12 July 2005 Waynet Board Meeting Minutes

Waynet Executive Board Meeting
July 21, 2005

Present:

Randy Baker, President (Richmond Power & Light)
Misty Hollis, Vice-President/Treasurer (Wayne County Visioning)
Jim Buckler, Secretary (WorkOne)
Jane Holman, Executive Director, Ex Officio, (WayNet.org)
Gary Arndts (Marketing & Creative Services)
Dudley Fetzer (First Richmond)
Jodi Johnson (Western Wayne Schools)
Bill Pendley (Potter’s Wheel Bed & Breakfast)
Bill Felker (Visitor, former board member)

Call to Order

President Randy Baker called the meeting to order at 12:00 PM in the large conference room at Richmond Power & Light. He noted there was a quorum.

Minutes for the January meeting were reviewed. Misty Hollis made the motion to approve, Dudley Fetzer seconded the motion. January minutes were approved.

Minutes from the March meeting were reviewed. Jodi Johnson made the motion to approve. Bill Pendley seconded the motion. March minutes were approved.

Minutes from the May meeting were reviewed. Jim Buckler made the motion to approve, Bill Pendley seconded the motion. May minutes were approved.

Old Business

A fee-waiver for Richmond Academy, Inc. was presented for board approval. After a brief discussion a motion was made by Misty Hollis and seconded by Jodi Johnson to approve the fee-waiver. The motion was approved.

The financial balance sheet for 2005 through July to date was reviewed. There was discussion about the irregularity of income throughout the year, because of sporadic “chunks” of payments. Jane stated her monitor was flickering and may need to be replaced. Dudley Fetzer will check to see if he can find one to donate. It was also noted that there was $2600 in the budget for equipment. IU East owns the current PC and would not replace it. Jodi Johnson moved to accept the budget and Dudley Fetzer seconded. The motion carried.

Jane shared the current members list. Either we need more businesses or higher level members to increase income. A suggestion was made to demonstrate how many times per month a prospective customer is led to a member’s web site as an incentive by counting “clickthroughs” from WayNet. Randy will look into the possibility of tracking these numbers. Another suggestion was using the newsletter as an advertising tool. Provide different levels such as mentions, links or logos on the newsletter. Also draw more subscribers to the newsletter by offering some incentive such as coupons. Jane still plans on bringing sponsors up to the top of the home page as a continued incentive for support.

Contact was made with Tom Kemp regarding the 501c3 status. It was hoped this could have been completed by the end of May. The alternative would be to hire an attorney to complete the required applications. . It was felt this would be too costly for WayNet’s budget to support. Misty Hollis will attempt to contact Tom again. The Indiana Community Network Association will be dissolving and there will be $40,000 of their funds to distribute among the ten remaining community networks in Indiana. In order to receive this money, WayNet needs to be classified as a 501c3. Since WayNet’s conversion to 501c3 continues to drag on, there is a possibility Wayne County Foundation could be approached to receive the money on WayNet’s behalf. Jane will check with the Foundation to see if this is feasible.

Jane’s salary has remained the same over the past two and a half years. The cost of living adjustments by the Social Security Administration for 2003 and 2004 combined to 4.8%. The consensus was 5.0% increase retroactive to January 2005 would be appropriate. Bill Ponder moved to increase her salary by that amount and Gary Arndts seconded. The motion was approved.

New Business

Amy Spears has resigned creating a board vacancy. A replacement for this position is being sought. Misty Hollis and Jane met to discuss filling officer’s positions. Board members whose terms expire in September are Randy Baker, Jim Buckler, Tom Kemp, Tom Kirk, Bill Pendley and Rodger Smith. Those members who wish to renew should let Jane know. Various names were suggested for the committee to review. The annual meeting was discussed. Tentative date is set for September 27th at 7:00 PM at R P & L. Presentation for the annual meeting could be given by the Technology Task Force. Volunteers for the annual meeting committee are Randy, Jane, Dudley and Jim.

Voting by email has been offered as an option because of the number of meetings without a quorum. Voting by electronic communication 4.12.1 in the by-laws could be enacted. There was concern about not having face-to-face discussion about issues. Voting by email was tabled until the next meeting.

Executive Director’s Report

Jane presented the Executive Director’s report. Members added and removed were discussed. Richmond Academy and D. McCurdy Construction Co. Inc. are new members. One of the members removed is United Methodist Church. There is hope that they may return as a member once their finances improve. Two advertising projects were discussed, the Richmond Symphony ad and the Civic Center Jaws movie ad. Gary Arndt worked with Jane to jazz-up the “Avoid Big Bites” ad for the Jaws movie event. Jane also mentioned the message light on her phone has died. She is looking for a replacement option. She is working with Newell Pleger Shinn, Earlham President’s Assistant, on a parent /student brochure. The usual time is spent on web site maintenance especially checking and repairing links. She is currently about half-way through. Additional images were added to the Artists of Wayne County web site. The log analysis shows the typical seasonal slow down in June and July. Jim Buckler moved to accept the executive report and Jodi Johnson seconded. The report was approved as presented.

Adjournment

As there was no further business the meeting adjourned at 1:12 PM. The next regular board meeting will be September 15, 2005 at noon, with lunch at 11:30 at Richmond Power & Light.

Respectfully submitted,

Jim Buckler
Secretary

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