 Call to order public comments Rob, I'm gonna guess that are neither of our Potential board members could reschedule you had him on the line for the 14th. That is not true I believe that Chad will be available. He will be joining us. Oh great Rachel was bummed that she couldn't but she had prior engagement, but it is still very interested in the board That's good news. Yeah She's there In spirit Yes. Hello. Sorry. I just have to take something off the stove and then I'll turn my camera on We have definitely got a quorum Were we? Hey, Chad, how are you? Welcome Chad Welcome Chad. Thank you You just witnessed the achieving of a quorum Yeah, but we're still waiting for our secretary to give us a heads up and I think one board member who's got to get something off the stove We are presently a seven member board with room for nine That's what our bylaws say So we have we got to hit the number four We usually do all right, but last you know, it's that time of year people get busy It had been quite a while since we had a postpone of meeting due to a lot I don't know if you guys have heard but Chris is like Saturday or something like that. So I I got a shopping Whoa coming up on me We we decided not to have it this close to Christmas and had it the week before But then we didn't have it the week before Actually, we're fourth Tuesday is our rhythm and We'll mess with that if there's a holiday in the way or a vacation in the way, but That is our And just so you guys know the additional person attending is or guys the staff they are recording So that they have it as well. So oh wonderful. You can say hi to Zach and Jen. It's her if they're Are we gonna be broadcast or cables past I should say After post-production, we're not going live with it. Yes, you know, but okay, I'm ready Beautiful I will I'll call us to order at 633 quorum achieved Present Rob Chapman executive director myself board chair Dave Conner Sue Bavin Rachel Feldman Carlos Diaz Taking care of the minutes for us. Thank you so much. Did you do a brief introduction for chatter? I was just getting ready to say and Chad. I don't know your last name Irvin Chad Irvin hi Chad Irvin We're actually after call the order we roll right into public comment if you just want to Say more than hi Could be yours We should wait till Rachel's on so she can hear and what I meant Michael's maybe we as board members could introduce ourselves to Chad Oh, certainly There's Rachel. Hi. Hi, Rachel. Hi, Rachel Hello strangers we're in we've called us to order I've heard it all I just good good Yeah, I was wondering. Yeah, you were there more than spirit great um So Rob, are you suggesting beyond names or does everyone want to hear my long biography or what do you have? Maybe a short bio and you know, I'd like to hear your bio Well, I was born in a small town. No, I live in Randolph. I've been on the board for probably I don't know 708 Grew up in st. Jay went away came back Plenty else to say but really we got business to do you really want everyone to do a little something Sentence maximum. I think I did three sentences Watch it I'll go and just say Chad, I'm Rob Chapman. I'm the director at Orca. I am not officially a board member, but I am staff I have been working in community media. I think I'm starting my fourth decade here I have worked for most of it in Burlington. I have been at Orca for the past 10 years Had a brief stint in California and outside of Pasadena in a place called Monrovia And I'm happy to be here You want to hand it off? I Got Dave next on Mike's screen. All right Chad I'm Retired from everything. I was the director of the Moyle family center in Morrisville I was the associate pastor at the old meeting house up here and So I've retired from those jobs and and my my biggest role in life seems to be being a Post retirement work that's similar to what I did while I was still being paid giving people rides to places and Standing out in front of the post office with signs against war and other things and so I'm kind of useless this point Sack of retirement Well, that's pretty useful And Dave you can do the handoff Sue let's go with you Okay I'm Sue Batman. I live in middle sex. I've been a Orca board Member for a few years I'm also a camera operator and some time video editor at at Orca I Have done some documentary film making over the last 20 years Before that I worked with the bread and puppet theater on and off for many years Up in Glover, but in also in New York City and at Goddard in Plainfield Let's see How about Carlos Well, I'm Carlos Diaz Chad and we've met before So Carlos Diaz I used to be a cinematographer I work for Camilla as a production coordinator But before that, you know since the 90s. I've been a cinematographer and now I teach film making Where are you doing that Carlos? Oh? I'm teaching it. I'm at CBCC, which is Barry. It's a technical center in Barry. I've been teaching there for a while before that I was at Randolph teaching film making also Great last but not least is Rachel Hi, I'm Rachel Feldman. I've been on the Orca board for I Rob you fill in the amount of time Seven or eight years. Yeah, something like that Um, so I work for the Department of Corrections. I'm the principal assistant to the commissioner and the public information officer I've spent a bunch of time in Vermont politics and I Just really love this board and that's why I can't leave I've been on a hiatus because I've been teaching at Champlain, so it's really good to see everybody again And it's really nice to meet you It's sweet all of you So I'll just queue up chat Chad is here. I started with a conversation with Christopher our new community engagement engagement manager They mentioned to him that we do have enough to positions that are available for the board So in his community engagement, he met anybody that he thought might be appropriate for the board You could speak to them about the possibility and he thought of Chad and Chad Immediately reached out to me and said he was interested and so Chad if you'd like to introduce yourself Or um, I Had we I moved to Vermont in 2018 Before that was in Boston. I've been Working in some facet of television production since 2001 so 20 years I've been for the last 10 years Documentary films for national broadcasts on a lot of PBS and Film festival that sort of stuff independent documentaries So that was a lead film editor for the series frontline on PBS for four years before moving here so a lot of this a decent amount of television But we moved here to Montpelier and My wife and I run a production company here and I still edit films for people all over the country and also