Unplugged: Select Board disbands TV oversight panel

Acton’s long list of town committees just got shorter.

The town’s public TV station, which officials say is running smoothly, is shedding a layer of direct oversight: The Select Board agreed recently to disband the PEG Access Advisory Committee. 

The board’s PEG Access liaison, Mary Hartman, argued Acton’s Minuteman Media Network will still get scrutiny from town staff and through the budget process.

Her case prevailed via a 4-1 vote. 

“The Select Board is much better at creating committees than [we] are at sunsetting them once they’ve reached their goals,” Hartman said during the board’s August 31 meeting. 

Only board member Paul Boehm opposed dissolution. “There’s an opportunity lost, I think, if we declare a mission accomplished,” he said. 

‘Outstanding’ service

MMN broadcasts and records meetings and events in Acton and Carlisle. Community members can use its equipment to make their own programs. 

“We keep residents informed, educated, and even entertained sometimes,” Minuteman Manager Julie Manoogian told the Select Board.

She touted a new podcast studio and said it’s “very easy” to use services at MMN’s headquarters at Acton-Carlisle High School.

Companies like Comcast generally fund “public, educational, and government access” (PEG) programs as part of license agreements to do business in individual communities. 

Acton impaneled its advisory group in 2018 as it transitioned from an outside provider to the in-house MMN. Eight years later, “the service is outstanding,” Hartman said. 

Acton has negotiated a new 10-year agreement with Comcast, and the advisory committee has gone dormant, with no meetings since December 2025. Boehm, last year’s PEG Access liaison, told The Acton Bridge the group “couldn’t get any volunteers” to fill vacancies. 

Despite that, he pushed to amend the committee charge and preserve an avenue for public involvement. 

Committee count

Minuteman is set to spend nearly $600,000 this fiscal year under its Town Meeting-approved budget. Most of the money comes from Comcast. 

Sudbury dissolved its Cable Television Committee in 2008. Of Acton’s other municipal neighbors, all advertise similar groups on their websites, but only Bedford’s had posted agendas for meetings in 2026 as of press time. 

Cynthia Rainey, who formerly represented the School Committee on PEG Access Advisory, supported disbanding the TV panel in a recent letter to the Select Board.

Acton has 65 remaining committees. 

Select Board Chair Wendy Rovelli said she doesn’t think the board is “actively trying to reduce committees.” But members want “to be cognizant of when a committee is no longer needed” or when it’s time to update a charge. 

As some groups struggle to fill vacancies, Rovelli told The Bridge that Select Board efforts have been “about ensuring we are being purposeful and efficient” about volunteerism. 

Despite his concerns, Boehm said he thinks Minuteman will “do well” going ahead. 

“It’s not a survival thing,” he told The Bridge.