ECAT Board meeting minutes

ECAT Board Mtg - 22Oct2008

2008-10-30T09:18:00.001-07:00

Easthampton Community Access Television

Board Meeting October 22, 2008

All present: Rebecca, Gliffy, Bob, Dohan, Greg, Brian

1. Notes from 9/24 meeting accepted, Dohan moved, Gliffy seconded

2. Ex Director Report:

-Website:

-Greg and Brian met with Jo Landers, a local web designer who has offered her services. They will get a domain name before the next meeting. Ideas were: ecattv.org, ecatv.org, eastahmptontv.org, ecat.tc, easthampton.tv,

-ideas for new website features: easy to change layout for employees to add and change info on site, form for people to submit Community Calendar listings, all forms available online, cycle of production stills, program guide on main page – that days’ programming, plus link to rest of week

-Van:

-a schematic design will be submitted to the BOD giving specifics of floor paln, what equipment will go where, what type of structures need building and materials needed, electricals needed, hours needed with financial estimate for all of this. Greg will email this out to BOD on week of Nov 3^rd for review and votes to move forward by BOD.

-Southampton:

-employees are building portable unit for filming there

-cable co. is doing site survey – if lines are in correct places and functioning, could start filming meetings within a few weeks

-Eastworks Space:

-$1700 to hook up Iloop to that space

-may be difficult to sound proof and build out studio within the larger space

-Equipment Needs:

-there is a need for several of the same model camera for workshops and lending out. The studio PD-170s are not allowed to go out of studio because they are very high quality.

-BOD will get email sent to them with a breakdown of costs of cameras, and a plan of action for workshops: how many will you offer, how many spots available, how much staff time will this take, what will the benefits be. Then board can take action and vote to purchase cameras before basketball season starts

3. Treasurer’s Report

-we need to add newly purchased equipment from last year to insurance list – Bob and Brian can meet and exchange info. on this

-Credit card issue: bank provides an account with a debit card, “purchasing account”. Becca motioned for this, Dohan seconded, to allow employees to make small purchases via internet. Voted to put $5,000 to begin with.

4. Other Business:

-logo search: Becca found several people who would like to design the logo. A brainstorming session will be held at next meeting, and then this info will be shared with one or more designers. A few examples fro possible candidate will also be shared at next month’s meeting. Ideas: media lab in future, hands on media?

-Bob showed Puffer’s banner samples for ECAT

-monitoring station remotely: Brian got this working, and then it stopped working. He’ll try again.

-Marketing:

-our email list is about 130 addresses. Our snail mail list is non-existent. Dohan suggested buying a list from Chamber, or from his connections through Summit / Gazette.

-we could do inserts in Charter mailings to tell everyone our story, have a brief newsletter type publication

-if we could find a business to sponsor an insert in Summit, that would be a good way to give info

-window at Chamber, ad in directory, do an insert

-Bob will get bulk mail account set up

-Glyffy would like to have a series in which exercise is taught to seniors from different communities. Greg suggested a workshop to teach seniors and the exercise teachers a consistent way of filming the classes, so the footage is useable and consistent throughout the series.

-Community Shoots: Basketball Season

-Greg has meeting wit athletic director. We want them to find volunteers that want to make it happen, possible fundraise for it

-we have to make them understand that we are a NEW organization and need to fund and operate on our own – we’d love to do this but need their help, too!

-Media teacher is offering credit to students to be involved. We should provide them with certificate and letter that can go in their college portfolios for community service.

-after garnering support and communication with booster club, athletic parents, teachers, students and parents, we should approach mayor and propose using the 10% educational programming funds toward this, with pressure from educational / sports community

-need to present a clear outline of # of games, # of employee hours, insurance costs, fuel for van, equipment costs, postproduction time, etc. to give a monetary value to our services

Important Notes:

-The BOD would like an overview of upcoming equipment purchases and a bigger picture of the direction of technological purchases, repairs, and replacements that may be needed. We can talk about this at next meeting since it seems the employees have a lot to do before the next meeting

-BOD and employees need to seek out training for how to manage budgets and fundraising for employees

-BOD is responsible for growing budget and keeping it ont rack. As a group, we need to leave the past behind and embrace the new, organized and budget-minded approach to running ECAT.

Dohan resigned from the BOD of Easthampton Community Access Television. We will miss his guidance on all matters of non-profit structuring and budgeting.

Nest meeting: November 19^th 6:00 pm WBMS

Next meeting items:

Basketball Season update

Van update

Southampton update

Edit suites and new camera equipment update

Logo brainstorming (also Vision Statement discussion intertwined)

Pricing for underwriting – this needs to be done (if not before the next meeting!)

New board members

Press releases for upcoming basketball season publicity, new workshops, etc.

2008-09-26T13:45:00.001-07:00

EasthamptonCommunity Access Television

General Board Meeting September 24, 2008 6:00 pm

All present

1) Minutes from 8/25 approved

2) Treasurer’s report will be given with new budget, andbudget will be reviewed at next Ex. Session meeting

3) Pay raise retroactive payments – Greg was given amount /hour increase, will send this to Paychex with hours worked since 1/1/08

4) Ex. Director’s Report

-Fall Festival Review:

-big signfor next year – Bob will check into pricing for this

-Tshirts/hats/stickersfor volunteers for this and all shoots – Becca will check into pricing for this

-location– van will be set up next year so we won’t have to worry about monitors beingin the sun

-Dohan will give prizes toGreg for distribution to raffle winners (make sure to get all of their contactinfo before we give them their prizes!)

-to note: the words “Channel5” meant more that “ECAT”

-underwriting fliers weregiven to all booths

-next year we can make apromo to play beforehand, perhaps for barter with Chamber for booth

-Web designer has volunteered services to helpredesign. She’ll meet with Greg, Brianand Shawn Sheehan soon to discuss ideas, text, etc.

-Criteria for Van Shoots: organization must submit aproposal for shoot series, along with ideas of resources for crew.

-Booster Club should becontacted for parent interest. We couldoffer a short camera and tripod workshop and then they could just shoot whenthey come to watch their kids’ games

-Media Merit Badge forboy/girl scouts is an idea for dedicated crew

-Greg is in contac tiwth EHSmedia teacher to try and get credit for kids who are on crews

Idea:

Mini-docs on football and basketball teams. A great way to cover the football seasonsince it is almost done – play before last big game, or play it postseason.. Put online and it would get alot of popularity.

5) Marketing Ideas:

-Put winners for raffle from Fall Festival on our website,program guide, and community calendar. Dohan will do ad in Advocate

-Dohan will work with Greg on van underwriting. Need to come up with a target list ofcompanies to approach

-Summitshould do article on ECAT’s new developments and need for communityinvolvement. Should follow up from ourpresence at Festival and be about our new non-profit status and board, van, howcomm.. access works and how to get involved / get van to be involved in yourcommunity event.

-send press releases about locally produced shows to summitwith play times, our website, blurb about producer and show. Also put this on Com. Calendar, and maybewebsite too.

6) Equipment for Monitoring Channel 5 Remotely

Our equipment does have this capability and Brian willfollow up on getting this going

7) Vision Statement

Everyone will bring thoughts for their ideas on the VisionStatement with timeline ideas to next meeting

8) Filming “Vote No” campaign forum.

To be politically neutral we cannot send ECAT staff to filmthis event. But the Vote No Campaign iswelcome to film it and ask us to air the tape, which we are required todo. Glyffy said they might be able toorganize a debate on the issue with both sides present. This way, ECAT could film it and it would beequal. She’ll give this info to them.