we film things for different clients around Vermont and wherever else But moving here, I've gotten to actually get out of the edit room for the first time in like 10 years Which is great the use of camera again and We've started just recently a It's incorporated but the process of becoming a nonprofit is the ball is rolling on that a group for Networking for the film industry in Vermont statewide group called the Vermont production collective in an effort to create a space for people to network and collaborate and Phase two will then be to plug in learning opportunities for people who are either switching to the field or just graduate and Connecting them with some smaller budget projects with the opportunity to do work and get Do real work and get real feedback and and be Hopefully a mentor connected with each thing so that you can get guidance But I could go on about to have entire zoom conversations about that so I don't want to go down that hole, but So I That that's I think a rough sense of what I do and through doing with the work with the production collective I was talking with Chris and We were getting all fired up about different things and How work it could be involved in a role in helping create education opportunities for people in the community and all of that sort of stuff and And so he was like hey you should join the Orca board. We have two spots open and I was like, hey, all right I live a block away it's convenient for Proximity and obviously I have a little bit of knowledge in this area Great. Thanks for Visiting us virtually chat. It sounds like you wouldn't have much trouble to get there live either But it looks like we're back to a hundred percent virtual meeting. It's been a while. It's been quite a year Chad it's if you want to stick around and get a flavor for what a board meetings like You certainly are welcome Or you can do the audio sign off Sianara. It's your call at this point I'll probably stick around, but I may have to jump because I have a Young kid who who needs to be wrangled into bed at some point here totally understood It does look like you'll you'll be here for one of the more exciting portions of the evening, which is approval of the minutes October 19 20 21 It's the second item in your board packet if we could all just take a minute. Thanks so much to Carlos For putting this together Representing the decisions we made in the fall. I would say can we go quiet for a couple three and just Scan this for accuracy and Grammar and typos in the works I guess Everyone should have their board packet if you search for Rob in your email. It should be one of the top ones and it's It's a little off kilter my pages are a little off, but it's definitely the second item It's kind of starting on the bottom of the first page October 19 2021. All right, I'm going quiet I've I've hit the bottom of that page and I Can't see anything to fix. I got an ad for thyroid eye disease Okay, you can ignore it. That's all I have is Thyroid eye disease. You're not seeing your packet Dave I don't see any packet at all. I went over to the sidebar to see with something over there And that's how I got the important information and updates about thyroid eye disease Let me see if I can mail it to you right now. Let's see And or you could you could trust your fellow board members to have And this like Eagles I just want to get rid of the eye woman She's staring at me and and I I don't know if I push the X if I'll lose you all but I'm gonna try to X her out. Oh Good. She went away. Yeah, you can always come back if there's a problem Other you can say some people always could come back. They've always can find a way not to get back Dave you've been you've been holding for a solid what 10 minutes here Is anyone see any amendments to the minutes from October 19th? Just a clarifying question since I wasn't at the meeting. I feel like I should abstain from the vote Fair enough Just so you know, Rachel, I have research that you can abstain if you feel like it, but you don't have to oh All right. Well, then I won't abstain, but I do have one thing I'd like to edit because I'm OCD about copy edits like that under section five financial reports. We are doing well not we are doing good. All right There's a Amendment and yes, you even though you weren't there you're welcome to note those Might be a continuity or what whatever it might be. Well, I think actually we do good Orca does good. Well, we do good and we do it well My job any other cleanups here or I could entertain a motion to approve The minutes of October 19th, I'm gonna move to prove approve No second. I heard Carlos move to approve the minutes and sue second Is that correct? Yep. Yeah, I got a little weird lag on the video there for a sec Barring further discussion dot dot dot I Will call the question all those in favor of approving the minutes of October 19th, please indicate by saying I And opposed would be a nay And it sounds like we have a unanimous approval of these minutes October 19th, we are now moving on to the financial reports usually Headed up by our treasurer Mike D. Mike Doyle and Robert our do is are we worried about Mike health concerns or you just couldn't make it Just the holiday season. He's fine. Okay. Good. Good to hear I know Dave I did Re-email the packet it to the to the prof Stanton at AOL email Okay, so if you want to check it, it should be right at the top of the inbox Okay, I'll I'll wait till she props that and that get gets home All right Can you can you post Rob? Can you post those numbers on the chat? Thank you get those for you. So it looks like you're gonna be our you know our leadoff cleanup. Yep nine hitter tonight Take message here. Hey, how? account is that 2049 and 14 cents Checking is at 14,535 and 75 cents the savings we have 208,695 and 91 cents and In the youth lab Account, we are currently at $12347 and 85 cents, so they should all be in the chat for you Carlos and Thank you. Yep All right So financial report that there is a I have a virtually here The profit and loss for budget versus comparison for the year is within your board packet Not seeing anything that I feel is particularly disturbing. In fact, I think we're in good shape and I'd say quite a lot of money Excuse me I'm looking at the budget. I know and I know we're probably gonna move into the budget discussion fairly quickly here But I've been looking at a deficit budget pulling for some of the reserve So I will note that I was trying to figure out, you know, there was a time and thinking 2018 Where we got really thin on cash as we ended the quarter before the checks come from Comcast and I think at one