ECAT Board Minutes from 7/31/08

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