HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-06-17-CAC-min.pdf Communications Advisory Committee Minutes
June 17, 2004
The meeting was called to order at 5:51
Attending:
CAC:, Jeanne Canale, , Miriam Boucher, Dave Buczkowski, Steve Ellis,
Mike Greene, Maria Kieslich, Mike Morrissey, Ed Vail
RCN: Tom Steele
Guests: Arthur Lazarus, Jack Cunha, Jim Akimchuk
Minutes from the May 20 CAC meeting were approved.
RCN Report: Tom Steele briefed the Committee on the status of the RCN
Bankruptcy proceedings and stated that since these proceedings were at RCN's
parent company level, he felt that they would not impact RCN's operations in
delivering cable service to the Town.
On the topic of the status of removing old system cable, Steve noted that he had
observed them; a Comcast engineer is being assigned and needs to know where
the old cables are Connie will be the Point of Contact for routing the request to
the Town.
The Committee discussed RCN's request for a release from the build-out
obligations and a Reduction of Bond. Several release/waiver alternatives were
explored for the build-out request. In addition to a possible financial consideration
offer by RCN for the bond reduction, possibilities for other In-Kind considerations
were raised. Dave Buczkowski and Steve Ellis will form a Sub-Committee to
gather additional ideas to convey to Tom Steele. Tom will send a formal letter to
the Selectmen and copy Dave.
The Negotiations Sub-committee reported that they had received the RFP
response from Comcast and were not satisfied with it. They have a meeting
scheduled with Jane Lyman and begin discussions.
Miriam Boucher reported that the Community Media Center (CMC) Sub-
committee had been educated by Rika Welsh about what a Board of Conveners
(BOC) was. We have decided to retain her services to help us seat the BOC,
educate them and manage the meetings. We've started to solicit suggestions for
potential members of the BOC and to develop some criteria for selection. We've
started to look at the physical aspects of a CMC — specifically equipment and
potential location. We're looking to keep the citizens of Lexington informed as to
d
what's going on by contacting people who currently produce shows, produce a
show ourselves and potentially put an article in the Minuteman. Committee
members with ideas in these areas should send them to Miriam. A guest, Jack
Cunha, handed out a "Proposal to Provide Lexington Cable Access" Another
guest, Arthur Lazarus, requested that the Sub-Committee keep the TMMA
informed.
Steve Ellis reported that the proposed new Form 100 development process was
difficult due to the long time lag from the original Adams-Russell Cablevision-era
language versus the needs of the Comcast era.
Ed Vail reported that a request by Tim Stakes, T-Mobile, for an explanation of the
Town's application process was received in preparation for an application for a
cellular antenna off of Concord avenue and responded to.
Maria Kieslich, May complaints contact, said that one was received regarding a
homeowner desiring cable access in an underground wired neighborhood and
that the complaint was resolved.
Jeanne mentioned that she had received requests on handling the taping and
broadcasting of non-Selectmen and Town meeting events. After discussion, the
committee noted that developing a full set of guidelines and procedures for all the
possible request types wasn't practical in the short term, and that the current
processes and channels would be used until the Access Corporation assumed
them.
Miriam's requests for timely or use duplicate work/home email addresses for
Committee correspondence was supported by the Committee as a good practice.
Next Meeting: September 2th (Changed from the 9th since the meeting); Note:
there might be a special meeting required during the Summer).
Respectfully submitted,
Ed Vail,
Acting Secretary