HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-09-02-CAC-min.pdf Communications Advisory Committee
Minutes of September 2, 2004
The meeting was called to order at 5:55 Committee members present were:
Steve Ellis, Jeanne Canale, Dave Buczkowski,Ed Vail, Dave Becker, Mike Geene, Tim
Counihan, Connie Rawson, Bill Kofoed
Guests: Tom Steel (RCN), Jeanne Krieger (Board of Selectmen), Jane Lyman
(Comcast), David Kessler(Nonprofit Net), Narain Bhatia (Nonprofit Net), and Myron
Rosenblum (Lexington Crafts Society)
The minutes from the June 17 meeting were approved.
The minutes from the July 29 meeting were approved as amended (Merriam should be
changed to Miriam).
Minutes from the August 22 meeting did not require approval as there was not a quorum.
Jeanne C. handed out a copy of a letter from Thomas K. Steel, Jr. to the Board of
Selectmen about changes to the channel lineup.
RCN Report: Tom Steel briefed the committee on RCN's hopes to emerge from Chapter
11 in 4th quarter of 2004
• RCN has requested an amendment to the franchise as they dont expect to be able
to honor their commitments to finish the build out as scheduled among other
issues. Dave Becker strongly opposes any change to the existing franchise. This
issue will be put on the agenda for discussion at the next meeting. Steve, Tom
and Dave Buczkowski will meet to discuss amending the franchise.
• Currently RCN provides a Ti line for use by Lexington. Bandwidth on this has
proved inadequate and a 5MB line is being rented to provide extra bandwidth.
Connie Rawson said that theyre still waiting for RCN to run cable to the new Harrington
School. Connie C. will follow up on this.
Comcast Report:
• Jane Lyman handed a couple of letters to Dave Becker. These are additions to the
negotiated settlement that will also be provided to the Board of Selectmen. She
also handed out a map of the updated system plan for the town. She was asked
about removal of double wires from the poles. It has been done except where the
wires are bundled with the I-net which makes it very difficult to remove them.
• Since subscribers will no longer be able to pay their bills at Comcast, the Board of
Selectmen has expressed concern about the timeliness of the payments being
credited by Comcast. Jane believes that payments will get posted within 24
hours. She will double check on this.
David Kessler and Narain Bhatia gave a presentation on the Nonprofit Net. This is a
nonprofit corporation whose goal is to help organizations within a community gain access
to resources within that community The meeting format is a speaker, networking and
people presenting issues with an opportunity for fellow members to help and offer advice.
Memberships are scaled, starting at$100.00. Organizations can post volunteer
opportunities and people can post volunteer opportunities wanted. The next meeting is
September 15 from 3-5. Dave Becker raised the issue that the CAC is not eligible to join
the organization. The media center will be run by a different group of people and ifs up
to them to decide whether or not to join. Jeanne K. feels that it would be a valuable
resource to a developing organization as there's a broad base of experience to draw on.
Dave Becker suggested that they contact the local cable companies and get a message
displayed on the public access channels. Dave will get them contact information at
Comcast and RCN Whether or not to join Nonprofit Net is an agenda item for
discussion at the next subcommittee meeting of the media center.
Lexington Crafts Society Myron Rosenblum gave a presentation to the committee. He
would like help on getting his auction produced and broadcast simultaneously on
Comcast and RCN It's currently scheduled for December 5 from 8-9 pm. As the media
center does not exist, the committee could be of limited assistance. The committee did
give him suggestions on who to contact.
Report on the Media Center. The subcommittee has encountered unexpected problems in
getting the Board of Conveners approved and seated. The Board of Selectmen wishes to
have a list of the alternate forms of government for a media center and the pros and cons
of each. In addition there are legal issues associated with the Town renting/leasing space
in Cary Hall to the media center and associated with the Town passing on the cable-
related funds to the nonprofit organization formed to run the media center. David Becker
and Jim Akimchuk have contacted several sources and asked for legal opinions on these
matters. Contacts have included local Town Counsels, legal experts in the field and
Nancy Richard, Chair of Mass Access, an association of Media Centers. So far, no firm
legal answer has been received.
Negotiation Committee: Dave Becker did a presentation to the Board of Selectmen on
the result of the negotiation with Comcast. They approved the new contract.
Complaints: Mike had one complaint about programming. He called back twice and left
messages, and did not receive any response. This complaint is considered closed. Steve
received a complaint about the presentation of the Board of Selectmen meeting being cut
off. The probably cause was that the length of the meeting exceeded the length of the
tape. The subscriber probably didn't wait for the next tape to be loaded.
Antenna/Wireless report: No new applications. No changes to existing applications.
Reappointments: Six people are up for reappointment. All wish to be reappointed except
Mike. Mike's concern is that since he's away 5 months of the year he doesn't feel that he
an effective member. The suggestion was made that an article be put in the paper. He's
willing to stay on until he is replaced. The suggestion was made that Jim Akimchuk be
asked if he'd be willing to be appointed. Miriam offered to speak to him about this.
The date of the next meeting is October 21