Old Lyme Area Cable Advisory Council
9 January 2014 Salem Town Offices
Minutes
Attending: Peter Sielman, Chair, (Town of Salem); Pamela Munro, Vice-Chair, (Salem BOE); Cathy Frank, Secretary, (Town of Old Lyme); John Bairos, Comcast.
Absent: Gary Mezzi (East Haddam BOE), Tim Devlin, (Town of Old Lyme)
Chairman Peter Sielman called the meeting to order at 7:35pm.
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Pam Munro, seconded by Peter Sielman, to approve the October 10 2013
meeting minutes. Motion passed.
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Treasurer’s Report
Cathy distributed December statements from Chelsea Groton Bank showing balances of $15561.48 in the money market account and $356.47 in the checking account. The report was acknowledged.
Statewide Video Council Report
- Election of a new SVAC Rep from Old Lyme Area Council
Peter Sielman must resign as SVAC rep for personal reasons. A motion was made by Cathy Frank, seconded by Peter Sielman, to ask Russ Gomes to be the Old Lyme Council’s new SVAC representative. Motion passed. Cathy will contact Russ. Dinner meetings take place in Cromwell at least quarterly and sometimes more often. Peter can provide Russ with more information.
Comcast Report
- Westbrook Comcast customer service issue
The Westbrook issue has already been resolved; was mistakenly included on the meeting agenda.
John Bairos presented a check to the Council for $2,000 to Secretary/Treasurer Cathy Frank. She will deposit in the money market account.
Comcast is again offering a scholarship program to local high school students. Nominations for the $1,000 scholarship are made by the school guidance departments and awards are made in the spring.
Lynn Perry held an Open House at the Old Lyme Public Access studio. Council members Pam Munro and Cathy Frank were among those who attended.
Information about Comcast contracts with local affiliates can now be found online at xfinitytv.com/contractrenewals.
Cathy passed along a thank you to John from Old Lyme’s Information Technology Coordinator for his assistance with a cable issue, and Pam passed along a message from Salem residents interested in The Blaze News Network.
Peter and Pam updated John on a cable quality issue they had reported at the last meeting.
Pam’s issue was resolved following a service visit. Peter’s issue remains and he is working with a Comcast representative referred by John to get it resolved.
Public Access Report
Lynn Perry was unable to attend the meeting.
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Old Business
- Approval of 2014 Scholarship Program Changes
Pam Munro had distributed a draft revision via e-mail and reported on comments she received.
Peter’s suggestions to limit the years of previous recipients were incorporated. Tim Devlin had suggested additional essay/presentation topics. Members decided to proceed with the draft as is and incorporate additional changes for the following year. We will also look into presenting the application as a fillable form.
A motion was made by Cathy Frank, seconded by Peter Sielman, to approve the 2014 Scholarship Application. Motion passed.
Cathy will send the updated 2014 Scholarship application to Lyme Old Lyme High School and Haddam-Killingworth. Pam will submit to East Lyme High School (for Salem students) and Hale-Ray.
New Business
- Pegpetia Funds Restoration
Correspondence regarding PA 13-184, which authorized sweeping $3.6 million of PEGPETIA grant funds into the State’s General Fund, was distributed. Cable operators in the State are required to pay .25% of their gross receipts to the State to fund PEGPETIA, which provides grants to municipalities and schools for public access enterprises.
Members agreed that their best first step was to contact our State Representatives for an explanation of the legislation and its potential ramifications. Pam will contact Ed Jutila and Cathy will contact Marilyn Giuliano.
Other Business
Peter asked John for an update on the number of Comcast subscribers in Lyme. The Council will be contacting the towns and school systems that need to appoint a representative to the Advisory Council and would like to report the subscriber information.
Public Comment
None
Adjournment
Cathy Frank made a motion to adjourn at 8:24pm, and meeting was called back into session to discuss locations for the balance of the 2014 meetings. Meetings will take place as follows:
April 10, 2014 Old Lyme
July 10, 2014 Salem
October 9, 2014 Old Lyme
Meeting adjourned at 8:26pm.
Catherine Frank
1/15/14
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