Board Minutes 11.5.08

November 11th, 2008 Posted by Bill Baue

Board Members Present: Fidel Hidalgo, Strong Oak, Eddie Kennedy, Linda Kennedy, Bob Gardner, Matt Dineen, Bushi Harvey Ahmai, and Katherine Reason

Board Members Absent: Tony Shannon

Others Present: Andy Sewell, Dana Prescott, Bob Gutowski, Ed Russell, Keely Malone

Meeting called to order at 7:05pm

Welcome New Board Members and Assignment of Officers: New Board Members were welcomed: Eddie Kennedy, Linda Kennedy, Bob Gardner, and Katherine Reason. Officers were elected as follows:

Co-Chairs: Fidel Hidalgo

Strong Oak (organize meetings, secure meeting space, and develop meeting agenda)

Treasurer: Tony Shannon

Clerk: Linda Kennedy (takes minutes of Board and General Membership meetings, keep registry of attendance at all meetings)

Committee Liaisons

Programming Committee: Strong Oak (Committee Co-Chairs Keely Malone and Strong Oak)

Technical Committee: Andy Sewell (volunteered to get the committee together, deal with broken equipment, and develop a maintenance history of equipment)

Operations Committee: Bob Gardener overall Coordinator; Fidel Hidalgo Volunteer Coordinator (committee needs to be re-established)

Fundraising and Promotions

Committee: Katherine Reason (Committee Chair Matt Dineen)

Grievance and Mediation

Committee: Bushi Harvey Ahmai and Strong Oak (Committee Chair Keely Malone)

Committee Liaisons are expected to participate in those committee meetings respectively and report to the Board along with the committee chair as needed.

It was agreed that board members would take turns facilitating meetings. It was also agreed that training in meeting facilitation was desired. Matt Dineen volunteered to arrange for this to take place in December.

It was agreed that the ‘Board Contract’ needed updating to include a statement to the effect ‘a board member who misses 3 meetings will resign their position’. Bob Gardner will amend the contract and bring to the next Board Meeting in December.

Volunteer Hours: There was lengthy discussion regarding volunteer hours being logged, particularly those who have not reported any volunteer time to their collective liaisons for August and September, and the implications of suspension of programs. This will be brought to the next General Meeting.

Updating VFR Website: It was agreed that our website is out of date and needs some work in the area of the Bylaws and lists of officers in particular. Bob Gardner agreed to work on the Bylaws as soon as the license transfer is complete so the accurate language is in place; Linda Kennedy agreed to provide the update for the Board of Directors and Collective Liaisons. Review of the Bylaws will be an agenda item for December’s meeting.

Status of VFR Newsletter: The Newsletter will be managed by the Fundraising and Promotions Committee. The expectation is that it will be a monthly e-mail newsletter.

Promotions and Fundraising: Matt Dineen reported that this committee needs to get organized and a meeting will be set up soon. The following people are shown interest in working with this committee: Andy Sewell, Dan Rosen, and Danielle Plummer.

· Underwriting: Matt Dineen reported that all our underwriting contractors have agreed to continue underwriting syndicated programs with the exception of River Valley Market. River Valley Market is interested in underwriting a program like Farm to Fork as opposed to syndicated programs. Matt will be meeting with them in order to develop a new agreement. Expanding underwriting beyond syndicated programming will be discussed at the next General Meeting.

· Fundraising Consultant: Bob Gardner reported that he has talked with Susan Bowles regarding the possibility of her doing some fundraising for us and how she might or might not be rewarded for her success. It was agreed that she should be invited to the December meeting to make a presentation to Board.

· Fundraising Events: Bushi Harvey Ahmai reported on the grant he is working on with the Academy of Music to use the Park for an event on Memorial Day. They are trying to find ways for radio to fit into their schedule once or twice a year. Their discussion continues.

Implementation of Annual Membership Fee: It was agreed that the Membership Fee will be implemented using the calendar year as the membership year. Linda and Eddie Kennedy will prepare the materials and place in everyone’s mail box as well as place it on the Announcement List.

Holiday Get-Together: Linda and Eddie Kennedy inquired if there was any interest in putting together a Holiday Get-Together for the VFR community. It was unanimously agreed and that we should bring the idea to the General Meeting.

Automation Regulation and Reinstalling: Andy Sewell agreed to begin the process of installing Automation on all the computers and will give an update at the next Board Meeting.

Non-Profit Status: It is time for VFR to reapply for “non-profit status” and Matt Dineen, with assistance from Andy Sewell, will get the paperwork completed.

Insurance: Bob Gardner reported on our present general liability coverage and that need to increase the level of coverage. He will work on getting some quotes on the increased coverage and report back at the next meeting.

Grievance and Mediation: The Board had expected to meet with Keely Malone and Vincent Rodriquez but Vincent was called out of town. It was agreed that the Grievance and Mediation Committee needed to be re-established with Bushi Harvey Ahmai, Strong Oak and Keely Malone. Katherine Reason agreed to work with the committee. The re-establishment of the committee will be brought to the next General Meeting for completing the composition of the Committee. Description of the Committee is on the website. An email address is being established to receive any concerns in this area: resolutions@vfr.com is the suggested address.

Other Business: Bill Weye reported his disagreement with the Membership Fee; he sees it as being a poll tax. He has given his notice that he will no long be in charge of VFR Website as of January 2009.

Meeting adjourned at 9:05pm

Next meeting of the Board of Directors is December 3^rd, 7pm at the MEF. Other scheduled meeting are: Programming Committee – November 13, General Membership Meeting – November 19.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Kennedy, Clerk