9) Southampton Cable Access

-Greg sent them a quote for $100 / mtng and $120 if meetingis put online. This pricing is based onthe hope of getting the student employee trained to do these

-The woman from Southamptonhas gotten $3000 for meeting coverage and will discuss with the Town Councilmembers

10) Credit Card issue – Bob found that the company cannothave one yet, so he is going to check into getting a secured (paid in advance)card for station equipment purchases

11) Real Estate

-The Maple St.property looks like a great option. Theproblem is that the time to fix it up would not be free, it would be Greg andBrian’s hourly rates, and this time wouldn’t be going into station operations,it would be going into the building. (Also, it would hopefully be able to be sold at a higher price afterrenovations, but we hope not to sell it anytime soon…)

-Eastworks rental: an undeveloped area of Eastworks is freewith own entrance. Could be built out toour specifications. Negotiations withWill Bundy should ask for long term, low rent agreement.

-the van mobile studio changes Greg’s way of looking atthings – perhaps we don’t need as big of a studio, or one at all, if we havevan

-Greg will hear back from Charter about cost to get nodefor broadcast moved to Eastworks from Iloop

12) Job Descriptions

-The two position titles are: Ex. Director and OperationsManager

-Greg expressed discomfort at heading up fundraisingefforts. BOD will also be involved, buthe needs to do some of the work of fundraising. He requested training in this.

- What % of his job would be fundraising?

-Greg is still interested in having production in part ofhis job description, also wants to keep program guide responsibilities andworking with community productions.

-add annual report and membership meeting duties to jobdescription for ED

-Greg should give Becca all thoughts on changes / worriesabout his job description before Oct. 8 (next Ex Session mtng).

13) Further BOD members

-one spot from School Committee and one spot for member atlarge available

-Gliffy will send our press release for another at-largemember

-procedure for getting on board is to write a letter ofinterest to Gliffy

14) Employee Training Opportunities

-Greg will research further training for fundraisingskills, Brian needs further training for the networking responsibilities he’staken on. They will look intoopportunities for this and submit to BOD

Next Meeting:

October 22 6:00 pm WBMS

Vision Statement brainstorming

Follow Up:

-more BOD members

-van progress

-article in Summitprogress

-remote monitoring for programming update

-follow up on tshirt and banner pricing

-prepping for bball season / football doc

-edit suites purchasing

-head end pricing at Eastworks

ECAT Board meeting of 8/27/08

2008-08-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

Easthampton Community Access Television

Board Meeting

August 27, 2008

All members and employees present

1) Southampton

Diane Schindler visited from Southampton; she is a town advisor. The Southampton selectmen are interested in getting their meetings filmed, and Diane is interested in getting even wider services through PEG. They are just starting to renegotiate for a new contract with Charter, and it is a year overdue already. She is going to begin the process of negotiating for 3% in their next contract, and look into hiring an advisor to help them. ECAT would like to help build public support in their town by filming some meetings and school events, so residents can see the benefits of public access. ECAT will work up some prices for our services and stay in touch with Diane, since combining Southampton into ECAT’s operations in the future may make sense.

Southampton town meeting is Oct 7, and the next selectmen meetings are September 2, 9 , and 30

2. Minutes were passed – Becca motioned, Bob seconded

3. Ex Director Report

-Greg spoke with Karen at Mayor’s office about the remaining funds. The 20,000 + 56,000 received in May was the accrued money from the past few years, minus expenses that had been paid since the signing of the contract on April 1. This total was 76,000. The 56,000 received in June was the first installment for the year from Charter. The second installment will come in January, equaling roughly 56,000. After that, ECAT will receive one installment in full annuall yfrom Charter, in July for the beginning of the fiscal calendar each year.

-Van

The board would like the van to look finished and aesthetically pleasing, so Greg is going to work up quotes for this work and contact local contractors for trading their services and goods for advertising. He will do this after the board has come up with underwriting numbers for van advertising, as well as pricing for website, newsletter, Community Calendar, and pre- and post show underwriting spots.

Glyffy will get information from Greg about what kind of wood is needed and ask her husband about donating.

Lettering will be put on the van ASAP. Greg will submit to Puffer the design changes which include leaving room for sponsors on the right side of the van.

The van will be how we connect to the community in the coming months, so it is exciting to get it looking good (and functioning), and on the road!

Idea: park the van on a busy road location to increase the value of van-side advertising

Idea for slogan: “Hands on TV” with outline of hand for number 5

- Fall Festival, Sept. 20th

Things to Have:

We will bring van and park it in lot, as a visibility prop. Dohan will contact Eric at the Chamber about this.

A raffle with material donated from the Advocate, where people give contact info for our mailing list

Sign up sheet for workshops and program guide

Monitor with looped video of people walking by

Big computer monitor with text about what we offer, hooked up to laptop with loop playing

Donation bin for new van costs

We can walk to each table and talk to businesses about underwriting on van

One page flyer with bullet points – Dohan can get graphic design help, or Brian will do this

Suggestion box

Dohan spoke about using our current situation as an opportunity to garner interest and support, both with the community’s interest, and financially.

Timeline for upcoming projects:

Get van lettered and bring to concert series

Organize flyer, and several materials for Fall Festival

Work on carpentry and material donations and underwriting support to finish van

Work on equipment installation for van

After Fall Festival:

Van will get finished and get up and running with equipment

At least one workshop will be offered before January or so

New edit labs will be purchased and set up

Using the workshop example (community members in our studio in WBMS) we will continue to fundraise

More programming can be done with van to continue to increase visibility

Flywheel wiring installed

Next Board Meeting:

September 24 6:00 pm. Can be held at WBMS or Senior Center - TBD

On agenda:

Remaining items from this meetings’ unfinished agenda

Next Ex. Session: Tuesday September 2 6:00 pm Senior Center

ECAT Board Minutes from 7/31/08

2008-08-06T10:24:00.001-07:00

ECAT Channel 5 Board Meeting 7/31/08
Present: Becca, Glyffy, Bob, Greg, Brian

1.Minutes
Minutes from June meeting were approved
2.Treasurer's Report
-WBMS rent will be renegotiated with them after Dec. 31, per a notice that Greg received from them
-$55,000 check received from treasurer, this is the half of the annual installment. They still haven't delivered the 70,000 that has accrued since the signing of the Charter contract (it was 90,000 that had accrued but they have given us 20,000 in May). The contract with the City states that we should have received it in full by now. Greg and Bob will draft email / letter to Mayor to clarify all of this.
-Voted to invest 50,000 from Op. Budget in 7 day CD. Bob motioned, Glyffy seconded
-Van is going well, just has a few more small expenses like locks and things to purchase for it
-Glyffy asked Bob to look into getting a credit card for the company, to be able to purchase items online and pay off at the end of each month. There will still be a limit to the amount (maybe $50 and under) that employees can use without board approval, and receipts will always be submitted for these smaller purchases to match to credit card statement at the end of the month.
3.Executive Director's Report
-We have gotten
-The van is going well – a tire had to be replaced, transmission filer, etc needed replacement. For titling, we are getting Puffer's to do decals. It will read:
“Easthampton Community Access Television” on sides and “Channel 5” on front, with phone # on back. Puffer will give estimate for this. We will use a green color that matches existing stripes on van.
-Becca and Brian will look into people who may be able to do logos and slogan proposals
-Southampton town advisor, Diane Schindler, and a Southampton town council member, will attend next meeting to discuss options of how they could be involved with ECAT by giving $ and having ECAT provide services. Board is concerned that this will stretch employees too thin, so we will just use the meeting with her to discuss what they may want, and not commit to anything.
-Before giving quote to Flywheel for the price of splitting wiring for filming in their new location in the Town Hall, we need to know if it is worth purchasing new, higher quality cables to improve signal quality. Greg and Brian proposed that we start with trying to clarify our signal by recording straight to hard drive, instead of to tape and transferring to hard drive, where we lose a lot of quality. A hard drive for the van (and studio if we use it there, too) to record to directly, and create backups on DVD and tape, will be $1375. This is the direction technology is going in, to “tapeless” format, so appears to be a forward-thinking investment. Also, if this cleans up signal then we can use wires we already own for Flywheel wiring. Board voted to purchase recording hard drive – Glyffy motioned, Bob seconded to purchase Data Video DN 300 for $1375.
4.Other Business:
-Health insurance for employees: family plan options were discussed, and percentage ECAT will cover toward expenses. Greg asked about some of the expenses built into the proposed budget, like training and conferences, that he sees as too high. Greg did not have a plan that he preferred. Decisions were made at Ex. Session regarding health insurance.
-School Committee needs to appoint a member to the ECAT board. We need to contact them about this as it is a good time at the beginning of the school year.

