KLTV BOARD MEETING MINUTES
July 16th, 2007

Secretary Arleen called the roll. Board Members present included:  Post.1 – George Ford, Post. 2 – Mike Kayser,  Post. 3 - Brian Magnuson, Post. 5 - Mark McCrady, Post. 6 - Arleen Hubble, Post. 7 - Don MacDonald, Post. 8 - Hal Phillips, Post. 9 - James Johnston.   

Position 4 – Joe Daggy’s absents was excused.

Also present were: Judy Jones, Allan Rudberg, Bruce Norris, Steve Harvey, Dee Ebbert, Marilyn Freerks, Linda Manning, Frank Huckstep, Ben Purvis, Cindy Bryant, Ric King and Gary Hill.

Under Changes to the Agenda President Mark added the results of the Producers Survey to the New Business portion of the agenda as Bullet #4.  There were no other changes or additions.

President Mark asked for approval of the minutes of the June 18th board meeting. Mike Kayser made the motion to accept the minutes of June 18th. Jim Johnston seconded the motion. There was no discussion and no corrections. The vote was called and the motion passed.

Brian Magnuson provided the Treasurers Report, which included the Financial Statement through June 30th as provided by Chace & Spurgeon. Comments were made about how nice it was to have received the Report on Thursday giving ample time to become familiar with the document. Brian said he invited Aloma to the meeting to further explain the statement, how she compiles the information, and address other options for how to present it to our membership. But unfortunately she had a commitment elsewhere this evening. He said he would try to get her here next month. 

Don MacDonald asked for clarity on a portion of the statement labeled Board of Directors Liability Insurance. Brian explained that at one time the previous board had decided to self insure and had saved roughly 70,000 toward that end and the money was deposited in the Riverview Bank account.
The funds are in a money market account drawing 5.1 % interest. Mark praised Vince Penta for establishing this account and pointed out that the interest from this account is paying the $1100 per year premium for the board liability coverage. 

Brian Magnuson also presented the Engineering and Equipment Report. Brian joked that John Maisley, the President of Panasonic Broadcasting is his new best friend. We now have possession of everything except three lenses. Everything has been installed in the county building. The last thing to do is to mount the cameras to the wall. The mounts have yet to be fabricated. Once they are totally up and operating we’ll wait a week or so before starting on the next city building.

Staff Reports

Gary Hill deferred the floor to Marilyn Freerks KLTV Volunteer Coordinator. Marilyn reported on Go 4th activities during July 2nd, 3rd and 4th. We had 27 participating volunteers who tallied 325 hours. Most of which were newbies – fresh to video production. Marilyn especially thanked board members Jim Johnston, Mike Kayser and Hal Phillips for their assistance. Although we are not approved for the State’s L& I coverage as yet, the cost would be $18.03 for this event. To calculate minimum wages for this event, costs would be $2382.97.  Marilyn mentioned the upcoming Cowlitz County Fair and hoped she could count on the board to fill a few slots.   

Gary Hill provided the Interim Director’s Report (see attached).  He first pointed out that while we have had a long-standing association with C.A.P., they are now providing us several young people who are training as Receptionists and assisting with data entry. A couple others are in training to cover the master control room as playback operators.   

Gary announced that Government Producer Joe Creppell and his wife Andrea delivered a baby boy July 6th.

Gary informed us that Viking Sprinkler System from Portland was the firm who changed out the sprinkler heads and who had left the water system discharged for nearly a year.

As of last month’s meeting staff had completed recording all area graduations. But the editing of these projects is going slow with interruptions of community events, and studio improvement projects.

As a background or precursor to insurance items later on agenda Gary pointed out that an inventory is underway which accounts for any item worth more than a hundred dollars as stipulated by the Cowlitz County Assessors Office. Gary said he has pretty much started from scratch. He acquired inventory asset labels and had a couple staff going room by room throughout the building assigning asset numbers, noting make, model and serial numbers. Most of the equipment purchased with in the past two years has value information and where purchased. Previous to the past two years we’re having to cross reference and in some cases make guesses as to when something was purchased and at what cost. It’s a real mess.

In order to expect a bid from our insurance agent or another a complete list is required. We currently have two separate equipment policies the Inland Marine rider that covers any / all equipment that is currently housed at the cities or county buildings or that which may be checked out that leaves our building. The other policy covers all equipment with in the confines of the building.

A conversation with Kurt Sauha, City of Longview’s Finance Director, gave encouragement that equipment stored in the city’s chambers could be covered, by leasing it to the city for a dollar per year. Thusly saving KLTV a bit on the policy.

President Mark directed Gary to contact Marylin Hahn, Longview City Attorney, to help fill out the lease agreement.

Linda Manning, KLTV Operations Manager, expressed concerns about relinquishing control and / or ownership of the equipment should our relationship terminate.

Mark acknowledged her concerns and felt those are things that could be clarified through the agreement. He would be interested to know what amount could be saved by such an agreement. Mark also pointed out that if Kelso and the Cowlitz County did not offer the same situation then the value of such a deal diminishes.