point we even didn't have to pull $10,000 to cover expenses for the end of that time, but since we've cut some costs and Moved up here as well as reducing our staff level. We are looking at, you know, typically Before when we get the check we have over 100,000 and up to 150,000 left in the in the account When we get to that point. So we're very comfortable And when we get to the budget discussion, I think that, you know, I feel that we could even go Year or year maybe before we even get into the reserves based on just the cash that we have in the savings account so The other thing that I did want to note on your agenda, we did have set up a presentation from our new Ed Jones representative Mark I forget it's last name, but I've been working meeting with him regularly to talk about the the package And the portfolio He did want an opportunity to talk to you guys, but he's gonna be here He said let's move into the February since he can't it was a tough time for him He's moving his family. He does live here locally, but they were in the middle of moving to a new place and so he Asked if it would be okay if he Comes to visit the board in the at the February. So that mark will not be here tonight Yeah, I don't think that there's anything in particular I wanted to point out and you know, like I said If you look at it, you know the the side that you know, I kind of look at it at the right is whether or not We're at, you know, we're almost finished with the year So these numbers should be approaching a hundred percent There are a couple places where it is one of the more significant ones is in the unemployment taxes And I believe that's because we were paying out unemployment and there's a mechanism For unemployment where you can choose to pay into it regularly or you can use to pay out When people actually go on unemployment and since we did have people go on unemployment And we hadn't really had that before we were not paying regularly into unemployment We were just doing it as needed basis and it did come up that it was needed in 2021 for people who We're not getting the that is basically the part-time camera operators Who we're going on unemployment because they were not getting any more shifts or Geeks to go out to you because we're because of the virtual meetings. So that's why The best follow-along document for us to be looking at right now is budgets versus actual 2021. Yep with the 2022 budget proposed and the far margin No, I'm sorry. The best one is in your packet budgets versus actual Okay, right past my Directors report Yeah, so my version got all squished and non-formatted really You want me to try to send another one to you. No, I mean, I think the numbers should be the same as on the Yeah, there may be some variations based on when I actually got Ran the report, but there should the variance should be very should be insignificant Right. So what you hope to be doing now is directing us to the year-in-review and then moving us into the proposed Yes, that's correct. And if you're questions on the budget versus actual we can go to the budget proposal Can I ask a sidebar question sort of for Mike Doyle? Yeah, which is is there a limit on How much money we can show in the profit category without risking losses of a 401c3 status? Is there no? Okay Since we're not in profit, I just wondered whether there was a place where we start looking like we aren't Not as far as the IRS is concerned the state of Vermont and maybe Comcast would be the places we want to we're worried about and as I think I've I mentioned in the past the state of Vermont feels that an appropriate reserve which is funds that are not earmarked for particular project or You know, if you're raising money for it to move that would not be kept considered a cash reserve or a reserve fund But that an appropriate reserve fund is in the vicinity of a half a year's operating. Thank you You know places like Blue Cross Blue Shield or nonprofits They they can make money. I Have to laugh good one. Yeah Point made So Rob, we're showing a budget for 2021 that is at 115% is that with the other doc shows I'm sorry. Can you tell I Don't I'm not understanding the question When I'm the document I'm looking at says actual budget and over budget $62,000 which is a hundred and fifteen percent of budgeted, correct? Yeah So, yeah, so there's a little bit more in there and that has to do with the capital gains Which were typically not included in the budget that twenty nine thousand oh sixty two So I had the the account and go through and do what we made on the Ed Jones account in the year So we have typically not included that in the budget So that's money that typically comes in it doesn't get put into the budget Which is a change for this year because I've actually put that money into the budget That we would be able to expect to spend thirty thousand dollars on that reserve fund increase the Profit that we get on that reserve fund That makes sense I think you may have lost me but okay, maybe someone understands so on the budget side You'll see what we budgeted for and then we made extra money in if other areas So we didn't budget for the youth documentary lab But we brought money in Christopher brought money in for that So that's another thirteen thousand dollars on top of what we've budgeted for income and then the capital gains It's also not in the budget. So we didn't have any money for budgeted for the two hundred seventy dollars for donation but because of those extra money that came in and the Including the left the 1800 at the bottom, which is the COVID relief fund we got at the beginning of the year This is all extra money that we got that we did not budget for So, you know, I have never included the money that we make on the reserve fund in the budget So that's why you're seeing those numbers say that we've made significantly more. So we did make 15% more than we actually had budgeted for Got it. I think I'm all right. Okay. Everyone feel comfortable with what Rob just walked us through You want me to go a little bit into the budget and what I when I was planning or thinking about with those numbers um Yeah, I mean Places you want to highlight under expenses as well as that we do our year in review Yeah, so on the income side, as I said, there's thirty thousand dollars included in that income That I've not included in the past because it's it's the reserve fund profit that you make, you know, depending on the market So we made twenty nine thousand. So in this twenty twenty two budget I did include thirty thousand dollars that we could use from that reserve fund as part of our operating And so we come