Next Meeting possibilities (Becca will check with Dohan):
August 27 (Wed is preferrable to everyone except Dohan)
Other options: Tues August 26 or Thursday August 28

ECAT Board Meeting

2008-06-29T05:27:00.000-07:00

ECAT Board Meeting

June 25, 2008 6:00 pm

Present: Dohan Allen, Rebecca Rideout, Bob Schwobe, Glyffy Ennis-Yentsch, Greg Franceschi, Brian Oelberg

1.

Budget

-Bob will look into the amount taken each pay cycle for unemployment insurance and for ECAT’s half of taxes. This amount needs to be plugged into the projected budget for the next meeting.

-We need to check into the benefits being taken out of the account pre-taxed

-There was $90,000 saved up from the last two years of spending low amounts of money while at WBMS. The city has given all of the operating budget $, the capital budget $, and $20,000, but they still have $70,000 that they have not delivered. Becca has sent an email to the treasurer asking for a written letter of all expenses and the amounts and delivery dates of all payments projected. She had not heard back as of this meeting and offered to call and ask about the $70,000.

**As of 6/28 Becca has asked Bob to do this (or Glyffy, but was unable to get in touch with her), because she did not have time to do this this week and is going away for a week.**

-According to the contract with Charter the city gets the full 3% April 1 of each year and will deliver this amount minus 10% to ECAT within 45 days each year.

-ECAT will run on fiscal June – July year for this reason

-Bob brought up investing n a CD or money market, this will be brought up at next Ex. Session

-We have the Fed. ID number for exempt status for 501c3, but not the official title quite yet.

2. Property Discussion

-Franklin St. property still seems viable, it is on Iloop, has studio space and area to pull camera back into, may be able to construct out to enlarge studio space, office area upstairs (or apartment to rent for income), decent access to downtown area, garage for van, and electrical system has already been re-done for higher wattage power. Greg and Board will meet in coming week to look at property together.

3. Van

- Needs repairs, registration, and insurance. Dohan moved to release funds to get these things done, Becca seconded it. This will also give Greg and Brian work to do this summer outside of WBMS, which is only open until 3:00 pm during the summer. They will construct a removable studio on wheels for it.

-Greg will get bill of sale and title to Bob, who will take care of these things.

-Greg will check into parking options and security issues

-there will be a log kept of where the van goes, purpose, mileage, etc

4. Phone / Internet

Because the station is now paying for its own internet and phone line with Charter, the phone number has changed to : 413-203-1360.

5. Rent

-WBMS rent has now been raised to $300 / month

6. Computer updates / purchase requests

-The computer construction project that $ was requested for in early spring has now been completed and will be delivered and set up on Friday.

-Greg submitted a request for a new office computer, because his is over 10 years old. The board requested a documents that lists all equipment and states, and an estimate of what equipment may be needed in the coming year / 5 years / 10 years. The vote for this new computer will be held off until this is received, possibly voted on in next Ex. Session

-Since all media is being transferred to digital drives and backed up on DVDs, DVD boxes were requested. 1000 jewel cases for $217. Becca motioned, Dohan seconded the motion.

7. Station Insurance / Health Insurance

-Station insurance has been purchased and proof sent to City – when bill comes in Greg will pass this on to Bob

-Glyffy presented several health insurance rates. For family quotes, BCBS had a range of $991-1447, Fallon had $598-1158. Greg wants the finances to be the decider on a plan, not his preference of doctors.

Next General Meeting: Tuesday July 29 2008, 6:00 pm, Senior Center

Next Executive Session: Tuesday July 8 2008 5:45 pm Senior Center

ECAT Board Mtg Minutes from 4/2/08

2008-04-04T12:13:00.001-07:00

ECAT Channel 5 Board Meeting
Print me here.
April 2, 2008

1.Minutes approved from meetings of Jan 23 and March 5

2. City Contract: Glyffy had visited Mayor Tauznik earlier that day and had the city contracts signed and in her hand. She will look over them for any typos, make sure the changes we wanted are in the contract, and sign and return to the mayor in the morning.

3. Financial Switch Over for Station / City: Once the contract is back to the mayor, we will receive a check with our money within a week, according to the mayor (but the city has up to 45 days to deliver it). The mayor would like us to clear all of our purchase orders and payments through the city by April 20. For this reason, necessary immediate actions were needed to set up the station’s finances. (below are the actions taken)

4. Overall Insurance Package: In order to be a separate entity and run the station, we need to be insured immediately, as stated in the City Contract. The Alliance for Community Media had provided Greg with quotes for ackages that include Comprehensive, Cablecasting, Equipment, and Board of Directors insurance. In order to have the funding to pay a downpayment to get this policy started, we will need to have a purchase order put through with the city, to have the insurance begin before we are separated rom the city. A vote passed to submit a purchase order for up to one thousand dollars for a downpayment on an insurance package. Becca motioned for this, Glyffy seconded it. Greg will also look into the possibility of worker’s comp’s inclusion in this package.

5. Workers Compensation Insurance: This will be necessary to become a separate entity as well, as stated in the City Contract. It was voted that Greg should secure this at no more than $400 annually per employee. If the rates are higher than this, Greg will contact the Board. Glyffy motioned for this, Bob seconded.

6. Paychex: Hiring Paychex to do the accounting and payroll had been discussed at previous meetings. It will be roughly $35 per pay cycle, times 26 pay cycles. This equals $910. The vote passed to have Greg set up the Paychex account for no more than $1000 annually (leaving some room for possible set up costs). We also hope to have a Paychex employee come in and set us up with software and training on how to use their system. They have offered this already. Vote included paying nomore than $150 for this if they do charge for this service. Bob motioned for this, Glyffy seconded.

7. Phone / Internet: A new phone line will need to be set up, separate from the school. Greg will try to keep the old phone number, or have the old number get forwarded to the new number for as long as possible. We will include broadband internet in our new phone package, as it will allow for faster down and up loads of video files. Greg will research prices between Verizon and Charter and get the cheapest package. Board voted to purchase whichever package is cheapest. Becca motioned for this, Glyffy seconded it.

8. Treasurer / accountant: Bob offered to be Treasurer. Glyffy will look into the regulations concerning board members having more than one title, as he is Vice President now. If he needs to give up that position, Nancy or Dohan will accept VP position. Paperwork will need to be changed to reflect this. It was decided that an accountant is not a necessary expense at the time. Once we have Paychex set up our accounting, Bob can take care of the monthly reports and disbursal of funds for purchases (with other board members’ approval of course). Becca motioned for this, Glyffy seconded.

9. WBMS rent update: June is now the extended deadline to review the current rent and policy with WBMS. Until then we will continue with the current rent rate.

