Minneapolis Telecommunications Network

Board of Directors Meeting

Thursday, February 13, 2003

Board Members Present: Robert Vose, Julie Wallace, Joan Higinbotham, Tomas Gonda, Tamir Nolley,

Board Members Absent: Mark Engebretson, Vusi Zulu, Floyd Child, Todd Barnes

Ex-Officio Present: Lance Leupold,

Others Present: Pam Colby, John Akre, Jim Derks

Robert Vose called the meeting to order at 5:50 p.m.

  1. Opening Business
    1. Comments from public, staff, and board – Congratulations to the new chair, Vose
    2. Approval of agenda, MSP Higinbotham, Nolley
    3. Minutes from the January board meeting. MSP Wallace, Gonda
  2. Reports
    1. City of Minneapolis – Edie French was not present, and was unable to send a member from her staff. Vose said that he, Colby and French had met recently. He said that some kind of letter would be sent by the city in reference to the situation between Fox Sports Network and Time Warner Cable, but no details of the letter were known.
    2. Minneapolis Public Schools – Leo McCafferty was not present.
    3. Time Warner Cable – Lance Leupold presented

      4. Time Warner Cable currently has 81,835 customers in Minneapolis. Leupold asked Vose for more information about the letter noted in the City of Minneapolis report, but Vose knew nothing additional.

    4. Executive Director’s Report – Colby reported. She handed out a report

      5. The date was set for the MTN 20th Anniversary party, and it is April 11th. There will be a one hour live broadcast and a party following that at the Event Center in St. Anthony Main. MTN will honor everyone who attends the event. Higinbotham suggested collecting names at the door for sending out letters for donation solicitation in the future.

      Midwest Regional Conference will be on Feb. 28th and March 1st. Information is on the web site. The focus will be on developing communication between area public access producers and staff.

      MTN also collaborated on production of the Black History Month celebration at Walker Church, and on the City of Lakes Loppet cross country ski race.

    5. Treasurer’s Report – Engebretson was not present

    Colby handed out the MTN Profit and Loss statement. Higinbotham asked about the upcoming audit. Colby said that the audit process has begun. The auditor is Barry Rogers and Company. They have done the audit since MTN started, but a different auditor from the firm comes every year.

     

  3. Priority Items

    4. A. Facilities Report – Bob Vose reported

    He, Colby and French met to discuss the city's support of MTN remaining at this site. French recommended an "escape clause" in the lease in case MTN’s funding radically changes. This information was also shared with Council President Ostrow. Vose recommends that MTN go forward to come up with a sensible solution based on the report about MTN's space needs and recognize the possibility that funding may change. Colby said that the building owner wants to trade smaller office spaces in exchange for MTN’s current administrative offices. Nolley suggested that cuts to Aid to Local Government may affect MTN. Colby said that she thought that funding changes for MTN would be more dependent on changes in the franchise agreement with Time Warner. Higinbotham asked how unusual it would be for an escape clause to be in the lease. Vose said that there is an out-clause in the current lease if the contract between the city and Time Warner ends. Vose said that we need to clarify that statement to leave it open for other changes in our funding. Gonda asked if we could save money with a new lease. Vose suggested that this is a good time to negotiate a fair deal on the lease. Vose suggested that we continue forward with those discussions. There were no objections to this.

    B. Review of Board Committees

    A sheet was handed out with names of committees, definitions and those board members currently on them. There followed some discussion of the need for a Public Relations Committee. Colby said she would discuss committees with the new board member, Todd Barnes, to find his interests. Colby said that the Equipment Committee will need to meet with staff in near future.

  4. Adjourn

Meeting adjourned at 6:31 p.m. MSP Nolley, Vose