HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-11-21-CAC-min TOWN OF LEXINGTON
COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF NOVEMBER 21, 2019
Call to order. CAC Chair Ken Pogran called the meeting to order at 6:32 PM in the Selectmen's
Meeting Room of the Town Office Building, 1625 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA.
Members Present: Ken Pogran, Chair; Bob Avallone, Dave Becker, Smita Desai, Dorinda
Goodman, Nick Lauriat, Ben Moroze, P. K. Shiu, Ramin Taraz, Rita Vachani.
Members Absent: Dave Buczkowski.
Quorum: A quorum of members was present.
Others Present: None.
Materials Referenced: Draft minutes of the meeting of October 17, 2019; Draft CAC response
to the LexMedia Annual Report; LexMedia contract replacement talking points.
1. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes.
The draft minutes of the meeting of October 17, 2019 were unanimously approved.
2. Service Provider Reports
No service provider representatives were present and there were no reports.
3. Selectmen's Liaison Report
Selectman Mark Sandeen was not present and hence, there was no report.
4. Chairman's Report
a. Town `Board and Committee Training"
Ken Pogran attended a training session for Town Board and Committee Chairs. The
focus of the training was on the proper use of Town email and on the State Open
Meeting Law. Regarding the use of email, all email sent or received by the CAC
Town email address is archived. The Committee Chair is responsible for including
that email address as part of all CAC communications. The Open Meeting Law
training emphasized that all deliberations of the Committee must be public and
properly announced. Business cannot be conducted via email; only facts can be
shared via email. All documents/information shared with the entire Committee must
also be made available to the public. Ken Pogran will verify the process for making
all documents public and how they are to be posted to the Town website. Working
group meetings and discussions need not be public if the group is smaller than a
quorum. The working groups/sub-committees are not authorized to conduct business
or take decisions on behalf of the CAC. So, we will need to revisit how the Wireless
subgroup should operate—any recommendations from that group should be brought
back to the CAC to review and vote on.
b. LexMedia contract replacement update
Ken Pogran met with the Town Manager Jim Malloy. Mr. Malloy stated that we will
need to do a competitive RFP and expects that we should be able to complete the
process before the end of the current contract, June 30, 2020. Mr. Malloy will look at
the previous Town Meeting warrant to see if this RFP/contract will need to go before
Town Meeting.
The LexMedia working sub-group needs to put together a timeline for the process.
The major questions that will need to be addressed are: length of new contract;
funding levels; risk of funding due to FCC ruling and subscriber cord-cutting.
c. Upcoming "wireless services" working group meeting
Wireless services working group will meet later in November 2019.
5. LexMedia Annual Report
Draft CAC response to LexMedia's Annual Report was approved.
6. Verizon license renewal
The ascertainment process will start in January 2020. The working subgroup will solicit input
from the Town Manager and the School Superintendent for their requirements, and include
these in the "ask" from Verizon for the new contract. Verizon would like the process of
contract renewal to start as late as possible, given potential technology changes.
7. Net neutrality update
Bob Avallone updated the committee on a recent ruling by the District of Columbia Court of
Appeals. The Court upheld the FCC's repeal of net neutrality laws but vacated a rule that
would prevent states from passing their own net neutrality laws. Bob will continue to monitor
further developments.
8. Resident concern regarding ISP commercial exploitation of subscriber browser history
A town resident had requested Bob Avallone to bring up for discussion the fact that several
ISPs capture subscriber browser history and monetize that information by selling it for
marketing purposes. The resident wanted to gather support for a Firefox enhancement that is
low on the current priority list. Committee members felt that this support was best gathered
privately and was not part of the CAC's charter.
9. Town IT update
Dorinda Goodman also discussed the training on the Open Meeting Law and the support
provided by the IT department. She mentioned that due to fast changing technology, the IT
department will be considering shorter durations for contracts.
10. Wireless applications
See comments under Chairman's report regarding the Wireless subgroup bringing back
recommendations to the full CAC. Will have to assess if the response time from the subgroup
to the Zoning Board gets affected significantly by the change in process.
11. Complaints
There were no new complaints.
12. New Business
There was no new business.
Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Rita Vachani
Recording Secretary