HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-12-19 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting
December 19, 2005
For ease of archiving, the.order that items appear in these Minutes reflects the order in which
the items appeared on the agenda for that meeting, and are not necessarily the order in which
any item was taken up by the Board.
The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street,
Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman Camille Anthony, Secretary Joseph Duffy,
Selectmen James Bonazoli and Ben Tafoya, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Special
Counsel William Solomon, Peter Bowman *representing Verizon and the following list of
interested parties: W. J. Carroll, Ed Parish, Philip Rushworth, Richard Curtis, Paul Feely, Harry
Wheeler, Keith Baker, Pat Harry, Mary'Rafferty, Paul Boudette, Nancy Wolff Leary, Susan
Darling-True, Marcel Dubois, Maria Lasota, Tom Antonucci, Paul Trane, Jim McGrail, Ruth
Kennedy, Jessica Lane, Bill Santino, Walter Carroll,Bob Hunt.
Discussion/Action Items
Hearing.,— Verizon Cable TV Franchise - The Town Manager gave the background of the
application for a Cable TV franchise by Verizon. He noted that the negotiation process has been
conducted fairly and professionally by Verizon. There is agreement on the part of both parties
on most issues. This agreement is .based on compromises assuming a final agreement to the
franchise.
Peter Bowman, Vice President of Government Relations in Massachusetts and northern New
England representing Verizon, was present. He noted that Verizon has invested $7 million in
Reading in building the system that will carry the Cable TV service. There are 75 Verizon
employees and retirees who live in Reading. They give back to the community in a number of
ways and were a recent sponsor of a Library Foundation event. The system that they have built
has limitless capacity. A Reading license, if it were issued today, would be the second in
Massachusetts. Woburn has granted a license. Reading is in a leading position.
Mr. Bowman introduced Paul Trane and Torn Antonucci who were the negotiators for the
Reading.license. Mr. Trane noted that the proposed franchise brings competition in the cable
industry to Reading, which will have the effect of stabilizing rates, improving customer service,
and providing a choice for residents. The Town has done its due diligence. There have been
over 100 changes to the initial proposal. The major points include $245,000 for PEG and wide
area equipment, and 5% of the gross revenue to support the PEG access operation.
The Town].Manager noted that the major issue that is outstanding has to do with Section 1.6—the
definition of a cable system. The Town's position is that the definition should reference the
Federal Law only. Verizon has proposed modifications to the effect of which, in the Town
Manager's opinion, to be a definition that concludes that there is no such thing as a cable system
in Reading. This effects things like gross revenue.
Board of Selectmen Meeting—December 19, 2005—Page 2
Chairman Camille Anthony asked what is Title 2. Bill Solomon noted that Title 2 regulates
telephone and data services. These things are regulated pursuant to State Law Chapter 166. Mr.
Solomon reviewed the recent Massapequa Park decision and its effect on this issue.
Selectman Ben Tafoya asked how much of the community is currently wired for cable. The
response was that 83% is wired. Selectman Tafoya then asked why it would take three years to
wire the remainder of the community. Mr. Trane noted that under State law, the cable system
has six years to wire the system. The three years proposed in the franchise agreement is
consistent with past practice. Even though the entire aerial service is installed, they need time to
build the underground system where that is required by the Town, and to provide service in
multiple dwelling units. The estimate is that 4% of the system is underground, and 13% is in
multiple dwelling units. Mr. Trane indicated that it is in the company's interest to complete the
build out as quickly as possible because that is how they will get customers. The main feeder
lines throughout the community are built— for example, the lines exist on the streets in front of
all multiple dwelling units. Mr. Trane noted that the Comcast license provided for six years for
their full installation.
Selectman Tafoya asked about the density requirement and whether there are any areas that do
not meet the density requirement. The opinion is that all of the community meets the density
requirement. This language is in the incumbent agreement with Comcast.
Finally, Selectman Tafoya asked about Section 3.3 on providing services to businesses. He
asked if Verizon is currently offering FIGS to businesses. The response was that it is primarily
to the residential community. Selectman Tafoya asked if there were other substantial differences
between the Comcast agreement and Verizon. It was noted that the Verizon agreement had a
greater amount of gross revenue to go to PEG support, there is more capital money involved, and
there are differences in the term of the agreement and in serving multifamily dwellings.
Selectman Tafoya asked about multifamily dwellings. Verizon responded that there may be
technical reasons why it's difficult to serve some multiple dwellings. Comcast has no provision
for commercial services, and has a local office for bill payment.
Vice Chairman Richard Schubert asked about the effect of the license on RCTV. The 5% of
gross revenue to go to PEG access operating cost is greater under the Verizon license than the
flat rate is under Comcast.
Chairman Camille Anthony indicated that she hoped that the customer service standards would
have better response time than Verizon has for telephone. Mr. Trane noted that there are State
regulations that address this issue. Their goal is to resolve issues within 24 hours.
There was discussion about Section 4.2.2 connecting to other communities. The Town Manager
explained the circumstance under which we might want those connections.
Selectman James Bonazoli noted that he would like to see Sections 5.8 and 5.9 tightened up.
Verizon responded that these are technologies including video on demand that are not yet
available for PEG access, but that they would hope to be able to have available system wide.
Board of Selectmen Meeting—December,.19, 2005—.Page 3
The following residents, who are also employees of Veriz'on spoke: Nancy Wolf Leary of 23
Jessica Lane, Harry Wheeler from 51 Ash Hill Road, Keith Baker, Paul Boudette from 48
Lothrop, Road, Bill Santino from B Autumn Lane, Walter Carrol from 36 Chequesette Road,
Bob Hunt from Winter Street and Susan Darling-True from 22 Chapin Avenue.
Phil Rushworth and Marcel Dubois from RCTV also spoke, indicating that the PEG access
support is very good and are excited to have a second provider. Regarding video on demand,
this would be good to have. They feel it is basically a good agreement. Mr. Dubois asked if
Verizon will have to run new wiring within the house. Verizon explained that it depends on the
situation but generally they just need to bring the wiring into the house and most of the coaxial
cable in the house is adequate.
Selectman Ben Tafoya noted that he is not happy with the three years for completion of the
residential build out and would like better service to businesses — this would be an advantage to
the community. Verizon agreed to address outstanding issues.
A motion by Schubert seconded by Tafoya to continue the hearing until January 9, 2006 in
the Selectmen's Meeting Room at 7:00 p.m.was approved by.a vote of 5-0-0.
A motion by Schubert seconded by Tafoya to adjourn the meeting of December 19, 2005 at
9:00 p.m. was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Siretary