Shabbir Bagasrawala. 3. Chairman’s Report: Ken Pogran The necessity that all members complete the Conflict of Interest training every two years was discussed by the chair. It was pointed out during discussion that this is a condition of reappointment. Discussion of Wireless services included the idea that the Wireless working group should meet among themselves and then meet with the wireless providers before going to the Select Board to determine to what extent CAC should oversee the wireless providers. Mr. Kaufman will take the lead on this initiative. 2 4. Review and VOTE to approve minutes of the CAC November 16, 2023 meeting. The minutes of the November 19, 2023 meeting, recorded by Dave Buczkowski, were reviewed, and approved unanimously by roll call vote. 5. Select Board liaison report – None. 6. Service provider reports – None 7. Lex Media update Ms. DelSanto reported on their newest hire Jake Klinzing. Mr. Klinzing will take the load off other employees by being a community new producer and editor. The annual meeting is postponed until February to accommodate a speaker, Janet Wu. The work on renovating the kitchen continues. LexLocal, a Lexington based news show, is a new initiative. The coverage has been about holiday events, immigrants, and the Massachusetts teacher of the year, a Hastings school teacher. The usual coverage of sports, concerts and government events continues. Mr. Pogran mentioned that the CAC would like to resume the practice of holding one of our meetings annually at LexMedia. Other initiatives were a partnership with the local Chamber of Commerce to promote new businesses and partnership with the Cotting school. LexMedia has highlighted some interesting films being made by the Lexington Venue. Mr. Kaufman brought up the subject of the use and social media to promote LexMedia. Ms. DelSanto responded that this is already being done. 8. Review LexMedia FY2023 Annual Report Mr. Avallone had a few questions for Ms. DelSanto. “In the section on Inventory, why do some items contain a purchase price and others do not?” The answer: “These items are so old that the price is not known or in was part of a larger purpose.” “Why are some items in the Inventory list crossed out. The answer: “These are items that were taking of service or are no longer possessed by LexMedia and should probably be removed from the report. “ “Does LexMedia have the auditor reviewed financial statements for FY 2023, yet?” The answer: “This has not been received.” 3 Mr. Kaufman brought up the subject of backup in case of weather events or hacking. A discussion ensued and it was suggested that this might be better handled in executive session to avoid compromising methods and practices. The role of LexMedia in handling communication in the event of a town emergency was also discussed. Ms. Vachani raised the question as to whether this issue is better handled by the town itself or LexMedia. In general, it was agreed by the committee members that LexMedia did an outstanding job in the report. A motion to approve the draft response was made, seconded, and approved unanimously. 9. Review of the LexMedia FY2024 Q1 Report Ms. Vachani reviewed the draft of the response agreeing that the report was well done. A motion to approve the draft response was made, seconded, and approved unanimously. 10. Comcast License Update – Mr. Pogran reviewed the progress of the negotiations. The committee’s draft was sent to our attorney Mr. August and our working group consisting of Messrs. Buczkowski, Becker, and Lauriat. Our response needs to be sent to our Comcast representative, Kerry Morris. The main sticking point is the number of HD (High Definition) PEG channels that will be created. The committee would like three HD PEG channels but at least one while retaining all three SD (Standard definition) channels. Comcast has said, in negotiating with other municipalities, that if they add an HD one, we will have to give up an SD one. The working group will investigate this further; A proposal must be made five months before the deadline. Mr. August, our attorney, is working on this. 11. Town IT Update Ms. Goodman did not have much new to report. They are working on the new Police Station. Also finalizing cyber installation. 12. Complaints – No complaints were reported in November and so far in December. Mr. Becker is handling December, Ms. Vachani will cover January and Mr. Lauriat will cover February. 13. Adjournment – A Motion to Adjourn was made by Mr. Buczkowski and seconded by Mr. Avallone to adjourn at 7:35 pm. It was approved unanimously, Respectfully submitted, Bob Avallone Recording Secretary 4