HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-12-20-CAC-min.pdf Communications Advisory Committee
Minutes of December 20, 2001 meeting.
Committee members attending were Jane Gharibian (Chair), Miriam Boucher,
Steve Ellis, David Kanter, Mike Morrisey, Jennifer Taub, Robert Warshawer, Bill
Kofoed, Ed Vail, and David Becker with guest Tim Counihan.
RCN and ATT were not represented. The Boy Scouts sent over Jimmy Goodrich and
Christopher Capian to monitor how a town committee works.
This was Robert Warshawer s last meeting. Raul Marques tendered his resignation at the
beginning of the meeting.
The minutes of the 11/15/01 meeting were accepted.
AT&T Status:
Peggy Sullivan would still like to accelerate negotiations on the license renewal. It was
pointed out that we should not necessarily rush through the negotiation but accelerate our
initial analysis of the contract so we can be well prepared for the negotiation. To that
end, Jennifer Taub is scheduling time with the subcommittee to breakup the sections for
review and get together the first week of January
ATT is replacing pedestals at the MDU(Multiple Dwelling Unit) site without notifying
property owners. Mr. Adler is not satisfied with the accommodations that ATT has
offered for the placement of one of the pedestals on his property Peggy needs to be
notified to check on the remedy that has been proposed to make sure that both sides are
satisfied.
RCN Status:
-RCN has not yet named a replacement for Steve Grossman, and the company
did not have a representative at the meeting. However, Tom Steel sent a
written status report, which has been distributed to CAC members.
-EAS (Emergency Alert System) -David Becker brought up the issue of the need to test
this capability with RCN. It is not clear if there is a real time need to originate the signal
from the firehouse or if a prerecorded notice would suffice from the headend. David will
be in communication with John Aldrich, the RCN Director of Network Implementation &
Networking to resolve this.
-Hancock Church petition: Tom Steele sent a letter to Reverend Gay Godfrey declining to
provide a connection for the Hancock Church since it would require digging. Jane
Gharibian will call the Reverend to see if Tom's proposed solution of mailing tapes will
work for her and her constituents.
-Trinity Covenant petition-Reverend Christopher Hayden submitted this petition to
complain about non coverage by RCN of their church service. Jane will call the
Reverend to check on a resolution to this issue.
-Live town meeting coverage—Jane Gharibian will contact RCN to establish a deadline
for testing the feed to support live town meetings. If the closed captioning is stripped off
in transmission to the headend, RCN will need to get tapes from the meetings with the
closed captioning intact for repeated viewing of the broadcast.
Access Corporation. Tim Counihan and David Becker attended the PEG Access
Leadership Institute seminar on 11/30/01
Areas covered at seminar
-Sec'y of State's office: -How to set up a non-profit corporation, how to how to get tax-
free status (Federal), others there willing to share their experience with us
-Operational and Facility needs: Ascertainment-What does community need/want
(w/professional help), Try for rent-free building, It's a business: Real budgets, schedules,
meeting minutes, action item tracking, audits, annual report, You need a firm hand at the
tiller(Executive Director),
-Insurance for facilities and staff: Loss, Liability(Staff, Board members, volunteers)
-Personnel policies: Written personnel manual, Fairness, Firmness
-Working with Boards: Board membership, Selection process (elected, appointed),
Division of responsibilities (Board vs Executive Director)
-Resources: Mass. access corporations (advice, sample documents, ), Alliance for
Community Media, Mass. Attorney-General's office, National Center for Non-Profit
Boards
Dave Becker brought up a motion which was passed to form a subcommittee consisting
of Tim Counihan, David Becker and Mike Morrisey to investigate the most effective and
timely way to accomplish an ascertainment for Lexington. They will look at doing it
ourselves or hiring an outside firm. They will report back in January
Wireless Report by David Kanter.
Status on Applications for Wireless-Communication Facilities
David Kanter reported that he has reviewed Sprint PCS' formal application for a facility
at the Church of Our Redeemer, 6 Meriam St, and he expects the application to come
before the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) at its 10 Jan 2002 meeting. He has also
reviewed a draft of Sprint PCS' application for a facility at the St. Paul Evangelical
Church, 451 Lowell St and he has been contacted again by a representative for
Northcoast PCS who is working on an application for a facility on a commerical building
on Spring St.
At its 15 November meeting, the ZBA approved the facility requested by Cingular
Wireless at the Town's Water Tanks. David is awaiting drafts, for his review, of the ZBA
decisions on both that action as well as the approval granted on 25 October for a Sprint
PCS facility at the Cranberry Hill Office Building.
Technical Chanties for Section 15 (Wireless Communication Facilities) of the Lexington
Zoning By-Law
David Kanter made a final request--following up on the topic raised at the November
meeting--for any suggested technical change that the Committee might want made to
Section 15 The few he is considering address the definition of a tower, how heights are
measured, etc.,but none are considered critical as the ZBA can handle the issues--with
advice from the Committee--even if no changes are made to the By-Law at this time.
Town Network Status
Steve Ellis reported that SCOLA is up and running however, there is no cable drop in the
high school control room. ATT will make the connection in the next week or two.
RCN's connection to the system is not planned. The CAC has to better define the
origination points to RCN so that RCN can install/provision these points. The need for
an INET administrator was tabled for two months. There is no no RCN network
administrator strategy defined.
Other
-David Kanter pointed out that there was a misrepresentation that the July&August
meetings were cancelled. The correct position is that there are no scheduled meetings in
July and August.
-Ed Vail is on Complaints in January
-The next meeting is scheduled for January 17 at 5 45 P.M.
-The meeting was adjourned at 7.30 P.M.
Minutes submitted by Bill Kofoed, acting secretary