10. Bank accounts: We will need to set up bank accounts into which we can put the transferred funds. Glyffy and Bob will set up two accounts (Operating/Spending account and Capital/Savings account) ASAP. The Capital funds may go into a 4% checking account if possible.

11. Equipment Purchase: Instead of buying the Mac that was approved for urchase at the March 5 meeeting, Brian and Greg proposed using a company that makes custom computers. The price will be $1209 instead of the approved $1399, and will have twice the memory and hard drive space, as well as a faster DVD burner and other features. Return policy on parts used to construct the computer was discussed. Tech support was discussed. This could be a great way to build our entire editing lab in the future, for a much cheaper price. The computer will still use all of the latest Mac software, and the software will be warrantied. It was decided that this a a good way to see if this is a viable way to get a high quality computer. Bob motioned for this, Becca seconded, it passed.

12. Budget: Cherry sheets for the last 8 months from the City were reviewed. Greg will break everything down into sections to show a samle budget for the coming year, based on expenditures from the cherry sheet. Becca also provided him with ideas of new categories for expenses that we will now be paying as a separate entity. Greg will provide this at next meeting, and expenses that we don’t have totals on can be reasearched.

13. Fiber Iloop: Greg presented several locations he had looked at for buying / renting. The Iloop can only be used to do live broadcasts but isn’t able to have us broadcast 24/7 through it. Therefore, if we move to a place that is along current Iloop, we will have to keep the head end at WBMS for actual broadcasting of all taped shows. However, the city will be using the 10% that is negotiated and stated in the City Contract to build fiber cable loop near Payson ave., Williston St, and near the high school. If a building is found near these locations, we can broadcast 24/7 from it, once the fiber loop is built (Greg will check into timeline for this).

A piece of property is for sale on Williston St. and Bob and Greg will look at it on Fri. April 4

Next meeting: Wednesday April 30 6:00 pm. WBMS

Next meeting / To do in near future:

Review budget breakdown and all above new changes and purchases

Ex. Session: discuss emloyee contracts: salaries, health insurance and 401 k discussin with budget in hand

Membership and underwriting discussion

ECAT Board Meeting of March 5, 2008

2008-03-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

ECAT Board Meeting of March 5, 2008

Present: Nancy, Glyfy, Bob, Greg, Brian
Welcome to S. Do-Han Allen, new ECAT board member.

Agenda

* contract with city
* employee contracts update
* rules & procedures revision
* cori update
* real estate/rental possibilities
* Alliant insurance quote
* purchase requests
* van update
* irs $

Contract with the city: reviewed Art. 5.12 Disqualifications & 5.13 Compensation and Conflicts of Interest
Ask lawyer for definition or rewording of "close family". Clauses otherwise ok, standard contract language to
protect the nonprofit, the board and members from graft/nepotism. Each board member should receive a copy of language and insurance is being looked into.
Glyfy makes motion to approve. Nancy 2nds. Motion Passes.

Employee contracts update: the board has met and will meet again to finalize contract language. Exec. Director position will become salaried. Production Coordinator's title to be changed to Operations Manager [just don't call me late for dinner.] and will start working 32 hours/week as of this week, 3/5/08.
City considers full time to be 35 hours, five seven hour days plus the 1hr unpaid lunch. Our lunch has always been paid, and so that would be a 40hr week. Our benefits have been 'full time' (3 weeks paid sick & personal time, 3 weeks paid vacation) at 25 hours and the contract proposal keeps them the same.
Board will meet again in exec. session to discuss contracts when Rebecca returns.

Insurance options include Insurance Partnership and Mass Health Connector but it appears the Greg won't be income-eligible, so Glyfy is exploring other options.

Rules & Procedures revision: Local origination clause in 1998 (most current) rules & procedures requires 60% local origination. Greg motions to amend or remove this clause. Discussion re: ECAT Mission Statement, which stresses the importance of locally produced programming.
Do-Han motions to eliminate language. Bob 2nds. Motion passes.

Purchase Request: (see it here ) the station needs an iMac with a dvd burner to keep older macs viable and improve workflow. Networked 1tb hard drive will allow for more storage of digital video and editing files. Memory upgrade for pc. Wireless ethernet adapter to use WBMS broadband pending password from John Schott.
Approved by Board.

CORI Update: CORI form and letter were sent to active volunteers. So far we've CORI'd three volunteers and 1 staff. No response from school so far, Nancy notes it may take 2 weeks to 3 months. Unclear what we do with volunteers in the meantime. Other access stations in schools reported not having to comply with this, though some have separate entrances. Question of whether it is a violation of protected free speech rights. Board agreed that new workshop participants should not be cori'd, just as people using the gym or attending events are not cori'd. CORI will continue to be required for volunteers to work around kids/ in the schools. Some of our volunteers are also minors, so that raises another question.

Real Estate/Rental Update: current options include the machine shop behind Eastworks, the old town hall space, Paragon Arts & Industry?, Franklin Ave bakery house. We will be looking at the Franklin Ave house on Friday 3/7/08 at 2pm. Asking price is $225k, new heating system being installed. May need major upgrades. Great view for potential outdoor set. House is across from iLoop. No answer from Charter re: how much it will cost to connect.

Alliant Insurance: http://www.alliantinsurance.com/ Estimate of $5-6,000 for equipment insurance, also looking into director & officers insurance.

The Van: Greg motions to insure the van and get it fixed. Discussion over need for insurance before it being fixed, mechanic may be able to provide dealer plates so insurance not needed. Nancy suggests fire & theft insurance. Motion is ammended to repair van and purchase fire and theft insurance, but to wait on full auto insurance until it is driveable and we need it. Glyfy motions, Bob 2nds. Motion passes.

IRS: The IRS requires an application fee of $750 followed by 3-6 months of processing our 501(c)3 application. Nancy motions to approve, Bob 2nds. Motion carries.

Discussion of ECAT funding mechanisms, possibilities for in-kind services from local vendors, underwriting.

Next Meeting: Thursday, April 3, 2008.

ECAT Board Meeting 23 January 2008

2008-01-31T11:44:00.000-08:00

ECATBoard Meeting ( To Print click here )

01.23.08

Absent:Nancy DiRocco

1.Approvalof Minutes

Glyffymotioned to approve, Bob seconded, all approved

2. City Agreement

Mayorwill correct the payment schedule so all language referring to it is “twice ayear”.

Boarddiscussed the fact that the City has asked for 10% of our annual operatingbudget by referencing a clause in the Agreement, in which we are required togive them an undetermined amount of $ for “PEG related services”. It was decided that Glyffy will contact him to ask what kind of PEG related services hewill be using the $ for, and if that will be information that is made availableto the public. This is a last minuteaddition that the City has made to the Agreement that makes a huge differencein our Operating Budget, and this needs to be disputed. Glyffy will take the first step by setting upa time to discuss it with him.

Boarddiscussed Verizon’s responsibility to town if they start offering services toresidents. Greg will look into the regulations that are in place for companiessuch as Verizon entering town and being required to give Public Access funding- he believes Verizon does fall under that regulation but will report back.

Boardalso discussed the fact that Charter can use public access to their advantageto sway customers to stay with Charter instead of going to satelliteservices. When public access providesvaluable programming to the community, Charter can retain customers because ofthis asset.

3. Town Hall location option: Gregwill set up a time to meet, days and times were discussed. It is almost definitely too small, but wewill look at the space and think about at least wiring it for future Flywheelshoots.

Eastworkshas a $1000 / month space of 2700 square feet. That would be enough space for us. Greg will look into this.

4. The van cannot be fixed until it is registered, so it will stay in storage for now.

5. Paychex is $34.29 per billing cycle. This seems to be a good option to use for our paychecks and accounting, but vote wasn’t held because we await a report from Nancy on findings and a final agreement with City.

