Minneapolis Telecommunications Network
Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, June 11, 2009

Members Present: Andrew Hedden, Kevin Jenkins, Barb Nei, Rashad Hasan, Joel Rainville, Peter Larsen
Board Members Absent: Marido Huber, Ben Weeks, Patrick Scully
Ex-Officio Present: Lance Leupold, John Harrison
Others Present: Pam Colby, Vera Allen, John Akre

Hedden called the committee of the whole to order at 5:33 p.m. Hedden called the meeting to order when quorum present at 5:55 pm

I.Opening Business

A.Comments from public, staff and board – none

B.Approval of June meeting agenda. MSP Jenkins, Nei.

C.Approval of minutes from April board meeting. MSP Nei, Jenkins.

II. Reports

A.City of Minneapolis – Harrison presented
Subscriber numbers from Comcast are 77,232 for April and 75,233 for May. Hedden, Weeks and Colby have been working with Harrison on the Performance Agreement and are close to completion. Harrison requested from Comcast information on the cabling from city hall and from MTN to the head end. Leupold said that he is working on gathering that information. Colby asked about MTN's ability to connect to the PRISMA system for program sharing. Leupold said that he could get a quote for fiber to it. Harrison said that there will be a MACTA Conference this fall.

B.Minneapolis Public Schools – French not present
No report from Schools. Colby said that they are heavily into graduation ceremony coverage.

C.Comcast – Leupold reported
U.S. is on the cusp of the end of analog broadcast. FCC has phone banks and there are other resources to educate people about digital conversion and Comcast is extending their hours on Friday. They have announced 30 scholarship recipients in the twin cities and two are from Minneapolis.

D.Executive Director's Report – Colby reported.
The consultant working on the MTN staff retreat for the Strategic Plan recommended that staff do a session on work styles and another on working together on common goals. Staff will schedule this in September.
Two step up interns were assigned to MTN. They will be able to assist in access, productions. Peloff is their supervisor.
Project for Pride in Living has donated office and furniture items in exchange for sponsorship listing on two MTN programs. Allen worked to secure this.
TV by Girls will partner with MTN for a four week media camp in August. They will be paying MTN for space use.
MTN Fundraiser - Colby and Nei have decided to scale back event plans for the fall. Staff will continue to work on building earned revenue.
MTN will be closed on June 23 so that staff can concentrate on three shoots, the first NCEC meeting, Hennepin County Commissioners and Northeast Parade. SPNN truck will be on hand for NE parade. Rainville asked about signage for the event. Allen suggested using the banner from the anniversary event. NE Chamber of Commerce has picked the hosts. It will be shown live on MTN.

E.Treasurer's Report – Rainville presented
April P&L handed out. Membership and class numbers are up from last year. Payroll is running over budget. Colby said that it was based on projections that may not have reflected MTN?s contributions to retirement plans. Motion to receive the report MSP Nei, Hasan.

III. New Business

A.Member's Meeting Planning
The MTN Member's Meeting will be on July 28 at 1 p.m. Colby invited board members to attend. Colby spoke about her meeting with C.M. Elizabeth Glidden. Glidden asked about the MTN board decision with respect to governance structure changes. The current MTN governance structure has limited MTN's ability to do fundraising. But a small number of Council Members spoke out adamantly against this proposed change at the last Member's Meeting, and Colby suggested such a change could affect MTN's funding from the Council. Colby asked for a motion suggesting that the board has tabled this change. Rainville suggested that this does not need motion. Hedden suggested referencing the board action from last year. Colby said that she would reference that discussion in her report at the Member's Meeting. Colby said that her report at the Meeting will focus on some of the positive things happening at MTN. Colby will also mention some of the challenges facing MTN, such as how to compete against High Definition television with our limited resources.

IV. Adjourn
Meeting adjourned at 6:24 pm. MSP Rainville, Nei.