HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-10-30-CAC-min TOWN OF LEXINGTON
COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF OCTOBER 30, 2025
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 6:35 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; Bob Avallone, Nick Lauriat, Rita Vachani
Members Present (via Zoom): Dave Buczkowski, Dorinda Goodman, Shabbir Bagarsrawala,
Steve Kaufman
Members Absent: Sreeni Chippada, Smita Desai, Dave Becker
Quorum: A quorum of members was present.
Others Present: Rosalyn Impink(Budget Director for Town of Lexington)
Materials Referenced:
• Draft minutes of the September 11, 2025 meeting
• Letter received from the Mass. DTC re our Verizon license renewal
• Complaints assignment spreadsheet
• Recording Secretary assignment spreadsheet
• Revised draft minutes of the June 24, 2025 meeting
2. Review and VOTE to approve minutes of the June 24 meeting—Shabbir Bagarsrawala
The draft minutes of the June 24, 2025 meeting were reviewed. B. Avallone moved to approve
the minutes, R. Vachani seconded. The committee voted unanimously to approve.
3. Review and VOTE to approve minutes of the September 11 meeting—Smita Desai
The draft minutes of the September 11, 2025 meeting were reviewed. D. Buczkowski moved to
approve the minutes, R. Vachani seconded. The committee voted to approve, with N. Lauriat and
S. Bagarsrawala abstaining.
4. Select Board liaison report—Vineeta Kumar
V. Kumar was not present. She had hoped to attend but was unable to do so.
5. Service provider reports
None present. K. Morris from Comcast relayed that the cybersecurity month presentation is
scheduled to be given at the Community Center on Monday, November 17'h at 10 AM.
6. Chairman's Report—Ken Pogran
K. Pogran attended the Board and Committee Bootcamp. He said it was well attended, with
several practical and interesting presentations. Presenters emphasized the need to record who
moved and seconded each item, and the need to conduct roll call votes for all votes taken,
including the motion to adjourn. There was also discussion of newer, stricter interpretations of
the Open Meeting Laws by the town's outside counsel.
The Chair reviewed the schedule of recording secretary assignments and complaints assignments
that had been sent out.
7. LexMedia update—Florence DelSanto
While F. DelSanto couldn't attend, she relayed to the Chair that LexMedia is very busy covering
community events.
8. LexMedia contract renewal, July 2026—Ken Pogran
The Chair said he would like to meet with the Town Manager and Finance Director this fall to
ensure that the contract can again be structured as a Grant Agreement.
R. Vachani volunteered to work on moving the license process forward and further developing a
timeline for the contract.
9. Verizon license renewal update—Ken Pogran
According to the Chair, we're well on track to get a new license approved ahead of the expiration
next fall. There is a draft license almost ready to go to Verizon. The goal is to have a license
finalized in the spring.
The Chair was working on, but has not completed, a calculation of the capital grant sought from
Verizon. We also need to pull together the report that resulted from the ascertainment process.
10. Wireless services update—Steve Kaufman
Per S. Kaufman, he has a meeting scheduled with Town Manager on November 18, 2025. The
goal is to get support from the town for leasing town sites to carriers to develop cell sites.
Verizon has expressed a high level of interest in meeting with the Select Board to present their
plans, but V. Kumar thought we should meet with the Town Manager first.
11. Town IT update—Dorinda Goodman
Per D. Goodman, the town is in the midst of the Office 365 upgrade for town email. The town is
also working on the "FMAN" (Fiber Municipal Area Network) deployment. New sites include
Lincoln Field, and the Pine Meadow Golf Course.
D. Goodman reviewed the design, and said the installer was impressed with the design and is
trying to encourage other towns to consider the design. The two cores will be in an active-active
configuration to ensure the fastest possible failover.
While the FMAN takes advantage of existing RCN fiber where possible to add diverse pathways
at a low cost(free), it is largely built on town-owned fiber.
12. Complaints
S. Kaufman reviewed the complaint received about Comcast. S. Kaufman has been in touch with
K. Morris from Comcast to ensure the complaint gets escalated.
13. Adjournment
B. Avallone moved to adjourn, R. Vachani seconded. The committee voted unanimously to
adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 7:42 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Nicholas Lauriat
Recording Secretary