up with four hundred seventy five thousand dollar operating budget including that extra money and then this is all to sort of Address some Compensation for staff, you know, there's been some talk at some of you know about staff compensation It's not a lot. Is there a way to increase it? So I'm looking for ways to do that And so there's a significant increase in the compensation Which is category five zero one zero we had budgeted two hundred sixteen thousand dollars We didn't come we only spent about eighty thousand. We'll probably be at around 80 a little higher than 80% Which means that we know we saved and it's a significant number so percentages on this particular category can be a lot of money We didn't spend You know, probably 40,000 a little bit more that will under budget And then I added on top of that a significant amount This is all enlarged to add a fourth full-time person which we've done with Christopher and then some of the things that fall below that have to be increased to which is the FICA the unemployment taxes all these things are sort of tied to the benefits package that comes with the staff and Even with that I still put us in with a a thirty thousand dollar deficit So we can expect if we made thirty thousand dollars on our reserve fund last year We can expect somewhere in that vicinity for next year as well as to draw down some of that So at the bottom of the budget it may say negative thirty thousand dollar deficit on the on the budget But it really is more of a sixty thousand dollar Deficit because we've never typically drawn from the reserve funds. We've just let that sit and get bigger and bigger That makes sense Okay. Yeah, so those are the primary You know the rest of the numbers are generally based on the actuals from the prior year I just take you know how close we were on something and then sort of Match those numbers I did increase a little bit on outreach and advertising This would be to help in some of the community engagement outreach stuff that Christopher is planning So we you know, let's spend some advertising. Let's get that, you know, our name out there a little bit more So there's an increase in that budget as well But in general I I would say to even though this is a deficit budget The idea is that you know after a few years Christopher will be able to be bringing in some funds You know with some development and some fundraising So I think I'm comfortable with saying that this could go for a couple of years With the deficit and not adversely impact Reserve funds, you know, when we get to around two hundred thousand dollars on our reserve funds And that's when we start thinking, all right, we've got to we've got to stop that But I think you know, we've been very comfortable Comfortably saving money for a few years now that we have some reserve funds that we could draw down from Rob, how'd you come up with that number of seven thousand on the 6100 line used for a documentary lab Given that it was 13 this year So, I mean the 13 came from funds from the grant So I didn't think that we could count on that. So I was like, all right, let's say, you know 7000 That we can pull from if additional money is raised and we can bring that up So what that would be what I feel comfortable from Orca's contribution It's just saying that or cuz, you know, we'll put seven thousand dollars in of our own money But additional on top of that would be money that is brought in through the program So you're you're talking a bit like it it remains a separate entity even though the person that ran it is now on staff. So Just a particular line item saying, you know, you know, when we first envisioned last year I said, you know, I I can't expect the budget to be about five grand and I think that, you know Up a little bit seven grand is Orca's contribution But if you go out and get a grant above on top of that then we can certainly expand or at least get to a level that we had in the prior year That's the hope is that, you know, this this is there's money in youth programming So Christopher would go out and get and say, you know, I've got I've got seven grand that that raw budgeted and now I've gone out and raised an additional 10 grand. So then we're at at 17 But I haven't put that in and what did I put it for bringing in? Youth documentary lab, you know, $5,000 Want to be conservative. It's a new program I don't want to say that we're you know, we're there but It was pretty successful and we may get to adjust those numbers as we see additional grants might come in so And and now that Chris is on staff his salary doesn't become a separate expense Um, other things catching people's eyes or questions for rob concerning the budget either 2021 or proposed Um, I well, I think we're gonna with with the director's report. We're gonna talk a little bit about um We're gonna bring the budget up for the employees there, right? So Do they understand where that's coming from versus? I mean this year last year in terms of that extra money that came in from um From the federal government, it's not gonna happen again or might not happen again for a while. So um I think to be clear of where the money the money's coming from and how it's tagged. I think everybody should be clear on that That's just my Thanks Carlos Rob, do you hope to have a full robust budget conversation now or are there pieces in the executive director's report that? I had it on it as an agenda item for now Okay, great And I think that you know, so the question I have for the board is are they comfortable with this with this deficit budget as I presented Uh, or if there are adjustments, they think it's a little bit too much that you know, we're really looking at you know, augmenting our you know our budget with 60 000 dollars worth of uh Reserve funds and cash that we have So you're proposing a budget of uh, half a million dollars Yeah, 505 505 and the big jumps are compensation With a bit of an increase in outreach and advertising Yeah, and compensation pulls up all those other line items like health insurance and unemployment, right? Yep So 2021 looked like uh A 62 000 dollars Revenue more than expected, correct Yeah And that gives us the comfort level with the Also pulling from reserves, you know, I don't want to to take away from that There is there is an expectation that we will go into our reserves And but as I said, I think we can cover it with just our cash before we actually get to the at jones account That might be a 2023 But the at jones account is doing very well But who knows To market thing Is there a projection? Um, have you talked about with um with the stuff about projections