Gary reported that he had renewed the Insurance Policy which had expired on June 30th. The policy was identical to what we had previously. The Policy could be modified at any time and if a better deal is found elsewhere a refund would be prorated. The renewal cost was roughly $300 less than the year before.

Non – Profits are given a special consideration at a special rate - to provide medical coverage for volunteers. However NON-PROFITS must apply through Washington State Labor & Industries for a Medical Coverage Election Option. The applying agency must show proof of their 501-C-3 status…then compensate six cents per volunteer hour for this coverage. We usually keep track of volunteer hours anyway, but this would have to be kept current and paid quarterly. Aloma suggested a detailed and tallied monthly volunteer hours report be sent along with our staff payroll information. She said she would handle the rest.

Gary contacted Cal Dowd who at one time was interested in looking at the warehouse space upstairs but since has not returned numerous calls. One could assume that he is no longer interested. Mr. Kayser referred a couple gentlemen from the Cowlitz Conservation District to look at the old apartment upstairs as potential office space. Major renovation would be required for this purpose and should only be considered with a long-term lease. Gary had no figures on what it would cost to renovate, nor was he able to ascertain a clear figure of what office space leases for. He estimates that space is approximately 750 square feet.

The last thing on Gary’s report was a weekend studio improvement marathon. The building’s siding, which had been water damaged, was disintegrating and literally falling to the ground. On at least one occasion a pedestrian stepped into our office to show us a chunk that had struck him as he walked by.

We had a concern about safety issues and had begun the task of replacing several boards. Not only did the boards present a safety concern but they also contributed to the building being such an eye sore. We replaced a broken window on the corner of the building, which also presented safety issues of falling glass and bodily injury.

There was discussion of replacing the façade in 2008 and possibly uncovering and utilizing the existing windows throughout the top floor. Architect Gary Slyter had suggested replacing existing windows with smaller windows as an environment control measure. Mr. Slyter will need to be contacted to provide an updated cost analysis. Mark also suggested that should the warehouse space be rented on a long term, we could borrow against the lease income to remodel the building.

There was a suggestion to contact a realtor to help market the space.

Operation Manager’s Report  Linda reported a tremendous improvement to the audio on 3 channels as a result of installing the limiter - expanders.

She also reported that recent high winds were responsible for damage to both big satellite dishes. An actuator arm that moves the dish was severely damaged and will need to be replaced (approx $400). George Ford offered a Dish Network package for the Arts channel, which addressed Linda’s concern about replacing those monster dishes with newer technology.

The Orientation Class started the first Saturday of the month with a sizeable group. Marilyn is signing them up as volunteers.

She mentioned anybody who wanted to help Bruce & Gary in the lift on the siding project would not be turned away. She specifically thanked Bruce for his involvement over the weekend with the repairs projects still underway.

Unfinished Business  President Mark provided an update on the Executive Director Search. On Friday July 20th the top 5 candidates will be interviewed via phone at Judy Jones office at Longview City Hall. The Hiring committee comprised of himself, Joe Daggy, Mike Kayser, and Judy Jones hope to present to the Board the names of the top 2 or 3 finalists by early next week. Mark explained that the committee wanted to use Allan Rudberg’s suggestion to include the finalist at a meet and greet session during the next board meeting. The candidates would also be given an opportunity to tour the facility and meet the staff earlier in the day, as well as meet the members and producers during the board meeting. The board will go to Executive Session to decide who will be the next Executive Director. The new Executive Director should be in place by late August or early September.

Hal Phillips  presented the results of a survey that he and Brian Magnuson had sent out to members and local producers of KLTV.  Nearly everyone was better than satisfied with Training, Training Availability, Studio Availability, Equipment Availability, Technical Quality of Equipment, Working Condition of Equipment, Staff Availability, Staff Support, and Staff Knowledge. The only area that scored less than a satisfactory was in Off Site Equipment Availability. Questions surrounding this area may concern what equipment do we have, what can we use. It’s possible some people may not have understood the question and even the fact that Off-Site referred to equipment NOT at the studio. Linda suggested that confusion surrounding Off Site may have been in the phrasing. If Equipment Checkout had been used there may not have been much confusion. In part because the equipment reservation log clearly stipulates what equipment is available to be checked out.

There were questions about Off Line Training that we once had. Sometime ago you could sign into a computer and at one’s own pace cover all aspects of video production in an interactive training program.

Mark explained a Board Retreat would be most helpful this year to be scheduled in mid to late fall. The Board is involved with an information gathering process now and will prioritize those identified needs during the retreat.

Marilyn thanked Board Members Hal, and Mike for their courtesies during the Go 4th Festival. Their  help as camera operators was invaluable.

The meeting was Adjourned at 6:45 pm

Minutes Approved ________________ By KLTV Board __________________________________
                                    Date                                                                       Secretary’s Signature