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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-12-19-CAC-min.pdf LEXINGTON COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Discussion Notes,December 19, 2002 The following members assembled for a meeting of the Lexington CAC at 6:00 PM. Jane Gharibian (chair), Dave Becker, Miriam Boucher, Howard Cravis, Steve Ellis, and Diane Pursley Katie Kirkpatrick of RCN was also present. Since six members, fewer than a quorum, were present, no meeting of record was held, for this reason, the following are styled"discussion notes"rather than minutes. Equipment at Lexington High School Jane Gharibian said that Wendy Wilson faces this problem: A new studio camera would not be compatible with the older mixing/editing equipment at the School. Since the School has no budget to replace the latter equipment, and it is costly if not impossible to get repair parts for the existing camera, it is of doubtful value to acquire the new camera. Jane would like Steve Ellis to go with her to LHS and survey the equipment. Jane will e-mail Wendy Rika Welsh's Proposed Telephone Survey Rika Welsh has proposed an add-on phone survey, at an additional cost of$7K to $8K, for the Media Access project. Dave Becker pointed out that, although it would be of interest to have the data from such a survey (including subscriber satisfaction ratings), this add-on most likely would not give us the most 'bang for the buck" Jane Gharibian noted that citizens tend to decline to answer phone surveys, even those they might be interested in. Possible CAC Funds Held by Town of Lexington Selectman Bill Kennedy and Andy Friedlich, TMMA, are looking into this matter. RCN Report Katie Kirkpatrick gave out copies of her report, appended to these notes. Her discussion followed closely her written report, on SCOLA, broadcast of the religious channel, Cary Library connection, and shipping of tapes. On the last, Katie will talk to Peggy Sullivan of Comcast after January 1, as there seems to be an unwarranted delay in forwarding the tapes. On the religious channel, and public access generally, Katie will send the Committee updated information on channel assignments. We briefly discussed access at Clarke Middle School, not in Katie's report. It would be costly for RCN to install coaxial cable there. When the Town needs a site for Town Meeting while Cary Hall is unavailable, some possible sites are the National Heritage Museum, Clarke, and Lexington High School. Of these, the Museum is well set up for cable coverage, and LHS might also be suitable; Katie will talk to Connie Rawson about this. So, it may not be pressing to pursue an installation at Clarke that is suited for origination(Katie pointed out that RCN's contract obligation is to furnish the equivalent of residential cable TV service at Clarke). Media Access Task Force Dave Becker reviewed activities to date, including recruiting and educating the Task Force; he is pleased with progress so far. Rika Welsh will send a letter to Task Force members soliciting their lists of potential attendees at focus groups. Dave suggests that it works better if members of a given focus group have some interest(s) in common. Early in January, Rika will send out brochures inviting people to focus groups in the second week of February, with RSVPs. Dave noted that Harry Forsdick has set up a Yahoo group for the Task Force, with various kinds of data bases, for example, lists of prospective focus group attendees. David Tabeling photographed the assembled members for the Town Report! Notes by Howard Cravis Dec 20, 2002 ************************** RCN LEXINGTON COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE DECEMBER 19, 2002 SCOLA Danny Hartsoe and Wendy Wilson met and determined the scope of the work that remains to be done. Splicing and testing of the two additional fibers necessary will be done next Thursday and Friday (December 26th and 27`h). Once Danny Hartsoe has the test results, he will be able to complete the job the following week. SCOLA will be operational the week of January 7, 2003. Broadcast of the Religious Channel RCN met with Rev Gay Godfrey at the Hancock Church regarding the dedication of a room in RCN's Bedford Street Hub for tape replay RCN offered to provide six (6) video tape decks and two (2) computers with a cable modems which will enable the running of Power Point presentations for the LIFT's messages and bulletin boards. (The Church currently using Power Point for this function.) To address the issue of background music for the programming, RCN will provide a converter to enable the use of a Music Choice selection if the Church desires. Further, RCN will secure the room and provide security access cards to authorized people from the Church for unfettered access. RCN will retain access to the room strictly for troubleshooting and security purposes. The intention is that the Church will utilize one computer and four (4) tape decks for its programming and the Town will utilize the other computer and two (2) tape decks for its programming. As we discussed with Rev Godfrey, the Town will have the same access as the Church and once the Town's programming needs are met, the remaining time will be for the Church to use as it wishes. Rev Godfrey expressed enthusiasm for this proposal as it addresses the large majority of her current issues. The anticipated completion of the room is February 1 Can Library Connection The design for RCN's access into the Library was agreed to at a site meeting this fall. I spoke with Connie Rawson to confirm that the site contractor will do the trenching and conduit placement from the pole into the Library and any incurred cost will be assessed to RCN. She also informs me that no trenching will be done until spring. RCN will iron out any cost issues with the site contractor over the winter. Shipping of Tapes David Southerby of RCN informs me that he has had no further complaints about the replays of the Selectmen s meetings or the bulletin board. The tapes are not arriving as quickly as he had hoped they would with mail shipping; he is not receiving the tapes until Thursday or Friday as a vile. It is hoped this issue can be successfully addressed when the room is completed in the Bedford Street Hub. [Katie Kirkpatrick]