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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-03-28-HATS-min HATS Meeting March 28, 2013 Meeting Minutes Members Present: Mike Rosenberg, Bedford Selectmen; Stephen Ng, Concord Selectmen; Peter Braun, Lincoln Selectmen Other Attendees: Dorothy Steele and Sharon Williams, Massport; Lisa Mustapich, Bedford Planning; Andy Friedlich, Lexington HATS Representative; Margaret Coppe, Lexington School Committee, Katie Winchell, Madeleine Altman, Ron Cordes, Jim Shea, Bedford Community Television Representatives, Jim Cunningham, Lincoln Community Television Representative; Mark McMinn, Lexington Community Television Representative; Lindsay Alaimo, Kester Krueger, Concord Community Television Representatives In the unexpected absence of Ms Mauger, Mr Rosenberg opened the meeting at 7 30 p m with welcome and introductions at the Concord Town House, located at 22 Monument Square, Concord, Massachusetts. Elect Chair. Mr. Braun moved that the Committee elect Mr. Rosenberg as the HATS Chair beginning with this meeting. Vote. Approved 3-0-0. Mr. Rosenberg said he is happy to serve as Chair and believe the HATS Committee is a great resource that will increase in importance in future years Discussion about local cable television: Mr. Rosenberg mentioned the importance of the local cable television networks and the community television members introduced themselves Operation structure and program delivery was discussed Lindsay Alaimo, Concord, began with a description of their program (CCTV) which runs in Concord and Carlisle, with a 3-person staff. They are an independently run, incorporated nonprofit and have programs that run on channels 8, 9 and 99 in both towns. Viewing includes public education government (PEG) and she further summarized offered programming Funding is primarily from Comcast due to a Town agreement and the limited sale of DVD's There are no major fundraising efforts CCTV will be built into the high school during the current high school building project Their websites are www.concordtv.ora and www.carlisletv.org. They offer live streaming as well as a video on demand, cover government meetings and school events, and have a training facility that serves both communities. The agreement between Concord and Carlisle was discussed Jim Cunningham, Lincoln, said their program is run by the Town and as capital is limited, staff is limited (they have 3 volunteers). There is no specific training provided unless a request is received and he asked if Concord could provide training, and they can. They offer video playback on the web (see schedule via lincolntv.pegcentral.com) and they index meetings, which makes searching and viewing easier There has also been consideration of providing a specific web page Equipment and benefits were discussed. The Lincoln Town Offices are being restored and in a few months they will be back up and running with new equipment. They currently broadcast from the school. Video over IP will be installed when they move back to town offices and it will be possible to link with other towns Linking through MassAccess was discussed Madeleine Altman, Bedford, said there is a lot of commonality in Bedford with other towns. They are on MassServe and PegMedia and share with other towns which works well. Jim Shea, Bedford, works for the municipality and gave background on access and price control. In the past, the cable servicer was most responsible but they decided to pay the municipality to provide access, pass through the cost and therefore spread the burden across subscribers, who pay a small fee each month for franchise related costs. The market is shared between Comcast and Verizon. Bedford Community Access Television is on a 3-year contract and currently provides this service (their contract is due to renew soon with Comcast and is being reviewed). There was discussion regarding subscribers accessing TV through the internet, contracts and services, equipment, training, access and revenue Ms Altman recommended membership in the Alliance for Community Media, who is a good resource and envisions having town based intranets. Mark McMinn, Lexington, was not in Lexington when contracts were set up and they have 3 full-time and 2 part-time employees. They use a nice facility at Avalon at Lexington Hills Complex that was negotiated by the Selectmen during the planning process, providing a low cost alternative for Lexington Systems are similar to other municipalities, they made a switch to high definition and they are PEG on all three channels; this works well. Schools and access, high definition broadcasts, contracts and renewals, equipment structures, bandwidth and communication with Comcast were discussed Local DVD demand, staff time to process and community program sharing were discussed along with Bedford's new hosted show, Bedford Common, and use of interns. Mr. Braun reiterated the HATS commitment to reinforce a relationship with HAFB and asked if there are ways to include HAFB residents. Ms. Altmann said she has worked with HAFB, who has their own TV studio and production house, and they work together to cover events such as homecoming and their Starbase STEM program HAFB students go to BHS and take production classes and they have an intern from the base There was a discussion regarding how to further involve the general public including the new National Guard Headquarters. A suggestion was made for the Committee to contact their local representatives, who could to redirect to the correct people to involve. Mr Rosenberg said the discussion was helpful and thanked everyone HATS terms: The Committee discussed the terms for determining appointments. The MOA for the HATS predecessor (Towns and Electronic Systems Division Growth and Development Committee) had 3 year terms, conditional on voted replacement The Committee discussed current HATS terms, mentioning that staggered terms could protect the relationships developed as a result of the Committee. It was agreed that annual appointments should be continued. Bedford litigation: Mr. Rosenberg brought up the Hartwell Road land area contiguous to the airfield. There had previously been occupied housing in a trailer park on either side of the road but this was phased out. The land is owned by the port authority. It reverted to Massport and is now vacant An RFP was submitted to develop the part not contiguous to the airfield There was one bidder that owns land contiguous to The Edge, an ice skating facility. They want to expand operations and install synthetic turf that would eventually be converted to ice. The Bedford Selectmen discussed this project and made a request from the Superior Court asking for judgement to determine if the port authority is exempt from local zoning and building control, as they were uncertain whether this falls under Town or State authority The Committee discussed the facility and Bedford's agreement with Massport to let the project go forward Update on transportation issues: Mr. Braun gave a summary of the status of the Rt 2 project -- he asked his staff to prepare it This week and next week, there will be daily east and west bound lane closures, which is working well so far Blasting will begin the following two weeks No night work is currently scheduled. Tree cutting, root removal and temporary widening is continuing. Earth work and rock excavation will be commencing soon on the east bound side. Drainage work is commencing and ledge blasting toward the east end will commence in the next 2 weeks -- 48 hours notice will be given before blasting will begin Surveying is underway Mr Ng mentioned there is a 12 inch main nearby Project timelines and traffic issues were discussed The project is scheduled to be completed in 2016. There will be water main work being done in Lexington on Bedford Street that could also cause traffic delays Mr Braun discussed a project in the overlay district in Lincoln that could begin in about a year -- through an amendment to build on the open space (formerly planned to be cottages but will now be a nursing home and sold to Benchmark Senior Living). Access was discussed. Approval of Minutes Mr. Rosenberg will consult with Ms. Mauger regarding including appropriate voting members to approve the minutes. Otherwise, the minutes will be approved as notes. Next meeting date, location and possible agenda items The Committee discussed meeting dates. The next meetings are scheduled for May 2, 2013, and June 27, 2013, location TBD (but likely in Concord). Upcoming agenda items were discussed as follows • the National Guard to include discussions about programming, changes, the impact of the sequester and conversations with General Rice regarding synergies between the National Guard and the Air Force and what HATS can do to assist • remote participation on Committees - Concord has adopted this, Bedford has not addressed this • strategies on retiree health benefits and OPEB trusts, to include Finance Committee members • PILOTS agreements • municipal involvement of economic development and housing demand • an update from the HAFB Colonel The Committee discussed invitations for future meetings as well as the impact on the local area of the impending 20% furlough sequester cut. Adjourn. Mr. Braun made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Ng seconded the motion. Vote. Approved 3-0-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9.14 p.m.