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Technology Committee Minutes - January 20, 2022

 

Bill Butler called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM

 

Present were: Committee members Bob Lachance, Kristy Overlock, Jeff Cosulich, Brett Jones, Bill Butler and Adm. Asst. Stu Marckoon.

 

Minutes – November 24, 2020 – Brett moved to approve, Bill 2nd.  Vote in favor was unanimous.

 

Broadband Expansion – Stu reported that he watched the meeting with the Hancock County Commissioners the previous day, and Lamoine’s project to expand with Spectrum/Charter was discussed.  He reported that Mission Broadband, which is working with the County Commissioners said there might be a problem with the Spectrum/Charter proposal because of recent changes to the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) requirements.  He said Spectrum/Charter had e-mailed prior to the meeting that the project would be scalable to meet the requirements.   He said he was looking for a recommendation for the Selectboard.

 

Brett asked if expanding the cable buildout might result in more revenue for the town.  Stu said it might mean a little more – there are not a lot more homes served, and it would be a decision on whether they wish to receive CTV service.  After a brief discussion, Bill moved to recommend to the Board of Selectmen to proceed with the Spectrum/Charter proposal provided that it meets the ARPA requirements and the Hancock County Commissioner commit to matching town funding. Brett 2nd.  Vote in favor was unanimous.

 

Town Website – Kristy recused herself from voting as her company (REACH) is making the proposal to the town.  She said the town’s website is very functional, but also very outdated.  She said REACH would build a site and host it, as per the written proposal.  She said they use WordPress for maintaining the site and they work closely with clients for training and content.  She said they work with several other municipalities, including Ellsworth and Franklin. 

 

Bill asked if they are aware of the requirements regarding security.  Kristy said yes, and they update security automatically.  Bill asked if the maintenance fee includes behind the scene items.  Kristy said that was correct.  Bob asked about the hardware.  Kristy said the software is Wordpress, and most of the hardware is located off site.  Stu said the site would utilize the same domain.  A discussion followed on data centers and hosting.

 

Brett asked if the current data could be imported.  Kristy said yes.  A discussion followed on how to add content, training and ease of use.  Stu said he was looking for a recommendation.  A discussion followed regarding the history of the town’s website.  Brett asked about e-mail.  Kristy said they don’t do e-mail. 

 

Bill moved to recommend the proposal to the Selectboard.  Jeff 2nd.  Vote in favor was 4-0 (Overlock abstained).

 

Streaming – Stu asked if there would be any advantage in having YouTube do the TV streaming instead of Town Hall Streams.  After a lengthy discussion about ease of use, it was determined there was no reason to change.  There was discussion about establishing a YouTube channel.

 

Remote Recording Gear – Stu noted the very old cameras the town owns are in poor shape and have a poor quality picture.  Bill said he would research what some of the better options might be.  Discussion followed on audio quality.

 

Town Hall Networking/Server – Stu asked if it would make sense to use a server for the town hall instead of the current network which has some glitches.  Bob Lachance suggested network attached storage for hosting files instead of a server.  There was a lengthy discussion about how the five computers in the building communicate.  Bob offered to look at how Windows is set up and security options. 

 

Remote Meeting Policy – Bill moved to proceed with developing a policy and holding a public hearing on it the next meeting.  Jeff 2nd.  Vote in favor was unanimous.

 

Next Meeting Date – The committee set Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 6PM for its next meeting. 

 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:51 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Stu Marckoon, Adm. Asst. to the Selectboard