KOPN BOARD MEETING MINUTES

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Attendance:Linda Day, Margot McMillen, Dan Hemmelgarn, John Lofton, Barbara Ross, Gordon Rogers, Laura Wacker, Morgan Matsiga, and Sean Spence.

Guests:Christine Gardener

Call to Order, Adoption of Agenda, and Introduction of Guest

Linda called the meeting to order, a quorum was verified, and the agenda was adopted by the board upon a motion by Dan and seconded by Barbara.  Linda then gave the floor to Christine Gardener to speak about the September fund drive.  Christine introduced herself and spoke at length about her ties to KOPN, Community Radio, NFCB, radio theater, with the involvement of children in these things, and her long history of fund-raising and volunteer management for KOPN.  She suggested that she return in August to talk more specifically about the September pledge drive.

Approval of Minutes:Linda introduced proposed changes to the draft minutes of the June meeting.  After discussion Dan moved (seconded by Gordon) to approve the minutes with the proposed changes and the motion passed unanimously.  A motion was also made by Linda (seconded by Gordon) to amend the May minutes by replacing the name of our accounting service with the phrase “our accounting service.”  This motion was also approved unanimously.

Financial Report

After discussion, a decision was made to combine the Financial Report and the Financial Working Group reports in the meeting.  Written financial reports were distributed and Laura reported that there appeared to be a discrepancy of an overpayment of rent in July.  Linda replied that the problem relates to the fact that she printed a partial July column in order to show the significant income we have had in July so far.  Laura reported that we have received significant payments from two major underwriters.  She also reported that items are still not being categorized correctly in our records.  Sean commented that both positive and negative discrepancies come close to balancing each other so the overall apparent picture is not that far off from our actual position.

Sean reported that requests for proposal (RFP) have been submitted for accounting services, and Linda requested that the board authorize the Financial Working Group to review any received response.  Sean pointed out that the General Manager is authorized to hire such a service independently of the Board but that he would like to have at least some Board involvement in the decision.  There were no objections to this request.  Linda invited other board members to participate in the search and decision-making.

General Manager Monthly Operating Report (Sean)

Income Update:Sean reports that as of June 30, we have received $148,136.08 in Non-Federal Financial Support(NFFS) funds.  Today we have $158,772.90, not counting at least $33,000 of in-kind contributions (for a total of $191,772.90), such as $12,000 from the Missourian and $5,000 each from the Tribune and KBIA.  He said this type of contribution cannot be counted in our statements until the end of the period in which the in-kind agreements are active.  There was some discussion about the nature and workings of in-kind contributions.  At this point, Sean reported, we need $108,227.10 in new contributions by September 30 to meet our goal.

Grants Update:Sean says we have applied or are applying for several grants totaling $43,221 which includes $25,000 from Boone County Children’s Services, from whom we may possibly be able to get an additional $25,000.   This also includes $10,000 from Boone Electric which was to be used for a wheelchair lift to make the station accessible; however, it has been determined by the installers that it is not possible to install such a lift at this station.  Sean will apply to use this grant for other purposes.

Underwriting:Sean reports we have been receiving money from underwriters, with a total of $5,335 received plus a promise of $5,000 more to come.

Community Events:

Community Picnic:Sean reports this will not be held.

Global Extravaganza:Sean reports this is still coming together for September and will be a big focus now.

BASH:Sean reports the next BASH will be in a month or so.

Holiday Parade:Sean reports this is still moving well, with hopes for $2,000 to $5,000 in sponsorships.

Laura asked if we will participate in Roots N Blues, which would enable us to share in the donations of unused money from bracelets that people turn in at the end of the event.  Sean said he will talk with Richard King about possibly participating.

Station Relocation:Sean reports no news. He is not optimistic about any option of remaining in our current building.

Tower/UM Update:Sean reports that UM is not seeking to replace the easement with a license after all, and that the license under discussion would only address the access for fiber-optic cable.  Sean told UM we just needed a review by our lawyer and that pending that we could sign an agreement.  He thinks the agreement could be made by next week.

Station Technology Update:Sean reports no news.

Website:Sean reports nothing new.

Volunteers:Sean reports nothing new.

Committee and Working Group Reports:

Programming Committee Report:Linda reported that this month’s meeting will be late and will be held this coming Sunday.

Engineering/IT Working Group Report:The meeting was postponed.  There is no report.

Library Working Group Report:No report.  Laird is not in attendance.

Guiding Documents Working Groups:Gordon reported that no meeting has been held this month.

Station Relocation Working Group:Margot reported that there was no meeting this month.

New Business:

FCC License Renewal:Linda reports that our renewal application must be submitted by October 1, 2020 for our renewal date of February 1, 2021.  She says this will involve a lot of preparation and work from volunteers, including from the Board.  For the first time all files and forms will be submitted online, which will make all filing dates obvious.  Our application will also require us to give 3 months of broadcasting announcements for listeners to give any input they have about our renewal, as well as similar announcements after the application is done.  There will be opportunities for us to file trial or practice applications for peer review.  There will be a lot of documentation to do for the renewal.

Broadcast Automation:Linda announced that we are allowed to have remote or pre-programmed broadcasting if we desire and we are researching our options for this, particularly for use on overnight shifts and for uncovered programmer shifts.  Such a system could also be operated remotely so no one would even have to come in to initiate such a broadcast. Linda pointed out that a risk of having this capability would be that programmers may be more likely to cancel a show.  On the other hand, people could have pre-recorded versions of their own shows ready in advance to use.  Another consideration is that this would prevent listeners from calling the programmers during their show, which would take away a connection with our listeners.  It is not an option that we would use normally but rather in cases of need.

Station Rules:There was discussion of the recent fire, which turned out not to be a direct threat to the station but which appears to have involved a cigarette disposed of improperly outside the back door of the station.  The fire led to the fire department being called who broke in through the front door.  There were noted to be several improperly disposed of cigarette butts near (but not in) the cigarette disposal container.  This leads Linda to be concerned about guests in the station and what should and shouldn’t be allowed. At other times people have been observed in the station in the evenings or nights who the programmer is completely unaware of.  Empty wine bottles have been found in our trash cans as well.  Dan proposed that the Guiding Documents Working Group review all station policies and rules for possible updates.  Margot seconded this proposal and it passed unanimously. Gordon said he would add that to the group’s agenda.

Relevant News from the NFCB meeting:Linda said we didn’t have time tonight to cover this topic sufficiently , except to say she got sample underwriting contracts from another station and Sean reported that he had a Zoom conference with other General Managers that is going to become a weekly event. Sean also gave a fundraising presentation at the conference.

Unfinished Old Business:

Transmitter Shed Maintenance:Sean reported that they have received bids for tree removal in the area of the guy lines, where several trees have been growing for some time.  The air conditioner, which had not been cooling sufficiently, was found to be low on coolant.  It is unclear if it has a leak or if it just hasn’t been charged up for a long time.  The outside of the shed needs repair and painting or staining and that job will be bid shortly.

Bookkeeping Service:No news to report beyond previous discussion in the Financial Report.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned by Linda.

Respectfully submitted,

Gordon Rogers, Secretary