HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-06-15-CAC-min TOWN OF LEXINGTON
COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF JUNE 15, 2020
Call to order. Communications Advisory Committee (CAC) Chair Kenneth Pogran called the
meeting to order at 6:05 PM, held remotely via Zoom teleconferencing.
Members Present: Ken Pogran, Chair; Bob Avallone, Dave Becker, Dave Buczkowski, Smita
Desai, Dorinda Goodman, Nick Lauriat, Ben Moroze, PK Shiu, Ramin Taraz, Rita Vachani
Quorum: A quorum of members was present.
Others Present: Florence DelSanto - LexMedia, Ryan Voto - LexMedia, Jim Shaw—LexMedia
Materials Referenced: Draft minutes of the meeting of February 20, 2020; LexMedia draft
contract; CAC LexMedia Contract Select Board presentation; June 2020 PEG Revenue &
Expenses report
1. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes.
The draft minutes of the meeting of February 20, 2020 were unanimously approved.
2. Review LexMedia Grant Agreement draft
The current LexMedia contract with the Town expires end of June. The Town did not
need to do a full competitive RFP for this contract.
a. Contract terms
The contract terms were updated and simplified from the last contract. Technical
updates were made. The CAC reviewed the contract by section.
b. Scope of Services
Changes in educational access programming and governmental access
programming requirements were discussed.
It was noted that the Kline Hall sublease language seemed to be missing
approval will be subject to getting that language and fixing other minor typos;
The contract plans for a flat budget; capital has been cut back;payment schedules
with town were discussed.
A final performance assessment was not yet done--proposed executing a contract
amendment to drop this requirement for the current contract which ends in June,
2020. No objections were raised by the CAC.
c. Financial plan
Ms. Vachani presented updated financial charts for FY 2020. Revenue dropped
2% in '20. Subscriber counts from Verizon, RCN, dropped; revenue from
subscribers is no longer sufficient to cover expenses, and is short by about
$42,000 for FY20
Discussed the outlook for FY21, 22. Shortfalls should be covered by PEG TV
account for now.
d. Vote
The CAC voted unanimously to approve the Grant Agreement to the Select Board
e. Review draft presentation to Select Board
Chairman Pogran agreed to send the LexMedia contract presentation to the CAC
members for any comments
3. Verizon license renewal update
The negotiation subcommittee (Mr. Becker, Mr. Buczkowski, Mr. Lauriat) will try to use
the same process for the Verizon license renewal as was used for the recent RCN license
renewal: a public hearing; get input from the Town Manager and Superintendent of
Schools. The CAC discussed when the public hearing should be held—possibly early
September, 2020.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ben Moroze
Recording Secretary