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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-05-16-CAC-min.pdf JUN 07 96 11 58RM LECOMTE EMRNUELSON P 2 CATV COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES OF MEETING FOR May 16 , 1996 Members Present Chairman Jane Gharibian, David Kantor, Jack Cunha, Julian Bussgang, Caleb Warner, Julie Longcope, Ted Mairson, Robert Warshawer, David Becker, David Buczkowski and David Green representing A-R Cable Services, Inc 1 The meeting was called to order at 5 35 p.m. by Chairman Jane Gharibian 2 The minutes of the April 26 , 1996 meeting were approved with the correction on item 3 that Martha Stanton received an "important complaint" not "many complaints " 3 The complaint person for June is Julian Bussgang 4 New Business a It was reported that George Woodbury (DPW) was unable to attend the meeting to discuss the obtaining of free materials and services, but would make himself available to the committee the next meeting b A discussion was held regarding the need to have an alternative to the INET However, there is a need to obtain plans and specifications for the system The committee was advised that AT&T pays $33, 000 00 a year in rent for 20 years , which Mr Woodbury is willing to invest in the system Mr Kantor inquired as to whether this could be used to pay salaries The response was that these monies could only be used for hardware Mr Kantor suggested that this matter be tabled until next meeting by which time Mr Woodbury would have been consulted c Mr Warner reported that a draft of the license renewal had been mailed to Cablevision - Hudson and to Woodbury, L I on May 7 , 1996 He further reported that there had been an acknowledgment of its receipt from Cablevision Mr Warner stated that the Negotiating Team wanted Peter Epstein, Esquire to handle the next portion of the negotiating when Cablevision' s response had been received Attorney Epstein will work directly with Cablevision Mr warner indicated that Mr Kantor and Mr Mairson had added their comments which would be forwarded to Attorney JUN 07 '96 11 59AM LECOMTE EMANUELSON P 3 Epstein Mr Bussgang will forward his comments to Mr Warner Mr Green stated that he would telephone Marty Green, Esquire and John Hendricks (Director of Government Relations ) in the next week to have Attorney Green contact Attorney Epstein with a punch list d Mr Kantor moved that the committee offer its appreciation to the Negotiating Team for its continued efforts The motion was approved e Mr Warner noted that the New York Times reported that there was to be a change in stock ownership of the of the system Apparently the Pincus holdings will be repurchased by Cablevision Mr Bussgang reported on his inquiry to the State Cable Commission regarding the stock repurchase Cablevision has sent a letter on behalf of A-R to the Commission seeking its opinion as to whether the purchase would be a transfer of ownership Cablevision ' s position is that it is not However, the State Commission had not responded as of the date of the meeting Mr Bussgang requested to Mr. Green that the Committee be copied on all correspondence relating to this matter f In a matter not on the agenda, Mr Bussgang stated that the complaint to appeal the rate change has been withdrawn He has so notified Cablevision In another matter not on the agenda , Mr Bussgang reported that he had received a phone call from East Lexington Nursing Home, who complained that they couldn ' t get an answer from Cablevision on their request for a hook-up There apparently was no response to their telephone and written inquiries g. Mr Warner and Mr Mairson discussed the performance of channel 42 during Town Meetings While the signal was good at the monitor, both audio and visual , Mr Mairson stated that he found channel 42 to be very bad with a lot of background noise Mr . Green stated that the problem was a modulator at the origination point (probably the van) Mr Green further stated that there were no complaints to Customer Service so the area couldn ' t be checked Mr Warner proposed sending a letter to the Minuteman requesting comments on Town Meeting reception Mr Warshawer didn' t think such a letter was a good idea Mr Warner respectfully disagreed, stating that he had been stopped by people on the street with their complaints It was suggested that an enclosure in the invoice about this problem might be appropriate Mr Kantor indicated that JUN 07 '96 11 59RM LECONTE EMRNUELSON P 4 this didn ' t usually produce a good response Mr Green asserted that inserting a customer survey into a bill was not a good idea due to size ( thickness ) considerations and that the print would be miniscule Mr Kantor suggested putting a survey in the Minuteman as was done last year That survey produced 65 responses Copies could be distributed in Cary Library and in the Town Office Building Gharibian suggested a Letter to the Editor for responses There was mixed