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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-11-16-CAC-min TOWN OF LEXINGTON COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF NOVEMBER 16, 2017 Call to order. Chair Kenneth Pogran called the meeting to order at 6.33 PM in the Parker Room (G-15) of the Town Office Building, 1625 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA. Members Present: Ken Pogran, Chair; Dave Becker, Dave Buczkowski, Dorinda Goodman, Nick Lauriat, Ramin Taraz, Rita Vachani, Ben Moroze Members Absent: Smita Desai, Steve Iverson Quorum: A quorum of members was present. Others Present: Joe Pato, Board of Selectmen; Bob Avallone,prospective member Materials Referenced: Minutes of the Meeting of October 19, 2017; LexMedia's 2018Q1 report; Chair's draft letter to the Town and Schools concerning the RCN license renewal; Comcast Franchise Fee financial statement; two letters from Comcast to the Board of Selectmen regarding franchise renewal; an analysis of PEG accounts; Robert Avallone's Communications Advisory Committee application 1. Welcome Ramin Taraz to the Committee Ramin Taraz has been appointed officially to the Communications Advisory Committee. The Chair explained some of what he will receive as part of his appointment. The Chair noted that Bob Avallone was also in attendance as a prospective member. 2. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes The minutes of the meeting of October 19 were approved, with a change noting that Dorinda Goodman was present at the meeting. 3. Carrier Reports No carrier representatives were present. 4. Selectmen's Report Mr. Pato had nothing to report. 5. Chairman's Report a. Committee appointments and new member solicitation Bob Avallone has applied and was present at the meeting b. Report on open meeting law training The Chair attended this training. There was not a lot of change from the previous training. There was a discussion on what constitutes deliberation; on what constitutes a subcommittee that needs open deliberations. The Chair feels that going forward, when wireless site applications are discussed, the wireless site applications subcommittee needs to bring their recommendation on the application to the entire Committee for a vote. The purpose of open the meeting law was discussed. c. Town guidelines on remote meeting participation The Chair reviewed Town guidelines on remote meeting participation. There needs to be a quorum present at the meeting site, and the leader of the meeting needs to be physically present. Audio conferencing is allowed, but anyone participating remotely needs to be able to participate as fully as if they were physically present. d. State ethics recertification Members who need to be recertified on Conflict of Interest will be receiving or should have received emails about the training. The training is required every two years for members. e. Status of RCN license amendment regarding hub relocation Notice of the amendment was published in the Lexington Minuteman Thursday, November 9, 2017. The public comment period is ending. The Chair expressed the hope that the Board of Selectmen will approve the amendment at their next full meeting on November 30, 2017. Tom Steele of RCN has reconfirmed that RCN will pay for the Lexington Minuteman notice. f. Status of Minuteman Tech fiber uplink to LexMedia Tom Steele said he and Florence DelSanto have discussed this. It wasn't known if anyone has been in contact with the Minuteman Tech superintendent. The Town has handed this off to Florence and Tom. RCN is a licensed common carrier so they can run fiber to a site in Lincoln(where the new Minuteman Tech building is located). g. Letter from Comcast sent in error Comcast sent a formal letter from a Comcast Vice President announcing a license renewal process with the Town of Lexington. No one on the Committee knew why they sent this letter—The Chair asked Jane Lyman for an explanation. Comcast had sent the notification to the wrong town, and sent a letter clarifying this. h. Small cell wireless RF emissions study status This is the Baskin Road issue. The Chair last heard from the Board of Health that an RF engineer had made measurements and that a report was due. i. LexMedia report status Mr. Iverson and Ms. DelSanto were attending LexMedia's annual meeting; Ms. Desai was not at the meeting, so discussion of the LexMedia Q 1 report was postponed to next month. 6. RCN 2019 license renewal timeline and status The Committee wants to send letters to the Schools and Town Manager to see if there is anything they want from RCN in the license renewal process. A similar letter concerning the Comcast renewal in 2013 was used as a basis. The Chair circulated the draft letter for review. This letter includes examples of what the Town or Schools might ask for. Ms. Goodman felt that the deadlines mentioned in the letter were reasonable. 7. Town IT update The Town went live with a new public safety system: the fire and police computer aided dispatch system was completely replaced. The old system was 25 years old. Every vehicle now has a computer, and they are all linked together. The Town will be rolling out different modules over the next six months. NextGen 911 went live in October: the mapping and identification of call locations is much better. Lexington is the second town in the state to implement NextGen 911 (Nantucket was first, but their rollout was not as comprehensive). 8. PEG account analysis Ms. Vachani and Mr. Becker analyzed all cable providers' subscriber counts—the counts are falling off. The peak was FY2014 and has been falling since--the counts are down about 5% since the peak. The total revenue is still trending up, because the amount per subscriber is going up. This is making up for falling subscribers at the moment, but bears continued watching. In general, LexMedia expenses are running below PEG revenue,but the Committee needs to keep this data in mind during contract renewal negotiations with the providers, and there may be some time in the future when the Town may have to find other funds for LexMedia. There are still a couple of Comcast issues regarding PEG funds: the Town financial department would like to have a direct deposit of funds, but Comcast sends two checks: PEG and technical initiatives. The Town will ask them to stop sending two checks via a letter from the Board of Selectmen, and Mr. Becker handed out a draft of a letter on these issues. 9. Wireless applications Mr. Moroze and Mr. Lauriat reported there were no new wireless applications. 10. Complaints—Ben Moroze (October),Nick Lauriat(November) There were no complaints noted. Verizon complaints are to be directed to their new representative in the New York area. Ms. Desai will handle complaints for December; Mr. Buczkowski for January. 11. Interview prospective committee member The Committee interviewed Bob Avallone. Mr. Avallone expressed his interest in LexMedia. The Committee voted to recommend to the Board of Selectmen that Mr. Avallone be appointed to the Committee. 12. New business There was no new business. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM Respectfully submitted, Ben Moroze, Recording Secretary