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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-09-15-CAC-minTOWN OF LEXINGTON COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 Call to order. CAC Chair Jim Goell called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM in Room 111 of the Town Office Building. Present: CAC Members: Jim Goell, Chair; Frank Cai, Dorinda Goodman, John Rudy, Ken Pogran, Linda Roemer, Smita Desai. Others: Florence delSanto, LexMedia; George Burnell, Board of Selectmen. 1. Approval of previous meeting minutes. The minutes of the meeting of June 16 were approved. 2. Carrier reports. Mary Frere, Verizon, emailed that August was hectic due to the weather and strike but that there are now no issues of substance. 3. Selectman liaison report, George Burnell. The Center Committee is interested in WiFi. We will hear them out before finalizing our conclusions (see item 6). George will ask them to contact Ken Pogran. 4. Chairman's report. A. Comcast negotiation opening letter. The Chair received a letter from Comcast reserving the right to use the 120 day procedure. Linda agreed to participate in the contract negotiation committee along with Dave Buczkowski and Dave Becker. Jim owns a small amount of Comcast stock so he will recuse himself. B. Harry Forsdick's resignation as LexMedia Chair. The Chair reported that Harry Forsdick had resigned as LexMedia Board Chair. The Committee agreed to thank Harry for his service. Linda Roemer will draft a letter commending Harry for his service. Florence reported that a nominating committee will be organized during LexMedia's September meeting to decide on replacement for Harry Forsdick. He will remain on the Board. C. Wireless carrier response to letter requesting long term plans. The Committee has not received any responses from wireless carriers. The Chair will pursue ATT. D. Comcast price adjustment letter. The Committee received a response from Comcast. However, the Committee needed clarifications and it was decided Communications Advisory Committee September 15, 2011 Town of Lexington Page 2 that the Chair would invite Comcast's representative to a future meeting to discuss this letter. E. Double Poles — Kaufman email and response. The Chair sent an email to Jay Kaufman supporting penalties for untimely removal. The Chair will email Tom Stanley. F. Muzzey wireless license. A Muzzey Condo resident is appealing ZBA approval of additional wireless antennas due to health concerns. He also believes that the condo association overstepped its charter by allowing a non- residential use. The Committee decided that both appeals are beyond its jurisdiction. G. Open items. i. Library meeting room audio and general upgrade. No further progress was reported. ii. G15 upgrade for LexMedia taping. Darinda reported that vendor proposals had been invited and the infrastructure replacement process had begun. iii. Hartwell Avenue upgrade and current Internet service. The Committee will discuss this in the future meeting. iv. Promotion of LexMedia Government programs (Maria Kieslich). Since Harry Forsdick has resigned from LexMedia, this matter may not be proceeding. Florence will check into it. H. Next meeting. The next meeting of the Committee will be on October 20. The meeting will likely be held in room 111 at Lexington Town Hall. 5. Review of LexMedia's 2Q11 report and CAC response —Linda Roemer /Florence delSanto. The subcommittee responded to LexMedia's second quarter report. Both were timely. The Committee was pleased with the Q2 report from LexMedia as well as the new web site. Florence reported that the subcommittee process was working well and no additional requests had been received. A. LexMedia, OnDemand archived programs and indexing status — Florence delSanto. Florence reported that all archived programs were now available OnDemand. Indexing of these programs is not working due to lack of support from the committees being televised. The Chair will contact the Town Manager and the School Superintendent (copy to the School Committee Chair). 6. Wi -Fi report. This Committee had earlier voted to look into the feasibility of setting up a town wide, town center or public building Wi -Fi network Last spring, it was Communications Advisory Committee Town of Lexington September 15, 2011 Page 3 decided not to address either a town wide and town center networks and to focus on public buildings. Ken is still working on this. Dorinda reported that there was increasing interest in installing a town -wide wireless network for public safety. This would be a closed network. A fiber network appears too costly. 7. Historical carrier revenue analysis. Dave Becker sent out a work in progress version. 8. Response to letters on CATV basic service rates. The Chair sent respective letters to the carriers. Verizon offers the lowest rate, $12.99 plus $3.99 for an adapter. The Committee also discussed various ways to promote Comcast's letter (subject: Internet Essentials -Low cost home Internet service for low income families). The options discussed included writing to Lexington Minuteman, The Patch and posting the information at the Cary Library. The Chair will write Verizon suggesting that they do so. 9. Requiring improved reporting by carriers. The Committee discussed carriers' response (or lack thereof) to town residents when outages were reported in various parts of the town, during and after hurricane Irene. John suggested that carriers should send outage status report to Town at a regular interval during and after storms and other emergencies. The Committee agreed that this was a public safety issue. The Committee agreed that Ken Pogran would send a letter to Comcast requesting their position on this, to be followed by similar letters to other carriers. 10. Complaints. Ken reported on a complaint about slow storm repair that was quickly resolved following his intervention. 11. Wireless Update. No new requests have been received from carriers. 12. Future plans and new business. No issues were raised by Committee members. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 8:04 PM. Respectfully submitted, Smita Desai