FIVE TOWN CABLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Representing the Towns of Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Sheffield and Stockbridge
March 20, 2012 6:00pm
CTSB Studio Route 102, Lee, MA
Members Present:
Linda Miller, Chair, Great Barrington
Thomas Hatch, Great Barrington
Paul O’Brien, Sheffield
Steve Moritz, Lee
William Sample, Lenox
Others Present:
John Mucha, Time Warner
John Fogarty, Time Warner
Leo Mahoney – CTSB
Denise Curtin – Recording Secretary
6:07pm Chairman Miller called the meeting to order.
MINUTES:
December 13, 2011- Motion to dispense of reading of the minutes was made and to approve as
submitted. Motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
CTSB REPORT –
 Leo Mahoney from CTSB presented the report.
o Report was previously sent to the board for review.
 Key point is that CTSB is talking to the current landlord and looking at other properties. They have
outgrown their present space and look to be able to do more in a larger space. They are looking at possibly
a year out.
 William Ryan from Alford is being inducted as a member at large.
 Annual high school video contest is under way now and all submissions need to be in by May 25, 2012.
TIME WARNER REPORT:
John Mucha from Time Warner was present to give the report and to answer questions.
Form 500 Report  Annual report needs to be submitted to state for the year. Normally due end of January but state has given
an extension until April 15, 2012 to submit.
Alphabetical List –
 Enhancement is complete.
License Renewal –
 Process continuing.
 Need to set meeting dates in April to continue.
NBA League Pass  Potential malfunction on Time Warner’s part.
 Found problem with satellite feed and they made adjustments.
Community Action –
 Time Warner broadcast the United Cerebral Palsy Telethon on January 29, 2012.
 Provided Williams College men and women sporting events to subscribers.
HBO GO –
Now available for I-phones and Android phones also. Free app.
NEW BUSINESS –
 No new business
OLD BUSINESS –
 Wired West conducting survey in this area. If you get a call to bring internet into the Berkshires please
don’t hang up. Answer their questions honestly. They need information for financing the project.
OTHER BUSINESS –
 Stephen Miller from Stockbridge has resigned due to work commitments.
 Motion made to send a letter of thanks for his service with a copy to Town of Stockbridge.
 Motion seconded and passed unanimously.
OPENINGS –
 There are still plenty of openings on the committee.
 2 openings in Lenox
 1.5 opening in Lee
 1 opening in Sheffield
Anyone interested may apply at the Selectmen’s office of your town.
The next meeting will be held on June 12, 2012 at 6:00pm at Stockbridge Town Offices.
Chairman Miller made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
Chairman Miller adjourned the meeting at 6:30pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Denise M. Curtin
Recording Clerk
June 12, 2012 6:00pm
Stockbridge Town Office
Members Present:
Linda Miller, Chair, Great Barrington
Paul O’Brien, Sheffield
Steve Moritz, Lee
William Sample, Lenox
David Parker, Lee
Richard-Scott Burow, Stockbridge
Rene Wood, Sheffield
Others Present:
John Mucha, Time Warner
Leo Mahoney – CTSB
Jack Hoffmire – CTSB President
Denise Curtin – Recording Secretary
6:03pm
Chairman Miller called the meeting to order.
All towns represented.
MINUTES: March - Motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes was made and to approve as submitted.
Motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
TIME WARNER REPORT:
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John Mucha from Time Warner was present to give the report and to answer questions.
Form 500 Report 
The Form 500 was filed with the state and the local communities on April 16, 2012.
Alphabetical List –
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Enhancement is complete.
Intermittent Freezing –
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Time Warner researching issue.
Original issues began mid-December 2011 at which time Time Warner replaced equipment.
Issues experienced are picture freezing, audio continues but the picture blacks out for about 5 seconds then
returns.
This issue appears to be a new problem and John has requested that emails be sent regarding any problems,
to include channel number, time it happens and what your location is.
License Renewal –
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May meeting - Process continuing.
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June meeting – John Mucha will check w/John Fogarty to confirm; tentative date will be Thursday, June 28,
2012 at 1:00pm to be held at CTSB headquarters on Rt. 102 in Lee, MA.
WTEN/ABC programming –
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WTEN, Albany, NY has exercised their right to network non-duplication protection. Determination was
made that WTEN complied with FCC rules, and as a result Time Warner is now deleting ABC network
programming from WCVB in Berkshire County.
Community Action –
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Leo Mahoney from CTSB has requested that Time Warner telecast the Fourth of July parade in Pittsfield on
the Public Access Channel.
Time Warner/Cable Advisory Committee Field Trip
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The committee has requested to take a field trip to the Time Warner headquarters located in Rotterdam, NY
to tour their headquarters, call center and studio.
Anyone who wants to attend is invited, and all Licensing Renewal Committee members are strongly advised
to attend.
All interested parties are researching a comparable date in July for this visit which will include the License
Renewal monthly negotiating meeting.
Would like to have Marco, head of the call center, at the location at time of visit.
No further questions and thanked John Mucha for attending.
CTSB REPORT –
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Leo Mahoney from CTSB presented the report.
Report was previously sent to the board for review.
