1994-05-12 Board of Selectmen Minutes

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Board of Selectmen Meeting May 12, 1994 The meeting was convened at 7: 30 p.m. Present were Chairman George Hines, Vice Chairman Bill Burditt, Secretary Sally Hoyt, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Cable TV Advisory Committee members Jim Guarente, Mark Guyotte, Richard Cohen, Silva Garrety and Mark Coutier. Present from Continental Cable were Greg Bren- nan, Mike Leone, George Picariello, Bernett Lester, David Brady. Andy Connelly, Reading resident, was also present. Cable TV Hearing The Town Manager read the notice of the hearing. Jim Guarente, Chairman of the Cable TV Committee, reviewed the fact that Continental's franchise began in January, 1981, and expires December 31, 1995. This hearing is to consider information which would lead to a franchise renewal of 5 or 10 years. This is the ascertainment phase and the public hearing is being held in addi- tion to other means to secure input from the community. Greg Brennan, General Manager of Continental Cable spoke. He in- dicated that Continental has not submitted a proposal at this time, but would like to talk about future cable needs. They have been in business in Reading for 14 years, and have 6300 cus- tomers. They pass 8300 homes in Reading. The company is 30 years old and is the 3rd largest cable company in the United States and the largest in Massachusetts. They have 3 million customers in the United States. With regard to performance, this system was constructed 14 years ago, and they continue to do work and upgrade the system. For example, the system was a 300 MHz 30 channel system, and has been upgraded to a 400 MHz 52 channel system. They work hard to main- tain the plant and deliver the quality product. Trouble calls are down 25% because of maintenance. 95% of all trouble calls are dealt with within 24 hours, and 95% of new installations are handled within 7 days. This meets federal requirements. In 1987 Continental installed their first fiber optic link which links Zion Hill in Woburn to Reading. Other communities are now using fiber optics. Their phone service is excellent. During the past six months they have had some overload of the phone system because of the federal regulatory changes. Their standard is to answer the phone within 30 seconds, and less than 3% of their calls are "abandoned. " They have expanded the hours of phone service to -9: OO p.m. and they have 24 hour answering. With regard to their work in the community, they've done work with the Stone Zoo; they've established cable in the classroom, provided materials and $7500 of TV and VCR equipment to the schools . They are participating in the 350th Anniversary Celebration with a float and with TV programming. They've done a great deal of local programming through John Upton and they do training four times a year.