HomeMy Public PortalAboutCable Television Advisory -- 2009-02-17 Minutes Minutes of the meeting of the Brewster Cable TV Advisory Committee scheduled for 7:00 pm on
Tuesday 17 February 2009.
The meeting is called to order at 7:01 PM on Tuesday 17 February 2009 by Larry Greeley.
Members present at this time are:
Larry Greeley
Norman Adams
Larry Bugden
Janet Husband
Walter Powers
There is no person in the audience area.
Norman Adams distributes copies of the draft minutes of the meeting of Tuesday 6 January 2009, as well
as copies of the approved and subsequently filed minutes of the meeting of Tuesday 2 December 2008.
A motion is made by Walter Powers and seconded by Larry Bugden to approve the minutes of the
meeting of Tuesday 6 January 2009 as presented. The vote to accept is unanimous.
There is some general discussion of the importance of the communication links between the town
government and the citizens of the town.Brewster takes the provision of support of lifeline services by
public services very seriously.
A very important medium of communication is the telephone. Some Brewster residents are now relying
on telephone services provided through the Internet and have discontinued landline service. Internet
telephone service relies on an interface device to connect between the Internet cable and the Internet-
connected telephone,and also relies on the Internet-connected telephone having power.Neither the
interface device nor the Internet-connected telephone is supplied with power coming in along the Internet
cable.
It is often the case that batteries are used directly or indirectly to power the interface unit between the
Internet and the Internet telephone. That may also be the case with some of the Internet telephone units. It
is not clear how long either of these vital elements would be powered in the event of a long interruption
of the supply of electricity to the household.
Some testing of the actual length of time that the Internet-connected telephones are able to perform in
case of failure of the electric power to the household might be desirable.
Both use of cable TV and use of Internet websites for communication from the town government to the
citizens have similar power problems in the event of a long interruption of the supply of electricity to the
household.
At Larry Greeley's request Larry Bugden has prepared and now provides a draft of a letter to Comcast for
Larry Greeley to send in his role as chairman of this committee requesting the provision of information
concerning the Comcast network in Brewster.
The letter is discussed by the members of the committee. Larry Bugden moves that Larry Greeley be
empowered to send a letter in the form provided. The motion is seconded by Janet Husband and is passed
unanimously.
Larry Greeley reports about aspects of the renegotiation of the Harwich cable TV franchise with Comcast.
There is considerable general discussion about the Brewster preparations for formal negotiations of the
Brewster Cable TV franchise agreement with Comcast. In order to obtain a generally representative
response from citizens it may be necessary to communicate by more means then a mailed questionnaire.
Use of local newspapers might be desirable from time to time. Cooperative efforts with town departments
and with local activities might be possible.
In any case it seems clear that this committee should plan and execute outreach to the citizens of Brewster
informing them of the fact of negotiations concerning a new Brewster Cable TV franchise agreement with
Comcast and soliciting their comments on the negotiable aspects of a new franchise agreement, which will
include details of community access TV.
Since many citizens are probably unaware of the nature of community access TV some educational
material may need to be made available.
There is a brief discussion of the date for the next meeting of this committee and it is generally agreed
that the next meeting should be on the regular schedule,to wit,on Tuesday 3 March 2009 at the usual
time and place.
The meeting seems to be out of other business to be taken up tonight. A motion to adjourn is made by
Walter Powers and seconded by Norman Adams. The motion is passed unanimously. The meeting is
adjourned at 8:31 pm.
Submitted by Norman Adams, Clerk, Brewster CTVAC
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