Highlights of the report:
Annual meeting held on April 24, 2012. The executive board was renewed for 2012-2013. New at-large
board member, Will Ryan of Alford was voted in.
Capital budget request of $82,420 was approved.
The operating budget of $384,000 was approved.
There was a complaint from Aldo Pascucci expressing disappointment that the Memorial Day Parade in Lee
was not broadcast.
Committee member Burow asked why the Community channel does not have music all the time. Mr.
Mahoney indicated that the talking chronicle is a fail safe is music is lost.
Volunteers needed at CTSB. No experience needed.
Donations are always appreciated.
NEW BUSINESS –
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No new business
OLD BUSINESS –
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Bob O’Haver who is the liaison for Wired West not in attendance this evening so no status update available.
OTHER BUSINESS –
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It is with deep regret that we accept the resignation of Paul O’Brien from the committee. Paul has been an
amazing anchor to this committee and on the board for 5+ years. Paul has been overloaded with his
generous volunteer work and has decided to relinquish his seat on not only our board, but many other boards
that he has so graciously served on.
Paul will be sadly missed.
Motion made to put together a letter to the towns that the committee serves acknowledging Paul’s
resignation and service.
Motion seconded and unanimously approved.
Paul addressed the members present to say thank you, and to also recognize that this committee has thrived
under the leadership of Linda Miller, and has grown to be a very positive and outgoing committee and will
continue to successfully serve the five towns that they represent.
OPENINGS –
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There are still plenty of openings on the committee in 4 out of the 5 towns we serve.
Great Barrington is the only town that has all 3 seats filled.
Anyone interested may apply at the Selectmen’s office of your town.
The next meeting will be held on September 11, 2012 in Great Barrington at 6:00pm.
Paul O’Brien made his last motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
Chairman Miller adjourned the meeting at 6:40pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Denise M. Curtin
Recording Clerk
September 11, 2012 6:00pm
Great Barrington Town Hall
Members Present:
Linda Miller, Chair, Great Barrington
Steve Moritz, Lee
William Sample, Lenox
Richard-Scott Burow, Stockbridge
Thomas Hatch – Great Barrington
Others Present:
John Mucha, Time Warner
John Fogarty, Time Warner
Leo Mahoney – CTSB
Denise Curtin – Recording Secretary
6:05pm
Chairman Miller called the meeting to order.
MINUTES: June - Motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes was made and to approve as submitted.
Motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
Chairman Miller asked that Leo Mahoney from CTSB be able to present first due to another commitment that
evening. John Mucha agreed.
CTSB REPORT –
 Leo Mahoney from CTSB presented the report.
 Report was previously sent to the board for review.
 Highlights of the report:
 Board President, Jack Hoffmire will be taking a leave of absence for approximately 4 months and is
expected back sometime in January.
o Acting Vice-President, Seth Kershner from Lee will be stepping in as President.
o Leo will send contact info for Seth to all board members.
 The regular quarterly CTSB meetings will be moved to the last Tuesday of the month at 6:00pm at the
studio.
 CTSB will no longer be paying for sports announcing at high school sporting events.
o CTSB has sent letters out to each of the school’s principles and athletic directors to see if there is
any interest in having students volunteer to do producing and announcing of their high school games.
o CTSB will work with the schools to train student volunteers. Training would be good credentials for
college resumes.
o CTSB’s mission is to train for the community – not to pay for announcers and broadcasting.
o If there is no interest from the schools, there will be no broadcast of high school sporting events.
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 CTSB experienced connection problems with the last 2 live Lenox broadcasts due to poor picture quality.
Playbacks aired fine. Issues were repaired.
 Lee Founders Day Parade will be broadcast live. This multi-camera event starts at 11am on CTSB-TV
channel 16.
 Channel 17 & 18 – Selectmen’s meetings are airing on both stations as they are waiting on a part to make
repairs to the server.
 Volunteers needed at CTSB. No experience needed.
 Donations are always appreciated.
TIME WARNER REPORT:
 John Mucha from Time Warner was present to give the report and to answer questions.
Connections  A formal request for service was received from a resident in Stockbridge. John will report back to the board
when he has more information from the Construction group.
 Installation scheduled to begin this week for 324 Park Street, Great Barrington.
Guide  Customer reported issues with the program guide and techs were sent to the home. Many board members
also expressed problems in all of the towns. John requested addresses of the other locations where people
are having problems and he will look into it.
 If the board receives complaints please advise customers to report problems.
Beinsport  Time Warner is presently in discussions to carry this channel.
License Renewal –
 Two more meetings scheduled through the end of the year.
Advertising –
 Member William Sample - “kudos” to your advertising. Asked if there was any way to incorporate
something to help CTSB recruit volunteers.
HBO Go Format  Any plans for this to move to the television side? John has not heard anything but will ask.
Analog to Digital Changes –
 Letters sent to customers and local franchise authorities with the next phase of the transition.
No further questions and thanked John Mucha for attending.
NEW BUSINESS –
 Chairman Miller contacted the Attorney General’s office regarding the Hearing Impaired Open Meeting
law.