6. Greg presented insurance packages and costs that other local stations have. A good option sounds like Alliant company, that offers a group pricing through the Alliance for Community Media. Greg will get a quote from Aliant.

7. Votes for Purchases

-There is a local Mass Access conference. This is a keytime for Greg and Brian to be talking other stations and learning aboutstarting up in a new location, nonprofit tips, and general community networkingwith other Massachusettsstations. It will be under $200 fortheir conference fee and travel. Boardpassed for tis spending unanimously.

-There is a $30 start up kit for nonprofit community TVstations. Board declined to purchase this as we have already done most of thesteps that instructions are given for.

-$750 application fee to IRS that needs to be sent in withFederal 501c3 application. Board decidedto hold off on this, and therefore applying for a nonprofit status, until the10% cut to our Operating Budget by the City is resolved. Thiscut can effect our budget substantially and was not taken into account when webudgeted for our nonprofit status expenses. We will hold off on paying this fee and applying until we have made afinal decision to go ahead with it.

8. We talked about health plans that other local stations offer, that Greg and Becca found. Glyffy presented information on the Insurance Partnership who can provide assistance to employers to provide financial assistance to their employees for health insurance. She will look into a few questions that were raised for the next meeting.

9. CORI check policy update

Glyffyfound that the coding system for CORI check results has over 1900 codes fordifferent offenses. Questions raised indiscussion such as: will school continue to pay for CORI checks for allvolunteers that will be filming school events, even when we aren’t operatingwithin the Middle School? Do we CORIcheck people before they take a workshop, or when they sign up to volunteer tofilm for an event with children present? It could cut back on volunteering if we make all volunteers, even thoseinterested in only filming non-children events, get a CORI check (and expensiveto run so many checks). This discussionwill be continued again at next meeting, as no apparent resolution could bereached without even more information. Greg will check into other station’spolicies, both stations inside schools and those that are not.

Executivesession was postponed to Wed. January 30 at the Senior Center,5:30 pm to discuss employee contracts.

Nextmeeting:

February27, 6:00 pm, ECAT station within White Brook Middle School

Onagenda:

Rulesand Procedures updates for Station

CORIupdate and policy discussion

10%City cut from our Operating Budget: update with Glyffy – perhaps an updatebefore then so we can take action?

Otherreal estate/rentals available

Alliantinsurance quote

Employeecontract update

Nancy- it would be greatto get a recommendation from you for an accountant for next meeting, and info.on what other local companies use for paychecks and accounting/tax services

ECAT Channel 5 Board Meeting - 9 January 2008

2008-01-16T10:43:00.000-08:00

ECAT Channel 5 Board Meeting
January 9, 2008 6:00 pm
All board members present
Print me here...

1. Ecat’s CORI check Policy
A new policy was put in place in which all prospective volunteers for ECAT will have a CORI check run on them before they assist at the station. If things come up on the CORI check, the board will decide how to proceed with using the volunteer from then on. Glyffy will get a list of offenses to look over at the next meeting, so the policy can be filled out to include what levels of offenses are permitted for volunteers, and at which levels we draw the cut off line.

2. Tax Prep. / Pay roll
We need to hire someone to do payroll and tax preparation for the new non profit entity. Nancy will look into local options, and companies that local businesses and agencies use in town. She will get back to Greg about this.

3. Town Hall
There is five or six hundred square feet available next to Flywheel’s upcoming space in Town Hall. It’s a possibility that ECAT and Flywheel could share the bigger performance space both for musical performances and studio shoots. There is also some room in the basement for storage. In the next year or two the upper level of the Town Hall will be finished renovation, and we could also use the stage for shoots, and shoot town events that take place there. The advantages (high visibility, close to Iloop, immediate connection with arts community in town, less maintenance and effort when we are renting) were weighed with the disadvantages (probably will not be enough space, long term investment goal of buying a building would not be met).
It was decided that Greg will set up a time to have the board and Flywheel people meet at the Town Hall to look at space and discuss. This needs to happen soon because Flywheel will begin their renovations in roughly a month.
Grants may be easy to get because of the community / arts / historical building angles.

4.The grant from the Cultural Council was not received for filming the Arts in the Park concert series

5.A new high school student employee has been hired to assist filming meetings and updating the community calendar, among other tasks 6-8 hours per week.

6.Agreement with City
Station’s agreement with City was gone over for final draft. A stipulation about the duration of the contract was discussed; Rebecca will look into the precedent of other local station’s terms within their city / station agreements.
City has found a part of the contract that allows for a percentage of the Operating Budget to go to the city for PEG access and “related services”.
Greg will look into the annual vs semi annual language in the payment section of the City agreement. The contract will be going back to the City after the changes the Board makes, for the last draft and signing.

7.Insurance research
Greg has looked into insurance packages for station, including BOD errors and omissions, cable casters errors and omissions, liability for equipment, liability for grounds, etc. BOD would like Greg to get a breakdown for us for all different options and packages available for the next meeting. Bob suggested getting replacement value costs for all equipment. BOD suggested looking into other local station’s policies to see what other similar organizations do.

Glyffy will call the new board member and see if he would like to come after the next meeting.

Brian ; It may be a good idea to have you email the Inventory list to the members of the Board, just in case anything happens to the station.

Next meeting will be January 23rd, 6:00 – 7:00 pm. Executive Session to discuss employee contracts will be 7:00 – 8:00 pm.

Next Meeting:
Rules and Procedures
The van
Equipment Purchases
Updates on insurance research, City Agreement, Town Hall optionlocal Tax Prep / Accountant options.

For Executive Session:
-job descriptions – Greg and Brian (I believe we already have Brian’s)
-contract updates to use as a starting ground for discussion - (I believe we already have Brian’s)
-do research into health / 401k / worker’s comp standards – Glyffy offered to look into numbers for new insurance costs under new law, and insurance partnership info.

ECAT Board Meeting - November 28, 2007

2007-11-29T14:48:00.000-08:00

Easthampton Community Access Television
Board Meeting November 28, 2007
All members present
Print me here.

1.The contract between the station and the City was reviewed with lawyer’s changes and additions. Greg will now send it on to the Mayor for review. Hopefully by next month’s meeting we will have his revisions in hand in order to make a final draft and submit it for signing.
2.Board discussed the possibility of the station slowing down some of it’s outreach to focus more on real estate searching, preparing all materials for the move, digitizing tape library, and a myriad of details like insurance, non profit paperwork for employee contracts, “big picture” plan for station’s future, budget for upcoming year, etc. etc.
Board decided to see where the progress of City contract and real estate search is by next meeting in order to decide when to slow station’s outreach activities. December workshop series will still go on as planned. A decision can be made then about when station will start prepping for move.
1.The van “mobile unit” development will be put off until after everything is settled at the new location. Greg was told that it will need an exhaust manifold. Board suggested Greg get a quote to bring to next meeting, but that any repairs or additions should be put on hold, for the most part. Van will also be helpful for the move, so we shouldn’t add any racks to the inside.
2.A request for board membership from a community member was submitted to the board from the mayor. Since the mayor has one member that he can appoint, the board decided to send the request back to the mayor for consideration to use this community member as his appointed board member. If the mayor does not wish to do this, the Board will have a vote to take on the community member as one of the community board seats.
3.Employment contracts with the city expire in January. Greg and Brian will formulate rough drafts to look at at the next meeting, for contracts to be signed between them and the new nonprofit organization. Nancy will look into insurance and comp. options that other non profits use. If the non-profit contracts cannot be finalized at the next meeting, we will ask for a one month extension to the city contracts.
4.Brian spoke about the new wave of municipal wireless systems being installed around the country. In the future, it may be a good way to be viable to the community by providing wireless to the downtown area and /or schools, and meeting our true goal of complete technology access, and operation as a telecommunications center for the town.
5.Jennifer Delozier officially resigned from the Board, after six and a half years of serving the ECAT station BOD. Thank you, Jennifer, for all of your time and energy! We will miss you.