in terms of advertisement and The possibility of generating of bringing income in terms of grant and other in other areas I I lost the first part of that Carlos. Can you say it again? You know, it Is there a projection with chris? Have you talked to him? All right, we're going to invest this much What are, you know Ideally, um At minimum, what do you expect to get back? From his his fundraising Work. Yes. Yeah, I think that that as Michael pointed out this the 7 000 to this, you know, would be I'm looking at the 7 to 10 range for the program for the youth program But that's money that we've I'm a little wary of it because it was it was fairly easy picking for the year with the after school program But you know, I do have some confidence in Christopher skills And I think that there is money for youth programming and I will add that there is Work on behalf of access centers across the state with the remand access network Where they are preparing to go to the legislature for an ask And I've been working on with the van advocacy group And they are working to ask for a budget adjustment For $300,000 to be dispersed among the access centers across the state In 2022 budget and then in the 2023 fiscal year a $600,000 budget So advanced working on on bringing additional funding from the legislature as well I think that work as well positioned because We do a lot of statewide programming for the state. Uh, in fact, I was uh tasked with talking Representative Mary Hooper on the appropriations committee Kind of like spent 20 minutes with her About the ask and and whether I mean she chairs the house appropriations committee She was very knowledgeable about what we do and at the end of our conversation brought up the orcas presence in the state house and Said that she assumed that we were getting paid to do that and I had to inform her that that's not the case We have no contract state house. We are doing it out of our own budget. So She was surprised to hear that. So I think there's some real opportunity to provide services from the state house from from for van and So I there's uh work, I guess I'm saying that there's There's there's potential for additional and coming coming in from from this legislator if there is appropriation Yeah, and there's a lot of education work Here with this I think in terms of, you know, how we interface with government. Yep And uh, Christopher is working, you know, he's right now working with potcham school, which is next door to us Uh, and we did get a get to an agreement of some shared, uh costs So they will be paying us and some of the schools So he's being very conscious of the fact that when he goes out to these schools or other youth organizations Um to ask for money so Yeah, the last thing I'm going to ask is and I don't know if it belongs here, but um, do you foresee any major expenditure in terms of gear like something that costs a lot just Breaking down or upgrading that's going to cost a lot I I don't have anything that that I foresee happening with that. Um The question of the player's play out server is there You know, we, um Have been we pay quite a bit of money a year to the tune of like $7,000 for maintenance and support with tellview which is the vendor that manufacturers the server they Came back to us for the first time and said, you know, it might be time to upgrade your server rob Of course, they're he's a salesman and I'm like going I think we're working just fine And you know, we just paid off that last one. I don't want to go in for another You know $60,000 purchase at this point So I I don't know that that there's any problems. I'm not aware of any problems with the server. It seems to be functioning well, uh, you know, I think jinn has some Concerns with the sluggishness, but I think that's an application problem In her work when she tries to update her schedule on it can take up to 30 seconds for it to refresh So but I don't think that's a hardware problem. I think that's just a an application problem. So So I guess the answer Carlos is no, I don't expect any large purchases at this point I'm not 20 on 2022 and then um, just nailing down some of our Revenue um that 365 That's four quarterly checks in the low 90s. Is that 40 10 very first number. Yep That's four quarterly checks Yeah, and they're and they're where are they where are they lately high 90s mid 90s low 90s? um Below 100 right they've dropped So I don't let me just do a quick calculation because the check usually comes in and combining the capital and the operating revenue So yeah, and the capital was my next question as well that's 66. How how nailed down is that or is that destination Uh, so plus so I think the check is generally around 110 if you include the operating and the capital Uh-huh. So yeah, but you're right. I mean if you divide the 364 by four payments, it's going to be It's about just just high uh, just upwards of $90,000 So you're actually saying it makes sense to add the the two line items. Yeah, and then see what a quarterly check ought to look like Yes, exactly Okay, so the check comes as one as the combination of the two things And then I I break it out when I do it into the county. I'll say, you know, how much of that was operating and how much that is capital Yeah, so I just got 107,000. Yeah, that's Uh, our we've flatlined and we trended up. We've trended down. Where are we now? I would characterize it as flatline, you know, it's pretty steady flatline, you know, so we're we're seeing Little variances, but not not significant Uh, and that's you know, I think In some of the numbers that van has been preparing I think we were like one of the closest to to zero. I mean, there are some Centers that are going up and there are about nine that are going down. So There's statewide monitoring going on Of jen because we're you know, and just ask the state house They want to data to back it up. And so we're trying to present this idea that Uh, revenue from cables going down and then when we added came up with the number We also contemplated, you know cost of living increases are at 3 and cost of running what we do Particularly in the last two years where we've had to adapt our working template to include hybrid meetings That there are additional costs associated with it So we contemplated three percent increase on a year basis and a two two percent decline in cable revenue for the next I think we went five years out This is the data that we're showing to legislators as we look at, you know You know, this is this is the future and we you know, uh, just to explain a little bit the van, uh Ask is for this sort of bridge Uh for three years So