 At this time the Attorney General is not aware of this. Stated it may possibly be ADA compliance.
 Issue will be tabled until further information is available.
OLD BUSINESS –
 Broadband progress –
o Expected to be up and running by June 2013 or funding will be lost.
o Several towns have been wired, but no timeframe of connecting of town halls and other areas cited
as community based locations.
 Field Trip
o Will try and plan between now and end of this year based on calendar availability.
OTHER BUSINESS –
 There are still plenty of openings on the committee for the 5 towns we serve.
 Great Barrington is the only town that has all 3 seats filled. All other towns have 1 or more openings.
 Anyone interested may apply at the Selectmen’s office of your town.
The next meeting will be held on December 11, 2012 in Sheffield at 6:00pm.
Motion made to adjourn the meeting, seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
Chairman Miller adjourned the meeting at 6:35pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Denise M. Curtin
Recording Clerk
December 11, 2012 6:00p.m.
Sheffield Town Hall
Members Present:
Linda Miller, Chair, Great Barrington
Steve Moritz, Lee
Richard-Scott Burow, Stockbridge
Thomas Hatch – Great Barrington
David Parker - Lee
Others Present:
John Mucha, Time Warner
John Fogarty, Time Warner
Nick Ring – CTSB
Denise Curtin – Recording Secretary
6:00pm
Chairman Miller called the meeting to order.
QUORUM: 3 towns present constitutes a quorum and 4 of the 5 towns are here.
MINUTES: September - Motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes was made and to approve as
submitted. Motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
TIME WARNER REPORT:
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John Mucha from Time Warner presented the Time Warner report.
Steve Moritz – committee member from Lee asked about a recent law that was passed regarding scrambling
of service. John Mucha has not heard of anything yet.
o John assured the committee that converter boxes will be available to subscribers for free until
December 2014.
o Suggestion was made that Time Warner give subscribers at least a two month notice to let people
know that they only have until December 2014 to acquire these converter boxes.
o After the deadline Time Warner will be charging a nominal fee for the boxes.
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Steve also mentioned that the NBA League Pass email with the schedule has been wrong.
o Time Warner is not responsible for these emails/scheduling notification and that In Demand sends
these out. John asked that the email with the schedule be sent to him so that he may review.
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Thomas Hatch asked about Channel 5(ABC) being blocked. Time Warner is mandated by law to follow
what WTEN gives them for programming. Time Warner is working on some resolutions through the FCC
to resolve this issue.
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Program guide freezing – unplugging seems to fix it. One committee member said he got a new box and it
has fixed the problem.
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Customer Service – Subscribers are upset that when they call with questions regarding programming that
the customer service team at Time Warner states they are only able to help them if they have a billing
question or technical problems. They suggest searching the website for answers as there is a tremendous
amount of information there.
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Stockbridge Resident Connection
As per the report from Time Warner they have surveyed the location and sent a letter to the resident which
details the cost they would need to pay to be connected.
Richard Scott-Burow is the committee member from Stockbridge and indicated that the Board of Selectmen
in Stockbridge does not agree that the resident should have to pay to lay the cable on this public road.
There are ample poles available to provide service to the residence. It is Time Warner’s position to not use
the exiting poles.
John Fogarty – Legal Counsel for Time Warner approached the committee and indicated that Time Warner
believes they are correct and consistent with the existing contract.
Discussion ensued regarding the existing contract that states that under section 3.4 the residence must be
200 aerial feet of the cable plant and this residence is more than 200’ from cable plant.
Time Warner legal counsel is willing to meet and engage discussions with the town regarding this situation.
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“Motion made by Mr. Burow that the committee request Time Warner to re-consider their position and hook-up the
Aronoff's as a standard installation and not incur the total cost, seconded by Mr. Hatch and passed unanimously.”
“Motion made by Mr. Parker that this committee will support the Town of Stockbridge should the Board of
Selectmen put Time Warner on notice in the pursuit of legal action, seconded by Mr. Moritz and passed
unanimously.”
CTSB Report –
Nick Ring, Operation Managers for CTSB presented report.
 Technical issues experienced recently have been successfully repaired.
 CTSB is in need of volunteers and donations.
 They provide community events and have limited staff now.
 They will provide the equipment and training to anyone who would like to join them.
 They can contact them at 413-243-8211 or email at [email protected]
OLD BUSINESS –
 Broadband Initiative Progress
 No recent news
 Fiber Optic has been installed on Rt. 7, excluding the last mile which is still in discussion as to how to
proceed.
 This must be completed by end of June 2013 or funding will be lost.
Field Trip
 We are still looking for a date for as many members as possible to travel to see Time Warner headquarters
in western New York State.
 Linda Miller will send email to find out how many are interested in going and what dates would be best for
everyone.
New Business
 No new business to report
Other Business
 There will be a full committee special meeting in late January to review draft of contract.
 Committee will be able to send to towns for review after this meeting.
 Town of Stockbridge has requested that their town attorney review prior to approval.
Next scheduled meeting will be held Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 6:00pm in Lenox.
Motion made to adjourn.
Motion seconded and approved.
Meeting adjourned 7:25pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Denise Curtin
Recording Secretary