6.Nancy mentioned hiring a part time administrative/financial assistant in the near future to keep track of all paperwork and finances for the new organization. This was agreed to be a great idea by all members; no official timetable or hiring process was set up.
7.A discussion was held about meeting community needs and wants for programming and community events. Nancy mentioned putting an additional survey into the town census mailer that goes out in January; action would need to be immediate to get something included. The option of putting a cut-out survey in the Gazette or Summit was also discussed. However, the station wouldn’t be able to immediately fulfill any needs that the survey response shows, so it may not be the right time to do this. As so much is transitioning. At the same time, it may be good to know what the town wants as we set up the “big picture” of the station. It was decided not to take action right now on this, but that the Gazette/Summit survey is a good idea in the future, possibly in a few months time.
The van mobile unit will increase involvement in the future because equipment can easily be brought to events. We have spoken about a new outreach position that may be perfect for this kind of work outreach and community involvement increase, as well. Membership drives, in addition to advertising the possibility of using the station as a fiscal sponsor for grants can also be advertised to the broader community.
Becca is going to work on getting already-made video work and video art on the station, by connecting with the arts community in town. Any video producers and/or video artists in town, please contact Rebecca at r_w_rideout@hotmail.com for inclusion in a series of local video work on Channel 5.

Next meeting: Date not decided yet, in December, TBA.

We will bring all documents, bylaws, and contracts created and compile all dates on a master calendar.

###
RWR

ECAT Channel 5 Board Meeting 24 Oct 07

2007-10-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

ECAT Channel 5 Board Meeting
Print minutes here...
October 24th, 2007 6:00 pm
White Brook Middle School
Absent: Nancy Dirocco

1. City Contract

Board reviewed the changes Greg has made to the contract between the City and ECAT, before he sends these changes to the lawyer to review. Several more suggestions of changes were made. Greg will make these and send to lawyer. After the Board approves of the lawyer’s changes, the contract will be sent on to the Mayor for review. A hopeful date for signing the contract is December 1.

2. Non profit Status

The non-profit application for federal status is being reviewed by lawyer and should be sent in within the next week or so. The state application was sent in in July

Greg will check into when our state non profit status officially started. The November deadline for our first non-profit report depends on this knowledge.

Greg will look into the November date that the report is due

Greg will also look into how the mayor views the importance of Federal non-profit status for releasing of funds to the station.

3. Real Estate Search

Several efforts by board members were discussed, and several renting options (1 Cottage St. space, Liberty Street building below Riverside’s van parking). The agent of the old heel building is going to check into the possibility of breaking up the property into units to purchase. The board discussed the possibility of purchasing a residential property that is in a correct zoning area and renovating it / adding an addition on for a studio.

Greg will look into getting a zoning map of Easthampton

4. Other

-There is a city van up for auction in early November. The Board was hesitant to make a decision regarding it, so Greg is going to speak to the Senior Center and get it inspected and priced out. If it seems like a bargain not to pass up, the board will vote via executive session. Greg will also look into how the station would purchase such an item with its current financial connection to the city.

-Arts Easthampton is interested in involving the station in Arts Walk, and the station would like to have volunteers to film and edit the events. Anyone who is interested may contact the station.

-Becca distributed ideas for no / low cost programming for the station on a variety of subjects, and a series that was produced about Democracy for airing on ECAT. Greg and Brian will choose and order several of the most interesting program series.

-The Fall Festival was filmed and aired in the past month, with Glyffy’s help in the interviews.

-Brian presented a flow chart of the digital server technology’s present state and future goals. This helps everyone sort out the computer flow system for files, and see what other purchases may come up in the future that tie into this system.

The next meeting will be held on Wed. November 28th at 6:00 pm in the White Brook Middle School.

Board Meeting September 5, 2007

2007-09-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Easthampton Community Access Television

Channel 5

Board Meeting September 5, 2007

1.

The Board finished looking over a proposed contract between ECAT and the City of Easthampton. Greg will make all the changes that the Board discussed, and send this new draft to the board for approval. Upon the Board’s request, the contract will then be sent on to ECAT’s lawyer for perusal before sending it back to the Mayor.

5.5 Section of ECAT’s Bylaws were discussed, to be able to ensure that no more than one third of the Board changes terms at one time. A schedule was set up for this procedure.

2) A meeting this summer with Debbie Carter, School Superintendent, resulted in an agreement with ECAT that the school will charge $100 / month for temporary rent of the space the station is currently occupying at WBMS. After six months, this agreement will be re-negotiated, should ECAT still need the space. Once ECAT moves out, the control room and wiring for multicamera shoots in the music room and theater will stay in place. ECAT will or will not pay for this space within WBMS, depending on the negotiations.

3) Real estate possibilities were discussed. Greg and Becca will both continue with calls around town. ECAT is looking for a building in town with a large open space for studio shooting, plus several office areas for editing, computer labs, and staff offices. If anyone knows of a compatible building for sale, please contact the station.

4) Tuition for Brian to take a workshop on training volunteers was proposed. $100 dollars for registration for four sessions, plus staff time. This will give the staff at ECAT experience in recruiting, training, and retaining volunteers for the station. Becca motioned to accept this proposal, and Bob seconded it.

5) Proposed purchase of several pieces of equipment to get the recently purchased video server technology functioning smoothly. $1075.95 for a faster computer, capture card, network switch, and parch cable. This process will soon be converting the station’s current programming and archives into a digital format. The media will be stored and preserved that way, and also broadcast from the digital video server. Since this work is time consuming, Brian plans to work on digitizing the tape library this Fall while the non-profit status, city contract, and real estate for the new station is worked out. Bob made a motion to accept this proposal, and Jennifer seconded the motion.

6) Greg plans on filming interviews and booths at the upcoming Fall Festival, but not having a booth. Glyffy volunteered to help with the interviews.

7) Payment for a Yellow Pages listing under “TV Stations” for $177 was voted down unanimously. The white page listing, and our website (and link through the town of Easthampton’s site) makes us easy to find.

8) Becca will bring ideas for new series to air on Channel 5 to the next meeting. Glyffy spoke about a DVD series on Mental Illness that she’d like to involve local classrooms with, and air on Channel 5. Greg suggested she talk to the health coordinators at the schools to see if they are interested in using this resource in their curriculum. Also, the small business administration offers free lecture series. The possibility of taping these and airing them was discussed.

9) At least one round of workshops will be offered by Brian this Fall.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 24th 6:00 pm at ECAT Station, within the White Brook Middle School.

Notes For This Month :

(not to go into the posted Meeting Notes – just for the board)

-Greg will call more local real estate agents and check into the former FlyWheel space to see if any of the current renters want to buy their portion of the building.

-Becca will check into One Cottage St. and call Gawle’s offices. Also will look into program series possibilities.

-Glyffy will contact school health coordinators to see if there’s interest in the above mentioned project.

2007-06-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

ECAT Board Mtg. Minutes 6/12/07
Present: Jennifer, Bob, Nancy, Greg, Brian, Mayor Tautznik

Review of articles of incorporation and bylaws, other input from Mayor.

MT: ECAT will need to provide an equipment inventory including serial #'s and a bill of sale will transfer ownership of ECAT equipment to the nonprofit corporation. Auditors will use a balance sheet to show transfer. Part of agreement could be that ECAT will continue to televise City Council and School Committee meetings in exchange for transfer of equipment ownership.

