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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-19-CAC-min TOWN OF LEXINGTON COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 Call to order. CAC Chair Kenneth Pogran called the meeting to order at 6:34 PM in the Selectmen's Meeting Room of the Town Office Building, 1625 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA. Members Present: Kenneth Pogran, Chair; Bob Avallone, Dave Becker, Dave Buczkowski, Smita Desai, Dorinda Goodman, Nick Lauriat, Ben Moroze, P. K. Shiu, Rita Vachani. Members Absent: Ramin Taraz. Quorum: A quorum of members was present. Others Present: Florence DelSanto, LexMedia; Mark Sandeen, Board of Selectmen. Materials Referenced: Draft minutes of the meeting of June 18, 2019; Recording Secretary 2019 2020 spreadsheet; CAC Complaints Contacts 2019-2020 spreadsheet; Draft CAC Contribution to the Town Annual Report; email: Summary of Policy Call with ACM on New FCC Ruling; Dollar Losses spreadsheet 1. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes. The draft minutes of the meeting of June 18, 2019 were unanimously approved with corrections. 2. Carrier Reports There were no carrier representatives present. 3. Selectman's Report There was no Selectman's report. 4. Chairman's Report a. Committee reappointments Dave Buczkowski, Kenneth Pogran, and Rita Vachani are all up for reappointment to the Communications Advisory Committee this year. All agreed to be reappointed. b. Review of 2019-2020 dates and assignments i. Meeting dates and locations The committee will continue to meet on the third Thursday of the month in the Parker Room of the Town Office Building. ii. Recording secretary and complaints Ken Pogran emailed spreadsheets outlining recording secretary and complaint assignments for the upcoming year. 5. LexMedia Update Florence DelSanto provided the LexMedia update. Over the summer LexMedia hosted workshops for middle school students, had four interns from area colleges, rented the studio space for various uses, and filmed summer concerts around town. Going forward, LexMedia is working on producing some new shows. The new Chairman of the LexMedia Board of Directors will be Jim Shaw. LexMedia replaced cameras at Lexington High School. The podcast studio is being used. The LexMedia annual report coming is coming by the end of October. 6. LexMedia contract expiration and replacement process The LexMedia contract with the town runs through the end of June, 2020, the 9 1/2-year extent of the contract. Ken Pogran is in contact with Lexington Town Manager Jim Malloy to see how he wants to proceed with a new contract. The CAC does not have to be specially appointed to begin negotiations with LexMedia on behalf of the town because those negotiations are part of the Committee's charter. 7. Cable provider license renewal status a. RCN The RCN license renewal process was completed by the end of June, 2019. The license is available on the town website, and there are no other known loose ends. b. Verizon The Verizon license renewal is due to be completed by October, 2021. The CAC has been authorized by the Board of Selectmen to work on renewal with Verizon. The next step in the process is ascertainment. Verizon submitted the renewal application in March, 2019. The CAC is supposed to show progress on the renewal within six months of the submission of the renewal application. The Board of Selectmen authorizing the CAC to work on the renewal shows the necessary progress within the six-month timeframe. 8. Working group assignments a. LexMedia Oversight Bob Avallone, Smita Desai, Rita Vachani b. Negotiations & Licensing Dave Becker, Dave Buczkowski, Nick Lauriat c. PEG accounts Dave Becker, Rita Vachani d. Wireless Applications Review Nick Lauriat, Ben Moroze e. Wireless Communications (including SG) Dorinda Goodman, Ben Moroze, Ken Pogran, Ramin Taraz, P. K. Shiu 9. Potential impacts of the FCC Order regarding cable licensee "in-kind contributions" The FCC adopted the order in August, 2019, and it becomes effective at the end of September, 2019, with one major change: they exempted the cost of providing PEG channels from the 5% limit. It is now incumbent on providers to seek a renegotiation with the licensing authority. If they do, the licensing authority has 120 days to engage in the renegotiation, or the provider can sue. The Alliance of Community Media(ACM) is a large group that would be negatively affected by renegotiations. Ken Pogran emailed a summary of a call put on by ACM that contained a very good review of the issues faced by PEG fund recipients. Cable drop costs would now be included in the 5% fee—but provider claw backs of previously spent funds are prohibited. Costs of constructing an iNet would be excluded, but iNet maintenance would be included. Construction costs of plant to transport PEG channels would be excluded, but maintenance and operation of that plant would be included. In general, PEG support costs would be included, but capital expenses would be excluded. The committee discussed what to do if providers come to us right away and start the 120-day response clock. Dave Becker presented a spreadsheet he wrote that analyzes the potential financial impact of losing the funds that would now be included in the 5% fee. The committee discussed whether the legal counsel the town has used for cable provider negotiations intends to handle issues raised by the FCC order. The next snapshot of PEG revenue is due in November, 2019. 10. Review and VOTE to approve CAC contribution to the Town Annual Report The committee unanimously voted to approve the CAC Contribution to the Town Annual Report as written by Ken Pogran. I 1. Town IT update Dorinda Goodman gave the Town IT update. The town purchased equipment for sites for LexMedia, mostly audio equipment and assisted listening devices for 201 Bedford St., and the Community Center cafeteria area. Ken Pogran asked if there is enough awareness of"in lieu of iNet" funds among town staff Dorinda Goodman thought that there was, but that some projects that were scheduled to use those had been held off. There is no official policy on whether the CAC advises on the use of those funds. Whether or not there should be a policy is a good topic for a meeting with Town Manager Jim Malloy. 12. Wireless applications Ben Moroze and Nick Lauriat said there were no new wireless applications. 13. Complaints Ken Pogran presented the complaint assignment schedule shared with the committee via an emailed spreadsheet. Dave Buczkowski reported a complaint he handled in August: a Verizon customer moved houses and had an issue with installation charges from Verizon. Dave Buczkowski went through the complainant's house and reviewed the online chat the customer had had with Verizon. There were installation billing discrepancies. Dave Buczkowski spoke to Verizon representative Niall Connors, who reacted quickly and Verizon settled the charges with the customer. Ben Moroze mentioned he will re-send the link to the online complaint spreadsheet. 14. Vote to elect Committee Chair, 2019-2020 A motion to reappoint Kenneth Pogran as Chair of the Communications Advisory Committee for 2019-2020 was unanimously approved. 15. New Business There was no new business. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 PM. Respectfully submitted, Ben Moroze Recording Secretary