Minutes of Genesee Free-Net Board of
Directors Meeting
February 24 , 2005
Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau
316 Water Street
PRESENT:
Dennis Cavanaugh, Chair
Larry
Porn, Vice Chair
Solomon Johnson, Secretary
Scott Gifford,
Board
Georgia Kitchen, Board
Kay Schwartz, Board
Garry Viele,
Board
Charles Wright, Board
Call to order at 5:16pm. Chair Dennis
Cavanaugh presiding.
Officers Comments:
Chair Dennis Cavanaugh
welcomed those present and announced that a contract had been signed with
GenTech for modem service.
Vice Chair Larry Porn mentioned the
acquisition of modems at GenTech and expressed concern on how Montrose users
would connect to Flint. Little information is available on the changes to
ability of Montrose residents to dial toll-free to Flint.
Secretary
Solomon Johnson reported that the January, 2005 minutes as corrected by e-mail
had been posted to the GFN Web site. Chair Dennis Cavanaugh declared the minutes
accepted as posted.
Treasurer
Harvey Sherman was recovering from a fall. Kay Schwartz reported that checks had
been written for server group services, system maintenance services and rent.
She and Harvey are attempting to transfer duties of the treasurer position. Kay
was given the invoice from Chad Cramer for appreciation awards for services to
GFN by former board members Vahid Lotfi and Jerry Preston. Chair Dennis
Cavanaugh will write thank you letters for past board members and
volunteers.
Standing Committees:
Marketing:
Dennis Cavanaugh
reported that a presentation had been made to the Eastside Business Group. GFN
will have a presence at the 4th of July Jazz Fair. A permit will cost
$25. Dennis Cavanaugh also made contact with the Crapo Center. Georgia Kitchen
will continue to follow up with the Flint Arts Council.
Kay Schwartz
mentioned having a durable display sign to use at events. Dennis Cavanaugh
offered to contact a non-profit maker of signs he is aware of.
Web
Site:
No report.
Office Operations:
Larry Porn reported that
applications for accounts are being received at the office. There is a need for
instruction on computer operation for some members. Office volunteers on
occasion must service lengthy telephone calls on matters not related to proper
entry of setup information. Otherwise, office operations are going smoothly in
the new environment. The office scanner is working as a substitute for having
access to a copier.
There are concerns with telephone charges being much
more than anticipated. The office will be looking into alternative phone
services. Garry Viele is trying voice over IP (VoIP) and will inform the office
of his experience with the service.
Systems:
Kenny Thomas was not able
to arrive between 6:30pm and 6:45pm as hoped. The dial-in test at GenTech was
not as hoped for. GFN was able to authenticate on the GenTech server but not
through to the Free-Net server. It appeared the expenditure of effort to split
authentication between GenTech and GFN was not feasible. GFN technicians seem to
agree that a single login to GFN through GFN's own portmaster would work
fine.
Old Business:
Contract signed with GenTech.
The Genesee
Free-Net has entered into a 24 month contract with GenTech for dial-in services.
There will be a $1000 setup fee and a recurring monthly fee of $1578. Telephone
lines are expected to be installed in two to three weeks. Telephone lines cost
will be $390 per 23 modem unit per month.
Matters
Arising.
Considerable discussion arose. Operation cost savings are not
expected during the first year of new service. The hope is to break even by
reducing GFN commitment to Merit service. The Merit contract ends March
31st. It is not clear who in GFN can contact Merit about canceling modems and what our service options with Merit are.
Garry Viele was once a contact and will call Merit to see if he can speak for
GFN. Should Garry not be successful, Vahid Lotfi will be asked to help establish
a new contact for GFN.
A plan needs to be developed to assist members
with setting up to use the old and new dial-in numbers. Scott Gifford offered to
look into developing a simple setup sheet. Mercury.net
was mentioned as a possible source of setup
information from their knowledge base.
Kay
Schwartz reviewed GFN's financial status. As of December, 2004 GFN had assets of
$80,000. There was an operational loss last year of $15,000 with revenue of
$63,520 plus $750 in donations. The trend over the last three to five years has
been of declining membership. GFN needs to be careful with additional
commitments. Should GFN encounter a catastrophic close, we want to be able to
pay our bills, refund recent account renewals and go home with clear
consciences.
Garry Viele suggested that GFN reduce Merit modems to 25.
There were objections to reducing Merit modems to 25 at this time. There is
concern that members would start getting busy signals on dial-in and quit GFN.
It appears the recommended allocation is 10 members per available modem. GFN
will seek to reduce its Merit commitment to 40 modems and implement concurrent
use of 46 modems at GenTech.
Otherwise, GFN needs to do marketing to
increase its membership. GFN has no community outreach. Garry Viele reminded
that the whole world has changed from what it was when the Free-Net started.
Dennis Cavanaugh questioned whether we are an Internet company run by volunteers
or volunteers attempting to run an Internet company?
New
Business:
Opportunity to Acquire GenTech
Customers.
Not discussed at the contract signing with GenTech for dial-in
service. Three key GenTech people were not in attendance at the
signing.
Change in Montrose Phone Service.
There is no reliable
information on the number of toll-free minutes Montrose residents will have to
dial to Flint telephone numbers. It cannot be determined at this time how GFN
members in Montrose will be impacted.
Chair Dennis Cavanaugh called for
an intermediate board meeting on March 10th to deal with modem
issues.
Adjournment: 6:45pm.
Next Meeting:
Thursday, March 10, 2005
at 5:15 pm at a location to be determined.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Solomon T Johnson,
Secretary