Continued use of the space at WBMS will be contingent on negotiations with the school dept. re: new nonprofit status and continued use of the facility - school committee is the decision-maker on this, not the Mayor. For immediate future, we need an agreement re: use of existing space, and downsizing the space once we find a new location. Option to keep equipment and control room at WBMS to televise City Council and School Committee meetings, school functions in the auditorium. Benefits to school include access to live/recording of WBMS events, training and access for students. Other option is to move and relocate a small control room & equip. at 50 Payson, to televise City Council and School Committee from there.

Relocating: new location needs to be on iLoop. Mayor suggested renting at Eastworks.

RS: ECAT board will dissolve?
MT: Yes, ECAT board will be dissolved and reformed as nonprofit board of directors. Mayor will file an administrative code defining this for the city. Unclear if either Cable Oversight Committee or Cable Advisory Board will be involved. Administrative code will go to city council to be rejected or accepted, no modifications allowed. Approx. timetable of 6 weeks.

Discussion of possible ECAT name change to reflect broader role: MT suggested ECAM - Community Access Media
Board agreed that media is a good addition, wanted to keep Easthampton in name.

The following changes were OK'd by the board:
Bylaws Art. 3: Add 'All the foregoing...' to compy w/ IRS.
Bylaws Art. 4.4 Add email option for mtg notification.
Bylaws Art. 5.1 Board of Directors change # to 9: 5 existing members, 2 appointees, 2 elected.
Membership can change the number if necessary.
Bylaws Art. 5.2 Appt. by Chairperson of School Committee, not whole committee.
Bylaws Art. 5.5 another sentence needed to stagger additional appointments/elected members...section in city charter on new appointments has appropriate language.
7.3 Meetings may be called by 3 or more board members.
7.4 add email option, same as 4.4
7.5 add option to waive monthly meetings.
8.8 add option for board to vote to create new committees with a majority. [open]
9 Fiscal year v. calendar year: keep Jan. 1 - Dec. 31 which allows us until July 1 to provide audit, propose upcoming budget/bill for full year.
Another option is to use fiscal calendar year, provide audit in Sept. w/ a bill for second half of year.
Audit must be by an outside firm, CPA. Cable contract is based on calendar year, money comes in March.

Add adoption date at end of document.

Articles of Incorporation
MT suggested add to Art. 2: Specify televising School Committee and City Council as part of purpose.

Articles and bylaws need consistent language on dissolution - revert to city.
Articles are ready to submit to state, don't require city council.

MT: ECAT will need to negotiate contract with city to get funding, & projected budget needed. Need for a plan to fund ECAT during transition to nonprofit, part of procurement process. Negotiate a contract with city including plan for period of funding uncertainty (Fall 07) which will require a transfer from city. Contract is with mayor as issuing authority. Mayor can go to city council w/ request for transfer based on a projected budget, to get us to next budget cycle. 3-4 month process. Bill and audit due to city by next June 30, expenses & projected expenses to date of incorporation. Need for a clean break from existing to new system.

Misc:
Healthcare, defined pay & benefits, written contract for employees of nonprofit.
Insurance for studio/equipment/liability.
Worker's Comp.

###

2007-05-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

EASTHAMPTON COMMUNITY ACCESS TELEVISION

BOARD MEETING NOTES 5/23/07

The board reviewed additions and changes made to bylaws by the the lawyer Greg has found, Peter Epstein. The Outreach and Membership committees were combined into one committee named Membership. The name of the Fundraising committee was changed to Finance committee. There were several repeated parts or unclear changes that the lawyer made that Greg will work on bringing to the attention of the lawyer.

Greg will add all of these changes to the final text and distribute to board members via email for review. A final version will be printed out for the next meeting for final vote.

Dan Rist and Melissa Zawadzki from the City Council’s Rule Committee visited the meeting to discuss their recommendation to the City Council for ECAT to become a non-profit organization. It was explained that they will make a recommendation, but it is the Mayor’s decision to see it through. Rist expressed interest in favor of insulating ECAT from the City’s liability, and giving ECAT financial independence. He expressed concern that ECAT employees won’t have city health insurance under this new plan to become non-profit, but understands the benefits to being a non-profit as well. A large majority of the access stations in the state are non-profit, and this made him in favor of the change as well.

If the route to becoming non-profit is approved, ECAT will dissolve the current board, since it is a Mayor appointed board, and form a new board for the non-profit entity. A contract will be created between the city and ECAT, regarding transfer of equipment, cable funding transfer, annual audit, meeting coverage, etc. ECAT will have 2 local government seats on its board: one appointed by mayor and one by School Committee.

Dan moved and Jennifer seconded the motion to recommend this structural change to non-profit status at the next City Council meeting, June 5.

Mayor Tautznik will be invited to the next meeting at ECAT on Wednesday, June 6, to discuss the next steps.

An annual conference for local access workers is being held in Minneapolis July 25-28. The board voted not to send Greg and Brian, in light of all of the other changes the station is working on, and the high cost.

Search for a new space was discussed. It is necessary to move the station to give public members access to the station, as WBMS isn’t open past 3:00 pm throughout the summer, or accessible on most weekends for staff or volunteers throughout the school year. It was decided that it is not too soon to contact a realtor to start looking for buildings for us. Greg would like to buy, not rent, so that our money isn’t being wasted on rent.

Next meeting: Wednesday June 6 6:00 pm

Agenda:

Discuss final bylaws

Discussion with Mayor Tautznik

Realtor update

ECAT Channel 5 Board Meeting 25 April 07

2007-04-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

ECAT Channel 5 Board Meeting

April 25, 2007 Minutes

Present: Jennifer Delozier, Nancy DiRocco, Robert Schwobe, Rebecca Rideout

Greg Franceschi, Brian Oelberg

Agenda:

*

Nonprofit status: ByLaws and Articles of Incorporation
*

ByLaws read-through - 2nd draft

Updates:

City councilor Dan Rist and Rules Committee received a draft of the Articles of Incorporation and ByLaws. Next step is incorporation with the Sec. of State, apparently no need for a city council vote, but that needs to be verified, conferring with city lawyer.

Lawyer: we haven't been able to find pro bono help from an attorney, but are continuing to investigate some possibilities: Al Chamberlain on Arthur Street; the city attorney; a lawyer from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts www.vlama.org/ , Hampshire County Bar Association. Mass Lawyers Guild asks $500-$3000.

Southampton update from Bob: city officials are waiting to hear back from Charter...they are interested but don't have enough information yet.

Library update: library participates in city health care plan, but also receives funding from the city. Rist is investigating legality of this with city attorney, we are looking at other nonprofit stations to see if this model is being used elsewhere. Library currently pays 70%, employee pays 30%.

BYLAWS 2nd draft

Art. 4.1 affiliated with businesses

Art. 4.3 Annual membership (rolling or on a set date, or 1 year from date of enrollment)

Art. 5 Board of Directors

Art. 5.2 [members may be appointed] instead of [members appointed]

Art. 5.6 Strike [whose membership has lapsed]

Art. 6.4 [adopted by the board; serve as the primary]

Article VII Officers: Mass. State law requires VP, treasurer, clerk.

ECAT: President, VP, Treasurer, Clerk.

Art. 7.2 Annual meeting: based on date of incorporation, but not in the summer, preferably.

Art. 7C Funding: "1st annual payment within 90 days"

Current Budget: July 1 - June 30.

Art. 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8 Committees

Board members must be on a committee. One board member necessary on a committee, except fundraising (2 or 3) and nominating committee (2) This will mean that the board members will each need to be on 3 committees.