each year we we've come up with the number but that that gives us the opportunity to adjust policy To try to look at the sustainability past that three years So it's like, you know for three years we're asking for bridge capping until we can get to an idea how we can find other revenue That would support the work that we do You know what that might be whether that's a tax on streaming services or a poll tax We don't know how that's going to look and it's going to take some time to figure that out so the ethics now is you know Came about from uh discussions with the department of public service Where they looked at the report that I gave you guys that probably a year and a half ago that was prepared by peter blum uh looking at different ways and and the difficulties with it And the department was like all of it sounds illegal to us. Just go to legislature and ask so, uh That's what we're doing Bob. Yeah, Dave does um Does then do the other van organizations have someone doing similar jobs to what chris is doing? Yes, as a matter of fact, they do in fact, you know, I looked at what the media factor bronyton has a community engagement manager Uh by the name of jinn Ferrara, so she you know, I I asked for her job description when I was looking at the position Uh, and I'm not aware of anybody else in romances, but there are some in massachusetts as well That have that exact title But there are certainly people that are that are you know looking at, you know Doing similar duties Thank you Um, other questions or comments. Yes, who's up? Um, yeah, there are a couple things One is what's the difference between outreach and advertising? So advertising would actually be um print ads uh advertising would be social media outreach is more, uh, you know, we I think I put all of the uh Costs for the program interactive programming guide and outreach outreach is just uh Things that I don't classify as sort of specifically towards advertising would be like, you know, if we had um an event that was designed to get people into the space or something like that that might go into outreach Okay, and um for capital expenses and Vydl equipment could you explain what those things are? Uh under expenses. Yep. So vydl is from my youth documentary lab. Oh, okay But that's the the youth programming that we did. Yep And capital expenses equipment bought for the for the So uh for vydl or a general susan. No just for uh, just the capital expenses not for vydl Uh capital expenses is equipment. Yep. Okay, and we actually include rent in in our capital expenditures. So we you know, Uh, 70 70 c is rent So Which these are funds that are sort of limited that come from the cable company And it's supposed to be spent on equipment and we did have a large discussion with them in our contract negotiations 10 years ago About whether or not rent can be included in the capital budget. Uh in general accounting practices Uh capital would generally be fixed assets. So that's not even like maintenance or uh tech supplies But there is no For us with limitations as regard until capital expenses other than what Comcast or the state might say So, you know, we argued that you know, if you're paying for a support or maintenance agreement on pieces of equipment That would be in support of that capital fixed asset Uh, so there's not a direct correlation between uh fixed assets and capital that Might generally be done in a general accounting practices um But so we have a little bit of leeway in what we classify as the capital expense But it generally is in support of um the equipment and the argument was About the rent was, you know people who actually purchase uh facilities, you know like a building They can capitalize that money. But people who rent they were saying you can't because it's not actually purchasing anything. Um, but We argued for a couple years about the fact that you know, the rent that we're paying houses equipment So, uh, they finally gave up and said fine. You can you can call it You can call the rent capital if that's that that's what you want to do So thanks because the the discussion about advertising and outreach It seems to me that a lot of times what happens in the community depends upon how you label what it is that you're doing and providing So if there's been a deficit in the afterschool programs We might be able to spin chris's job into filling that gap Here in the montpellier area Namely that a lot of it has to happen after school and and therefore becomes de facto part of an afterschool opportunity I just I was just wondering whether We could think sometimes about when some services are lost. What part of those can be replaced or still undergirded by orca Okay, yeah I don't know that I have any I mean, I was just it was just I was responding to the question of what it's outreach and what is advertising. Thank you And I think they're both the same thing in a lot of ways very similar for sure But I you know and they could probably be confined into one category But you know when as I'm as I'm allocating expenditures to a particular item That's sort of the delineation that I made was advertising would be We paid for an ad so that seems to be very clear Um, I think one one is services and the other one is not right. Yep Thanks, carlos Just I'm picking up on another uh area sue underlined Robin your 2022 budget You just drop a 68 grand down on capital expenses um Without line iteming iteming rent versus maintenance versus tech versus i'm just wondering how you came up with that 68,000 Which is up pretty Up from 55. Is that right? Yeah, so um Generally what I do is just pull the number down from the capital revenue we get from cable Which I see that I you know if you go up to the top capital revenue I budgeted 66,000 And then some I got to 68 down there. So I may have been looking for um If we're going to go the deficit, you know, maybe we could boost up the capital a little bit So the revenue and it's only $2,000. It's not going to be a lot But it's uh, that's generally where I pulled the number from and you know, I uh I yeah, I haven't typically pulled it out into the different subsections of capital expenditures I think the one place that we I probably could do that, which is a pretty thick number is the rent Um, but as you you're correct. I did not do that. So So if if we just see this through that 62,000 from 2021 Was just an expected amount of capital money you'll have to play with Yep, right max is directly to the the income side the 40410c capital And it shook out to be 55 for last year Uh, actually me Yes 656 Where am I not seeing that you're at the top of the oh you're talking about