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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-17-CAC-minTOWN OF LEXINGTON COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF OCTOBER 17, 2024 PARKER ROOM, TOWN OFFICE BUILDING (AND ALSO BY REMOTE PARTICIPATION) 1. Call to order and roll call. Communications Advisory Committee (CAC) Chair Kenneth Pogran called the meeting to order at 6:37 PM and called the roll. The meeting was conducted both in person in the Parker Room in the Town Office Building and remotely via Zoom. Members Present: Ken Pogran, Chair; Nick Lauriat, Rita Vachani, Steve Kaufman Members Present (via Zoom): Bob Avallone, Dave Buczkowski, Smita Desai, Dorinda Goodman, Dave Becker Members Absent: Shabbir Bagasrawala Quorum: A quorum of members was present. Others Present: Florence DelSanto (LexMedia), David Von Moritz (Astound), Kerry Morris (Comcast) Materials Referenced: • Draft Minutes of the September 18, 2024 Meeting • PEG Financial Update, October 2024 • LexMedia Report, Q4 FY 2024 • Response to LexMedia Report, Q4 FY 2024 2. Review and VOTE to approve minutes of the September 19 meeting — Nick Lauriat The draft minutes of the September 19, 2024 meeting was reviewed. The committee voted to approve, with D. Becker not yet in the meeting. 3. Select Board update — Mark Sandeen Mark Sandeen was not present and so there was no update. 4. Service provider reports - David Von Moritz (Astound), Kerry Morris (Comcast) Kerry Morris referred to a letter sent to the Town and other municipalities indicating that effective October 24, 2024 Comcast will discontinue support of cable cards. While existing cards will continue to work, new or replacement cards will not be available. Customers could use either the Stream app or avail of a promotion to get a free cable box for one year. David von Moritz (Astound) mentioned that Astound had a new COO. He also added that Astound is based in Princeton, NJ and the executive leadership is also based in that location. B. Avallone asked the reason why Astound was not available in all parts of the town. David requested more information about specific location where the service is not available. D. Buczkowski added that some neighborhoods were waived due to underground installation of cables. David also provided his email address. 5. Chairman's Report — Ken Pogran Lex250 "Calendar Keeper" opportunity - The Chair mentioned that the ceremony was booked up until December 22, 2024 for morning and January 16, 2025 for evenings. The Chair will try to find which date would work. Recording Secretary and Complaints Assignments - The Chair promised to send out the schedule of recording secretary assignments and complaints assignments. Working Group Timelines - The Chair requested that the working groups create a time plan for each of the tasks performed by that working group. Co-chair for November 21 Meeting — The Chair requested to let him know who could volunteer to Co-chair the November 21, 2024 meeting. The Co-chair would be present in person. 6. Discussion of cable operator streaming service options - David Von Moritz (Astound), Kerry Morris (Comcast) K. Pogran highlighted the importance of PEG revenue to the town and that the town had built up a surplus in the past. But now with declining subscriber numbers, the town was drawing down the surplus and beginning FY 2024 the town had begun making appropriations for LexMedia. Considering that, K. Pogran requested the service providers to give information on their streaming services. Regarding Astound, David von Moritz mentioned that their IPTV service is very similar to the cable service from the point of view of interface and channel availability. But it used bandwidth differently freeing up bandwidth due to fiber backbone and thus providing more channels. Astound does pay PEG fees for IPTV, though these are not passed on to the customers. In response to various questions, D. Mortiz mentioned that he would confirm if the pricing structure between linear cable service and IPTV is same or different and if the customer is required to also buy internet service from Astound. He will also confirm if the bandwidth is shared with the internet service or a separate stream. Additionally, new customers are only being offered IPTV service. While the service is available using an app in the US, there maybe copyright or other legal issues when traveling internationally. A customer also installs an IPTV box that will allow them to watch on any TV that has an internet connection and can install the Astound TV+ app. K. Morris mentioned that Comcast has a streaming service using Xumo. This service does not have live TV, and the customer is required to also have their internet service. 7. LexMedia update —Florence De/Santo (LexMedia) LexMedia did transmit a football game with a new field unit. A new co-op student from Lexington Minutemen school is on board and has great potential. LexMedia also hosted a cooking show, where both participants and the chef pay making it a small revenue -generating opportunity. LexMedia also covered multiple festivals and fairs around town. 8. LexMedia Q4 report and VOTE to approve CAC response - Bob Avallone, Smita Desai, Rita Vachani The fundraising exceeded the goal and is due to soccer game coverage with Lesley College and a grant from Lexington Economic Development Committee. The Committee response to the report was unanimously approved. 9. PEG revenue update —Rita Vachani R. Vachani mentioned that the PEG revenue projections in FY 2024 were down 3.7% from FY 2023. FY 2025 Q1 revenue is down 3.4% from the same quarter last fiscal year. The PEG account balance at the end of FY 2024 was $1.09 mm. The town funding in FY 2026 will have to be increased to $150,000 and will continue to increase annually thereafter. At this rate, the PEG account balance will be exhausted by FY 2029 at this level. This increase in expenses will be due only to inflationary increase. This needs to be discussed with the town. K. Pogran raised the need to discuss with the town Finance and Select Board if the transition to town appropriation should be smoother than a large appropriation after FY 2029. 10. Town IT update — Dorinda Goodman Dorinda Goodman mentioned that the cellular tower for public safety and AT&T was complete. There was room for additional antennas. One of the server rooms for these radio signals is in the police station. She will reach out to AT&T to inquire about any improvements to cellular signals due to the new tower. She also showed the design of F -man — the new fiber infrastructure. The installation is already completed in tier 1, 2 and 3 buildings. She will provide more details in one of the upcoming meetings. The town designed their own loop to provide optimum bandwidth and redundancy. 11. Complaints K. Pogran said that he believed there were no formal complaints received. 12. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:07 PM. Respectfully submitted, Smita Desai Recording Secretary