Minutes of Genesee Free-Net Board of Directors Meeting
September 27, 2007
Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau
316 Water Street

PRESENT:
Dennis Cavanaugh, Chair
Larry Porn, Vice Chair
Solomon Johnson, Secretary
Janet Craig, Board
Charles Wright, Board
Chad Cramer, Website

ABSENT:
Beverly Duval, Board
Scott Gifford, Board
Les LeMieux, Board
Kenny Thomas, Systems

Call to order at 5:26pm. Chair Dennis Cavanaugh presiding.

Preparation for Annual Meeting.
The large meeting room at The Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau has been reserved for the Genesee Free-Net Annual Meeting to be held Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 7:00pm.

Change of By-Laws.
Vice Chair Larry Porn present an update of open Board positions (8), incumbent positions expiring in 2007 (3) and incumbent positions eligible for re-election (4).

By-Law changes to be recommended at the annual meeting include:
1- Under Section II. Purpose, replace “Genesee County” with “Michigan.”
2- Under Section V. Board of Directors, C: Term of Office, remove term limitation statement “No director shall serve more than two consecutive three year terms.” Modify D: Removal from Office provision to a two-thirds majority. Modify E: Vacancies by removing “maintaining the broad representation of the Genesee County area community.”
3- Under Section VI. Officers, A. General, remove item 3.

Other recommendations may arise from the floor. A motion was made and passed that the recommended by-law changes be submitted to the membership for approval.

Marketing Presentation for Official State-Wide Roll-Out.
Chair Dennis Cavanaugh presented a draft of the press release announcing the taking of GFN services statewide. Expressed was the need to update the Web page to display Telnet Worldwide tier zero dial in numbers for local access. The roll out time line steps are: contact area newspapers and post request for new Board member candidates on the Web site.

AARP Trainees for the Office.
Chair Dennis Cavanaugh has contacted local AARP to obtain office volunteers to train for about fifteen (15) hours per week, for 6 to 8 weeks, in the GFN office after which time they may become gainfully employed with office skills.

Systems Report.
Kenny Thomas has expressed to Larry Porn the need for another mail server. RADIUS authentication and mail processing would be on separate servers after the new server has been installed. Chad Cramer will attempt to get from RADIUS logs the numbers to be “ported” to Telnet Worldwide.

Office Report.
Office Chair Larry Porn commented that “dropped” connections is a problem and my be the result of possible network problems at OTC. There is difficulty getting members switched to Telnet Worldwide tier zero dial in numbers. Larry and Dennis worked on the numbers to “port” to Telnet Worldwide.

Board member Janet Craig presented a note from GFN member Robin Rabidue which was considered by the Board. Chad Cramer will change the dial in numbers on the Web site. Systems will see how “porting” numbers changes the problem disconnects. The server procedure that circumvents port 25 email blocking will be checked for proper functioning.

Web Site Report.
Webmaster Chad Cramer reported that the Web Content Management Software (CMS) is up and running and that he is working on getting pages by Free-Net members moved into it. Each member will have their own database to work with. It will take another month or so to add authentication and security procedures. The CMS may be ready for member use by late October or early November. A demonstration may be presented at the annual meeting.

Financial Report.
Chair Dennis Cavanaugh presented a financial summary covering from January 1 through September 24, 2007. Income totaled $21,980. Expenses totaled $23,884. Account current balance was $1,900.

Matters Arising.
Denny's marching orders: “Port” numbers to Telnet Worldwide, reduce the number of OTC PRI's, take Portmasters out after OTC PRI's have been eliminated.

Adjournment: 6:57pm.

Next Board Meeting.
The annual meeting on Thursday, October 25, 2007, 7:00pm in the large meeting room at the Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, 316 Water Street.

Respectfully Submitted,

Solomon T Johnson, Secretary