the expenditures. Yes. Oh, yeah And that's not done. We're we're actually you know, um We're doing our lat end of year. Okay, so that'll probably come in pretty close Yeah, so I you know, typically in the year I say tell my staff This is how much we have left over in the capital budget What would do we want to spend the last things on that we get to that? So I tried it to zero out the capital got it All right All right, so I think you know in all my years. This is the first sort of deficit budget presented And there are these you know, there's there's all these kind of reasons and uh Why it does not look like it's a nail biter, but um Uh I guess I'll just you know, I don't know if it's an elephant in the room or not, but do people How are people's comfort level with uh You know any deficit hawks out there All right, it's quiet. Rob. You might get away with this Are you looking for an actual approval of the budget this evening? All right, so the I thought so and that's why I wanted to just say hey guys Yeah, and I'll say that I've typically been the deficit budget. I've you know, I've been very conservative in my budgets so it's a little I won't say it's outside my comfort zone, but it's it's challenge, you know for me to say, all right We're actually in a position where I feel comfortable doing this which is which is unique for me or different for me You know, I tend to like to see Our numbers come in that will you know, we made more money than we spent and so that you know, that we're not scrambling for cash Um, but I think I'm I'm looking at these numbers. I'm very comfortable with where we're at And and a lot of it has to do with the past few years and how well we've been Saving money so Mike Doyle hasn't objected either right not at all Oh, that's a really good point. He's seen these he's seen this proposal Yeah, he's his suggestion was that we just draw from the reserve fund $2,000 a month And so, you know, he's looking at mechanisms to have to have to do it so he doesn't have a problem with it And I think he's he expressed that in one of the board meetings prior. I think maybe October 1 And in many ways you're presenting out of a worst-case scenario in terms of Some of the you know, that's 68 We may not we may have some play there um I think So Mike I what I think is I think one of the questions We should be asking is what One of the questions we should be asking is why does Why do you rob feel comfortable with this number now when you haven't before? I think that's an important question to answer And and in in relation to where we're at right now in terms of um Of the two-year pandemic, you know and and and economy, right? Yeah, so, uh, you know, I I'd answer that, you know, I I as I said have typically liked to be conservative in my projections. Um, and Would normally budget based on Numbers that I saw the prior year. So if I saw a certain amount come in from the cable money Um, that's the number I would use and then typically we'd see two or three percent on top of that that's not the case now But through that work in the past years, we've been able to put some money aside. So I think that um We're um Well positioned to be able to to tolerate a deficit budget You know, I I don't think that I would Want to get into the habit of doing it, but I think that you know at this point I'm really comfortable with it And I think that there is some value to trying to figure out We have a little bit of money in the reserve. What's the best way to do it? I think, you know, getting somebody who's going to be bringing in money for us through some um So through some development is a good place to do it and that community engagement manager position is really Where we're going to be doing so that as well as getting out the community and getting our name out there. So And I will say that my understanding from I agree. I agree with you Thanks, Carlos. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Rachel. Rachel, you got it um My understanding from mike as well as the way that we've been managing the accounts is that this is exactly the reason that we've been So conservative in our spending and in our saving Not to belabor the term but for rainy day Anticipating the thing that can't be expected ie covet. So We've really made a concerted effort to build our reserves But not just to have that money to sit on but in anticipation of the unknown happening I just don't think we expected it to happen so soon But that being said, I feel really comfortable where we are financially that we can do this. So My two cents right on I guess kind of intended Thank you. Um I mean we could entertain a motion to accept the 2022 proposed budget or we could keep chatting. Um, I think I think uh, Carlos put it quite well that There are there are some moving parts here that make you Kind of back in your comfort zone. I don't know Rob. Could you kind of I don't mind like what are the things within this budget that make To say hey, this is I'm not I'm not worried. I'm actually not worried because x y and z So Mike, uh, can I can interject? I agree with Rachel. Absolutely. I I agree with you Rachel At the same time I I will so I mean, I think we should not I don't expect tonight for Rob to answer the question right now in the next five minutes and say, okay We're ready to do this I think what would be prudent and great is that if um chris if they could sit down and kind of um Create a document and what what's gonna happen with this with this budget? Where are we going with this because it's it's a movement forward in a different direction? And I would like to see that crystallize on paper also I guess that makes sense. Yeah, well, I I mean, I think if if if there is the building of um Sort of an an outreach fundraising model with the goal of us not Having to look at a deficit budget for next year. I mean that would kind of like I mean this is sort of Uh, this isn't the new normal in terms of expect To go into reserves every year is is is is safe to say I I would say that I I had two years in mind to okay All right, so so carlos is sort of request for the there be the building of a uh Model isn't the right word Proposal isn't the right word Strategic plan is the right word someone help those two years are going to be uh Used in some fashion to expand our uh footprint budget planning projection Sure, love it. I love it. There we go. You know, I I think that I think there's an opportunity and maybe it's overdue for us to really give some ideas to strategic planning uh, and I think there's um some um Some talk with amongst staff about that there would be a benefit to that. Um But I think that