MINUTES
ACTV Board Meeting
November 8, 2007, 7:30 pm
Call to Order: 7:33 pm, Paulette Brooks Presiding
Board Members present: Kathleen Anderson (newly appointed School representative), Ruth Backes (newly elected by membership), Paulette Brooks, Anna Carter, Jeff Lee, Alan Root (newly re-elected by membership).
Board Members absent: Isaac BenEzra, Jean Haggerty, Josna Rege (all sent notifications)
Quorum status: This constitutes a quorum of the Board.
Also present: Jill Dipilla (camera), Harry Brooks, Irene Starr, Walter Wolnik.
Public Comment
Walter Wolnik requested:
· That the Annual Meeting be cablecast.
MOTION
A motion was made and seconded:
that the Board approve the proposal by member Walter Wolnik to
cablecast October 2007’s Annual Meeting.
Discussion followed. Eventually, the Board decided to
Table the motion for further consideration, to be voted on at the December Board meeting.
· That Bruce Arbour be appointed to the By-Laws Committee.
President’s Report
· Paulette Brooks is Acting President for this Board Meeting, since Isaac BenEzra is away on family business. Ms. Brooks announced that ACTV’s Board Member Jean Haggerty is resigning her post due to health issues. The Board will plan an appropriate response to express its gratitude for Jean’s generosity and the expertise that she has offered to the station during her term of service.
· The 2007 Annual Report has been corrected of errors and redistributed to the Town Manager, the Select Board Members and the Superintendent of Schools. The PDF version that is posted on the ACTV website has also been updated to reflect the corrections.
· Working Committees will be appointed by President Isaac BenEzra when he returns to Amherst (mid-November).
Approval of
September and October Minutes
MOTION
A motion
was made and seconded to:
Approve the September Minutes.
The motion passed unanimously.
MOTION
A
motion was made and seconded to:
Approve the October Minutes.
The motion passed unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer
Anna Carter presented the September budget report.
MOTION
A
motion was made and seconded to:
Accept the Treasurer’s Report, subject to
audit.
The motion passed unanimously.
Executive Director’s Report
Jim Lescault,
ACTV Executive Director, presented his first report to the Board since his
October 1st start date.
·
ED met with Chris
Pacunas at the Town Hall to revise the improvement plan for the Select Board
meeting room. A new Call to Bid has been sent to 3 providers. There is no
movement for Middle School improvements at this time.
·
ED reported first Town
Meeting day cablecast difficulties. The tapes of the first day meeting were
cablecast the following day. The problems were quickly resolved and second day
was successfully cablecast. Requests for equipment updates will be coming.
·
ED successfully
purchased the laptop and cellphone that was approved by the Board for his
personal use. The Town has approved the purchases for reimbursement.
·
ED reported he is
having difficulty getting a positive response from the vendor for the encoder
purchased in December of 2004 which is not functioning. He will report the
problem to the manufacturer and continue to work on the problem.
·
ED is pleased that the
new phones will soon be functioning and that the station will soon have the
ability to digitize all town meetings, which the Town IT department will be
able to archive and post on the internet. ED is enthusiastic about
collaborating with the Town Manager on improving content and technical quality.
·
The ED and staff
provided substantial support for the following October projects:
o the completion of the 2007 Annual Report
o hosting the Annual Membership Meeting
·
ED has made
substantial positive outreach contacts with numerous Town entities (for
example);
o Chamber of Commerce
o League of Women’s Voters
o Amherst College, Hampshire College and the University of
Massachusetts
o Amherst school system
·
ED attended MassAccess
seminar focused on funding sources where he met several other EDs of Public
Access stations.
·
ED has addressed
building maintenance issues:
o Overall interior cleanup
o Outside lighting
o Heating issues
MOTION
A
motion was made and seconded to:
To remove the baby grand piano (not repairable) from the station.
The motion passed
unanimously.
·
ED requests that the
Personnel Committee swiftly address the reviews for two employees whose
anniversary has been reached. Updating job descriptions is also in order.
·
ED acknowledged the
generous donations from several businesses that were offered in the Annual
Meeting raffle. Thank you notes including tax deduction forms were to these
businesses.
·
ED successfully merged
two CDs at Florence Savings Bank as requested by the Board in order to gain
better interest return.
·
A newly organized
Production Report has been completed, including 3 – 4 new organizations.
·
ED, in the interest of
developing a bridge between ACTV and the public schools, met with Bruce Arbour
to discuss a project that would enable coverage and cablecasting of the ARHS
Athletic Department sporting events (probably on the Education Channel). This
could involve using of old camcorders by student producers.
New Business
In preparation for activating Board Committees, members expressed interest in serving on the following committees.
·
Personnel Committee:
Kathleen Anderson; Ruth Backes; Paulette Brooks
·
Finance Committee: Anna
Carter
·
Fund-Raising: Paulette
Brooks
·
By-Law Committee: Paulette
Brooks; Jeff Lee; Alan Root
·
Tech Committee: Jeff
Lee
Old Business – no old business
The
meeting was ended at 10:00 p.m. at which time the Board went into Executive Session.
Minutes taken by Anna Carter.
Respectfully Submitted by
Josna Rege
Clerk. ACTV Board of Directors