SELECTMEN’S MEETING THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2005 7:00 P.M.
In attendance: Marion V. McEttrick, Charles J. McCarthy, Annemarie Fagan, Assistant Town Administrator, Paula Rizzi, Executive Secretary
The following members of the Milton Broadband Monitoring Committee were also in attendance: Jonathan Brown, Mary Ellen Berman, Jane Gaughan and Special Counsel Peter Epstein.
As mandated by the renewal provisions of the federal Cable Act, a public hearing was convened by Chair Marion V. McEttrick on behalf of the Board of Selectmen, in its role as Statutory Issuing Authority for the Town of Milton.
Mrs. McEttrick noted that the hearing had been duly published in the Milton Times on October 6 and October 13, 2005, a copy of these notices will be added to the stenographic record of tonight’s hearing.
The purpose of the hearing is to identify future cable-related community needs and interests and to review the performance of Comcast of Milton, Inc. under its current cable television license.
Mrs. McEttrick also noted that the Board of Selectmen does not have authority over Comcast’s subscriber rates or its commercial programming decisions, but advised people who have comments to make on these issues to feel free to do so.
Jonathan Brown, 80 Webster Road, member of the Broadband Monitoring Committee, addressed the Board. Mr. Brown, representing other members of the Committee, expressed a desire to identify components of the license that are of interest to the community by doing surveys and holding future public hearings to acquire as much input from the community as possible. The following components are of particular importance to Mr. Brown and the Broadband Committee:
Term of the license-pros and cons of length of license
Status and nature of PEG studio
Language of new license- applicable to all potential licensees
How license defines gross annual revenue
Institutional Network-to identify deficiencies and ensure Town access
Subscriber Network-to identify deficiencies and improve service
3. Ann Thompson, 42 Evergreen Trail, addressed the Board. Ms. Thompson expressed displeasure with the amount of publicity for tonight’s hearing. She also feels that the level of cable programming is inferior to other parts of the country and the quality of the reception is bad. Ms. Thompson specifically sited the bad reception of the most recent Town Meeting. She concluded by saying that she thinks that a lot of people are unhappy with local cable.
4. James White, Manager of Government/Community Relations New England South for Comcast addressed the Board. Mr. White reviewed the positive aspects of Comcast’s performance and sited his company’s contributions to the community, especially in education. He promised to use comments and constructive criticism from tonight’s hearing, as well as future hearings, to improve the quality of service to Milton.
5. Selectmen McCarthy commented on the accessibility of Comcast customer service and how service has improved since AT&T merged with Comcast. He stated that this hearing is a good beginning to a process that needs much more input from everyone. Mr. McCarthy concluded by saying that he and the Board will be looking to the Broadband Monitoring Committee for advice as this process continues.
6. Selectmen McEttrick commented on the poor quality of the reception in local programming and she feels that improving this reception in homes is critical. She feels that scheduling more hearings and increasing the level of publicity for these hearings is vital to the success of this process.
Mrs. McEttrick concluded the public hearing by stating that the hearing record will be kept open for fourteen (14) day until November 10, 2005 so that interested parties can submit written testimony to be made part of the hearing. That testimony should be sent to the Board of Selectmen’s Office at 525 Canton Avenue, Milton, MA 02186. All questions can be directed to the Board of Selectmen’s Office at 617-898-4843.
Charles J. McCarthy moved, Marion V. McEttrick seconded and the Board voted to adjourn at 7:45 p.m.
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