feeling but failing another agreed method, Gharibian said she would put the Letter to the Editor in the Minuteman h Mr Mairson discussed the presentation of the Committee ' s resolution regarding the Town Manager ' s Budget insofar as the $45 , 000 00 for a Network Manager was concerned The resolution was adopted word for word by the Selectmen Mr Mairson told Selectman Dailey that the Committee was disappointed Mr Dailey told Mr Mairson that there was a squeeze for funds and perhaps an amount less than $45 , 000.00 might be considered. Mr Mairson discussed the general problem of governance of the infrastructure He stated that, to his knowledge, there was no document anywhere describing the present facility in words or diagrams He felt that there should be a detailed description and policy statement about the governance of the facilities . There should also be a statement of tasks to be completed in the next fiscal year Mr Becker inquired as to whether it was this Committee ' s responsibility to do so He stated that the selectmen said a few years ago that the Committee had the authority, but that this authority was never amplified, clarified or written. Mr Kantor spoke of the problems with INET and the need to have someone pull it together Mr Mairson pointed out that there is a reference to an INET Administrator in the new license The question is , who is this person? what authority does this person have and what responsibility? Is it Steve Ellis? Mr Bussgang suggested a meeting with various Town Officials to discuss governance of the INET and the preparation of future plans The point is to have everyone in a room who has a concern with the INET He suggested notifying the schools, LINK and the Library Mr Mairson agreed that such a meeting would be helpful , but that an agenda with background laid should be set before such a meeting . Mr Becker felt too many people would be involved JUN 07 '96 12 00PM LECOMTE EMANUELSON P 5 Mr Warner proposed to the Committee: i Assay the current plant and capability ii Determine the core goals of an interconnecting network (municipality and schools) iii Suggest that an organization be established for dealing with administrative operations and management duties iv Arrive at a set of specifications for the network All of the above should be completed by October 1 , 1996 Mr Becker had a problem with Mr Warner ' s suggestion that it would be too large a forum to get anything done He felt that this Committee and not LINK had this responsibility Ms Gharibian stated that the purpose of the original resolution was to call all of this to the Selectmen' s attention The Selectmen intended this Committee to form a subcommittee, therefore it is up to this Committee to deal with this issue Mr Mairson discussed the history of the application of A-R ' s payment of $100, 000 00 in four installments He also spoke of the school ' s control of the funds and the need to open up access of the school ' s resources to the town at large It was decided that Mr Bussgang and Mr Mairson would meet Mr Woodbury to discuss this; Ms Longcope would put together a list of equipment owned by the town as well as discuss implementation with Mr Becker (who will be the equipment coordinator) Steve Ellis would be asked to do a similar inventory of equipment in the schools , since Mr Ellis has William Spencer ' s information Mr Mairson will provide his Cary Library material to Mr Becker Mr Mairson spoke of the Internet access to the University of Cambridge in England i The next meeting was set for Thursday June 20 , 1996 at 5 30 P m j Mr Green reported that on May 10 , 1996 Cablevision Corporate made an offer to buy out their partner, Warburg-Pincus, in A- R Partners which also included systems in New Jersey, Illinois and Arkansas He stated that the buy-out was really a "paper" transaction He confirmed that Cablevision had asked the State Cable Commission if a transfer of license was necessary No response has been received when a purchase and sale agreement has been executed Cablevision will notify the Town by letter However, this transaction will not mean a closer relationship with Cablevision of Boston k mr Kantor reported on the Drummer Boy issues and his discussions with the Chief Engineer of Cablevision, Mr Garcia Mr Kantor hopes to have a written commitment by May 21 , 1996 JUN 07 '96 12'01PM LECOMTE EMANUELSON P 6 which addresses the issues With regard to bulk rates , Cablevision Corporate is now a player in the discussions for purposes of consistency 1 Mr Green reported that the Spree Shopping Channel would be replaced on June 30 , 1996 by America ' s Health Network m A discussion of the number of reverse channels was held There are 76 channels down stream at 330 megahertz Therefore there are 4 channels available to be programmed by Cablevision There are 4 up stream channels At least one is in use The meeting was adjourned at 7 30 p m Respectfully submitted, David J Buczkowski