Cable Advisory Commission

Taunton Community Cable Advisory Committee Minutes of September 30, 2021 Present were: Peter Higgins X Gregory Glynn X John Gonsalves X George Mendros Daniel Rapoza X Also present were: Marcus Gay (THS ) Can be viewed at 7PM on Comcast Ch 17, Verizon Ch 24, and On Line: Taunton.vod.castus.tv Meeting opened at 7:05 by Chairman Higgins I. Introduction of Marcus Gay newly elected as the Taunton Public Schools TV/Media Specialist, who is replacing Steven Jacques after 15 years of service, relocating to Florida. Chairman Higgins introduced Marcus Gay as Steve Jacques replacement at Taunton High. Discussed were the tough schedule that he will have as he works his way into the complete operation. He stated he’s looking forward to running the operation. II. Communications from the Chairman: 1. Commissioner Higgins will reach out to Verizon’s Pamela Goldstein and Taunton’s Verizon liaison Niall Connors for the purpose of initiating informal discussions, and to establish dates for Public Ascertainment Chairman Higgins noted he had a conversation with Pamela Goldstein about the time frame for the Ascertainment Hearing. It was stated that at this time there was no real hurry to get it done. 2. Greg Glynn will be re-establishing a Comcast feed at the new City Hall. Commissioner Glynn stated that he has had contact with the Comcast installation engineer. He stated that they will need to pull a larger coaxial cable to supply the signal for the 12 outlets in City Hall. Thru a phone conversation with Gerry Buckley, he stated that they were working up a proposal for the installation of that coax cable and would get back to us as soon as that document was finalized. He also stated that all the outlets within city hall would come to us free of charge. 3. Commissioner John Gonsalves, will remain a TCCAC Commissioner to at least the end of his term expiring in January 2022. Chairman Higgins noted that Jack’s term would be up in January of 2022 but hoped we would be able to keep him on board as he has been present during our last negotiations with Verizon and would be an asset to that procedure. 4. Reported changes in Comcast and Verizon P.E.G. allocations funds. There haven’t been additional charged to date levied against P.E.G. allocation funds. Chairman Higgins stated that there has be no changes in any of the PEG monies coming from the cable companies and states we will need to continue to watch for any changes. Also discussed were other parts of the FCC rules change. One was the goal to bring broadband and internet to rural areas that were not able to get it in the past. 5. Mayor O’Connell has appointed former Commissioner Daniel Rapoza To the TCCAC, filling the vacancy of Commissioner Henry Mello. Chairman reintroduced Daniel Rapoza to the Commission. 6. Comments from William August regarding the future of Municipalities and Cable franchises. Chairman Higgins just brought this up. A short discussion about cable services and streaming services and how it will affect the loss of PEG access monies in the future. Commissioner Gonsalves asked how we could find out how many subscribers each company has now and compare it to in the past. Discussed how the industry has changed and who and how many people have cut the cord and gone to just streaming. 7. Commissioner’s Conflict of Interest Certificates are due at the Clerk’s Office. Chairman Higgins reiterated that this needs to done and a copy of their certificate needs to go to the City Clerks office as soon as possible. llI. Introduction of Taunton’s new /Comcast Liaison Patrick Shearns Our efforts to bring Mr. Shearns into the meeting via ZOOM failed. We will try again our next meeting . IV. Old business There was no old business V. New Business It was discussed as to who we will choose to represent the City in negotiations with Verizon in the upcoming contract talks. Three names could be in the running. It was suggested that Chairman Higgins consult with the Law Department for their input. The meeting adjourned at 8:06 Next meeting will be November 10, 2021 at 7:00pm.