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Present: Committee Members Lauter, Seelen, Asher, Dwyer, Eldredge, Ellison, Farrell, Innis, Johnson, MacCune, Manning, Marwill, Mooradian, O’Meara
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Chair Irma Lauter called the Advisory Committee meeting to order at 7:08 PM.
The Committee reviewed and approved minutes from the meeting on April 23rd 2009.
Recreation Director Mark Thorell requested Committee approval for the re-classification of a current, part-time Assistant Program Supervisor to a full-time Administrative Secretary.
The request had already been approved by the Recreation Commission and the Personnel Board.
The re-classification would have no financial impact on the department’s FY10 budget, since the additional ~$10K would come from part-time wages funded by its Revolving Fund.
The Committee voted to approve this request with one abstention.
Chairman Guy Conrad and the Cable TV Advisory Committee presented the highlights of one alternative for delivering Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) programming, services, facilities and equipment to the Town, its residents, and Hingham institutions. Other alternatives were not discussed.
Comcast, the current provider of Public and Governmental cable TV services, has informed the Town that it is ceasing the delivery of such services.
The alternative presented proposes the creation of a 501(c) (3) entity, the Hingham Community Television Corporation (HCTC), which would act as an independent contractor to the Town, with exclusive control over the PEG funds from Comcast and Verizon as well as the hiring and compensation of its employees.
Selectman Laura Burns indicated that the Committee’s evaluation of this alternative would be of value to the Board of Selectmen, which is empowered to create such a 501(c) (3) tax-exempt corporation without Town Meeting approval. In response, a Committee member commented that, in his opinion, any undertaking of this financial and operational magnitude should go before Town Meeting, even if such public discussion is not a legal requirement.
Funding for the implementation of this—and any other alternatives to be considered—would be provided in accordance with the ten-year Cable Licenses recently executed by the Town with Verizon New England and Comcast of Massachusetts. The anticipated $4M to be received by the Town over the ten-year terms of these two agreements is predicated upon a 20%-40% growth in new cable subscriptions, sourced primarily from Linden Ponds and the Hingham Shipyard.
To provide the necessary vetting of this alternative, the Committee requested that the Cable TV Advisory Committee prepare a detailed five-year financial spreadsheet of anticipated operating and capital revenue and expenses and address the following the issues:
Several Committee members evidenced concern with performing the requested vetting given the unavailability of Cable TV Advisory Committee meeting minutes and the need for more complete information in light of the proposed Access Agreement start date of July 1, 2009 and a Summary Cash Flow document that assumes the hiring of an Executive Director on June 1, 2009.
Selectman Burns assured the Committee that evaluation of this alternative currently had no hard end-date.
Committee members were encouraged to submit additional questions or issues for resolution to Chair Irma Lauter for forwarding to Selectman Burns.
Finance Director Ted Alexiades informed the Committee that—accounting for FY09 department turn-backs of 1%-2%, the latest estimate of State Aid, and the $922K School Department Federal grant—the estimated Town budget deficit of $1.2M looked to be closed.
There has been no response from the MSBA regarding the Middle School Statement of Interest filed last autumn.
Following a brief discussion of appropriate activity under the Advisory Committee Rules, the meeting was adjourned at 10:22 PM.
Respectfully submitted, Jonathan R. Asher, Secretary