PRESENT:
Dennis Cavanaugh, Chair
Larry Porn, Vice Chair
Solomon Johnson, Secretary
Georgia Kitchen, Board
Charles Wright, Board

ABSENT:
Harvey S Sherman, Treasurer
Scott Gifford, Board
Les LeMieux, Board
Kenny Thomas, Systems
Chad Cramer, Website

Guests:
Ron Gast, Managing Partner, midmich.net
Steve Zimmerman, President midmich.net

Call to order at 5:20pm. Chair Dennis Cavanaugh presiding.

The minutes of the February, 2006 Board meeting were accepted, by acclamation, as emailed to theboard@gfn.org .

Chair Dennis Cavanaugh reported on conversations with Jane Hanson and Chris Carson at CenturyTel about a PRI hook up for Montrose. GFN would need a physical location in Montrose because tariff restrictions prevent connection to GFN PRIs in Flint. Estimated connectivity cost was $641 a month for the location plus $100 a month for SBC lines.

WebMail.
The Board was informed that a new web mail program was ready for inspection at http://gfn.org/webmail.html and would be implemented on the GFN Website if the Board approved. It was stated that the implementation would not be a problem for RADIUS.

Ron Gast and Steve Zimmerman of midmich.net arrived at 5:35pm. Chair Dennis Cavanaugh had contacted midmich.net as a potential provider of connectivity for Montrose Free-Net members. Apparently, midmich.net has little interest in providing connectivity for just Montrose but rather for all of GFN through one of its locations in the vicinity of Exchange Drive.

Other Matters.
After some discussion, a refund was approved for Neil Braun who had difficulty maintaining connectivity with GFN. Office Chair Larry Porn reminded the Board of the no refund policy stated on the account application form and that established policy should be followed.

Approval was given for the Treasurer to buy a $100 gift credit card for use by Office Manager Janet Craig to purchase supplies for the GFN office.
Mentioned was the need to fix a glitch on the office WinXP computer to allow printing from Outlook Express and the need to obtain a new pencil sharpener for the office.

The office interface to the database is in use by office staff. There is need to add an option to permit account upgrade. There was no resolution of the Portmaster password problem which would allow PM Vision to be used to diagnose problems.

Caution was urged in asking OTC for services to avoid being construed a GFN agent authorized to incur liabilities.

As authorized during the February, 2006 Board meeting, a free Basic Account for Margot Brummet has been implemented.

The Chair directed the Secretary to let the record show that when the Treasurer cannot attend meetings a financial statement should be emailed to theboard@gfn.org stating Revenue, Expenses paid, Net Assets and Liabilities (pending expenses) of the organization.

Adjournment: 7:00pm.

Next Regular Meeting:
Thursday, April 27, 2006, at 5:15pm at the Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Respectfully Submitted,

Solomon T Johnson, Secretary