Art. 9 personally or personal1y?

Vote taken on Nonprofit officers: Motion to accept officers as Treasurer/Clerk/VP/President. Vote passes unanimously. Discussion of whether officers are elected before or after incorporation. Are elected officers required to complete articles of incorporation/bylaws?

Headsets: we are comparing prices on new headsets. Proprietary xlr connection requires replacing entire system, but it may be possible to buy a new headset to keep existing system working until we move. Some functional problems with headsets but system needs to troubleshooting to identify which/where the problems are.

Monday night: Mr. Whalen's Jazz Club.

Princeton Server Group update: new offer will get us the B3400 server instead of the B1400 (bigger number = better) at same price. We are still in process of acquiring multiple quotes for the Mayor to approve purchase.

Alliance for Community Media and stopping the Verizon Bill:

Discussion of pending legislation and what it means for cable access. Info is now on website, including links to the bill, reasons to oppose it, two petitions to sign, and a sample letter courtesy of Rebecca, to send to legislators.

Mayor is aware of and opposed to bill, wrote a letter about a year ago. Maybe we could send him and City council the info again, and ask for a city resolution against the bill? Statehouse hearing is on June 5 at 10am.

Request from Alliance for Community Media http://www.ourchannels.org

for help in funding a state lobbyist position, request is for $500-600 based on size of station.

Motion is made for $500 + membership fees to join ACM. Seconded and passes unanimously.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 23 6 – 8 pm.

ECAT Channel 5 Board Meeting 21 March 07

2007-03-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

ECAT Channel 5 Board Meeting

March 21, 2007 Minutes

Present: Jennifer Delozier, Nancy DiRocco, Robert Schwobe, Rebecca Rideout

Greg Franceschi, Brian Oelberg

Agenda:

*

Nonprofit work: ByLaws and Articles of Incorporation
*

Southampton
*

Legislation
*

Other

Nancy suggested that an ad run on Gazette Summit page/calendar to announce change in Polka Time broadcast...that got sent on 3/22. PSA also airs after Polka Time Tu-Th, and I'll put something on the community calendar shortly. Polka Time will now air from Fri/Sat/Sun/Monday in a one-hour slot from 1-2pm, beginning March 31. The traditional Polka Time time, Tu-Th at 1pm and 5pm will now air Stas and Joe's Polka Show and Tom & Deb's At the Dance. Let's polka!

Board member and former Production Coordinator Rebecca Rideout gets a credit as Assistant Editor on the new Florentine Films production Through Deaf Eyes http://www.florentinefilms.org/

http://www.florentinefilms.org/thefilms/00film.htm

ByLaws Discussion

The Board has agreed on the nonprofit direction, as providing more autonomy from the city and a buffer protecting freedom of expression on the channel while protecting the city from liability.

We compared by-laws as written by various CTV stations: Northfield/Bernardston, Amherst/Pelham, and Greenfield. Amherst provided the best template, but good language on different points in all three. Discussion will continue at next meeting 4/25 after members of the board receive the draft of the bylaws and articles of incorporation. Board members will also try and meet with Williston Library board to find out more about their nonprofit status. A draft of both documents will eventually go by a lawyer before final draft is approved and we incorporate as a 501(c)3.

Emails from Councilor Rist inform us that Mayor is not opposed to either process but considers city benefits plan a big plus of becoming city employees with state benefits. [My question was whether this was something a nonprofit could afford to duplicate for just two employees, or if there was a large savings to be part of the city plan] Nancy said the city plan requires employees to pay, and cost to employee continues to go up. Library employees possibly participate in this plan even though library is a private nonprofit, this could provide a useful model for ECAT. We should also get numbers on city benefits plan for comparison.

Some language in city charter may affect procedures as well. Nancy suggested we read through that as well. Jennifer, Nancy & Greg will meet next week to work on draft and it will be sent out a week or more before the next meeting for review by board members. Also need for a meeting with Rist and Mayor.

Review and Comparison of ByLaws: Language we are considering adopting. Numbering is different on the various town versions.

Art. 1 Name: Easthampton Community Access Television, aka ECAT Channels 5&19

Art. 2 Place of Business: 200 Park Street, Easthampton, MA 01027

Art. 3 Purpose Mission Statement, Articles of Organization or Incorporation

Greg read the draft that he and Nancy wrote up.

Art. 4 Membership

Membership shall be annual. Discussion of various membership language: should be general to encourage people to get involved. "Membership shall be open to individuals residing or working in Easthampton, or businesses, organizations and institutions located in Easthampton, who subscribe to the purposes of ECAT are eligible for membership.

Art. 5 Board of Directors: proposed 5 minimum, 9 maximum. Members broadly representative of the community.

Bernardston: 5-9

Amherst 12 [even #?]

Greenfield 5-9

Should not be subject to appointment or approval by Mayor or city, as an independent nonprofit. Should be nominated and elected by membership, approval comes from the Board of Directors. Anyone in Easthampton can nominate/run for election. Quorum would be 3 members/simple majority of those present.

Amherst/Pelham has 4 elected by the membership, one appointed by the select board of Amherst, one from Pelham select board, four appointed by the board, and a treasurer appointed by the board. Amherst has a long section of good language here on rules governing the nomination process and elections, how to remove a director, and more.

Bernardston/Northfield has 2 appointed by Northfield Selectmen, 2 by Bernardston, 2 by the Pioneer Valley Regional School Committee, one appointed by the Moderator of the town of Northfield and 1 by Bernardston moderator, and three elected by the general body of the board of directors, all subject to approval by the Board of Directors. Various terms.

Greenfield: 9-15 for 3 year terms. One from Selectmen, one from School Committee, one from GCC and six elected. Need not be members of the corporation prior.

[Seems like having appointed board members is a way to get participation from the city and schools...or should board members come from anywhere in the community at large?]

Art. 6 Officers: President, VP, Secretary/Treasurer. Bob suggested that initial terms should be of different lengths to stagger expiration dates for board members, ie some for 1yr and some for 2yr terms. Elected by the Board of Directors, from the Board of Directors. Language on duties of each office, how to fill vacancies.

Art. 7 Meetings Annual meeting of the corporation. Monthly board meetings. For annual meeting, mail/email notices must be sent to membership, advertised/announced and annual report made available. Roberts Rules of Order as a protocol to govern arguments over procedures. Agenda and minutes need to be posted.

Art. 8 Committees To be formed as needed/ more discussion later.

Art. 9 Liability

Art. 10 Fiscal Year July 1 to June 30.

Art. 11 Adoption OK.

Art. 12 Amendments Changes can be made with a quorum of the board.

Art. 13 Dissolution

Southampton

Bob will be meeting with people in Southampton to discuss options for them to become part of the nonprofit. Unclear if there is a desire on their part to join us, but the town is two small to afford a budget that would provide for employees and studio, equipment, etc. Would add to subscriber base and funding for ECAT: we will see if there will be an ESCAT.

Legislation: Rebecca provided the board with a wealth of information on the state telecom bill and station membership in Mass Access as a means to organize and fight....postponed until next meeting to allow time for board to digest materials.

Mass Access – Legislation for Dummies Conference, April 13 in Newton, MA Cost is $45 for nonmembers, $35 for members, membership is $50. Board voted to send dummies.

Other Brian's letter from February raised a number of issues, including full-time status for employees and a written employment contract. Postponed for discussion until nonprofit status is achieved. Also submitted to the board an equipment purchase proposal for two new computer workstations, one iMac and one PC. This will need to accompany the Princeton Server purchase anyways, so postponed for now.

Next ECAT Board meeting: Wednesday, April 25 – 6-8pm at ECAT.

Minutes written by Brian Oelberg