that's a process that takes a while So I you know, I think that what I would counsel is that we Move forward with this budget with the idea that we're going to spend some time in 2022 Uh working a strategic long-term planning, you know, uh with the staff and with the board And get to a a point You know, that's why I I really was looking at the two years because you know I think that we have about 100,000 to 120,000 are to play with so the the 60,000 is for this first year uh, and then We could spend some time in 2022 Really trying to nail down strategic planning development fundraising goals uh, so that's You know, I I guess I'm aware of the fact that we are a few days away from 2022. So Um, yeah in terms of strategic planning, I'd hope to be able to discuss the idea of um I'm figuring out some fundraising that would be specifically targeted to increasing staff Wages Absolutely, and so we I mean those conversations have already begun with Christopher. Uh, he's looking at What other stations are doing for year-end raising, you know asks, um, you know, we and we've He's looking at some of the training that that can be done with the grantsmanship center Some of the programs that are available Uh, and some of the knowledge that I've you know, I've acquired over the years with regard to that. So Uh, Dave, I think you had your hand up. Sorry We we've talked before about having a board group just do strategic planning We never quite got to being able to do it Because while we have these talks I my mind immediately goes to strategic planning I was looking at Rachel's Description and for work and I was saying oh what would happen if we use that connection with corrections with connections with corrections To think about possibly running some of Christopher's trainings for people that need to be re-entering the community from corrections That's a strategic planning thing that would also possibly free up some funds to support that Anyway, I'd like to see us go with strategic planning sometimes potential directions Is it possible Michael? Michael to um I mean, it's it's kind of hard to vote on this like this as is right now Is it possible to have at least at some point? Maybe In the next week or so have at least a timeline of Okay, this planning by this by this step We're going to hit this milestone So there's an accountability and there's a process that we're following so that by the end of I don't know By summer we have this If that makes sense you mean to stipulate in the approval of this budget a A timeline for um Building a strategic plan that Well, yeah, at least part of it a place where we aren't doing multiple years of Desk deficit budgeting is that? Correct. Yeah All right, that that's that I mean That could become a motion. I would imagine I imagine rob is hoping for a clean A clean vote, but uh a stipulation like that may be the uh Maybe the way in um If I accurately represent it what you were saying carlos Yeah, absolutely. I I think you hit the nail on the head Yeah, and this is just it's it's it's curious that the number 60 000 because that's how much the server was and that's how much we took a loan out for And a server is like this physical thing that you can see and touch and know what it's doing This is you know strategic planning is much more like in the ether, you know, where's the thing? So That is just a Just a curiosity that it happens to be 60 grand And that reminds me michael, uh when I was talking with market at jones About the loan that we did against to ourselves for the server And how I was pretty wary of that But it proved that mike doya was correct in that, you know, uh while we were paying back a loan at uh to ourselves at an interest of That we were bringing six percent the market did better than interest rate, right? And I asked him If that's something we could do for this deficit budget as well And he's just no reason you couldn't If that's what the board decided they wanted to do So that's that remains an option too. What like I said, I don't think that we will I can imagine that we will not be getting into the at jones in 2022 I think that we can do it with what's in the cash in the in the in the savings account with what we have on hand And I you know, I You know add that I think that what carlos is bringing up is important this long term strategic planning I you know, I don't think there's a difference between what i'm asking. I just do Think that we know At some point we've got to say we're working on a budget it doesn't have to be tonight And if there's additional information the board wants to see I do Think that you know, uh this budget is is very workable and and um You know, I would encourage you to go ahead and Improve it tonight, but if there's additional stipulations that are necessary. I'm certainly happy to do that as well So that I mean that could lead to more questions for rob or it could lead to a motion if anyone's feeling Um, it's it's time to call the question with or without stipulations Uh and and right rob is right. We could stand pat. We could just say hey rob more info, please punt um so I am not a member of the chair. So someone's gonna. I'm sorry. I'm gonna jump in here. I'm gonna jump in here for a second I you know Although I agree with rob and many things and I do agree with him. I'm confident. It's just I think it's for me It's a placeholder. It's just a a structure to You know to see a timeline is a structure of you know, okay, so these are things we're working towards Right. It's a physical thing that's out there. We make it concrete And and I don't know if that probably helps that helps everybody in the long run. I think you know Yeah, all right. Thank you carlos And I don't know if that's potentially a motion We do have a proposed budget in front of us Um, we may not have exhausted questions But if we have I hope you guys don't mind if I take bites of pizza There's probably plenty there, huh? You ordered for eight My pizza, huh? I could stop by Where's that on the budget? Pizza budget and they put the pizza line item in there. Yeah Chad you've stuck under your baby. Don't you Chad? You're hanging in and seeing the best and the worst of us On on that note, I did just hear him. I do have to get him to bed. So Thank you guys for having me along for the ride. Yeah, you know what you're getting into Thank you Thanks Is there actually is there actually a motion? No, I've been I've been fishing for one is what I've been doing And there's the potential for just a clean approval approval with stipulations Or rob we we have questions and go back and do something and come back with something Those seem to be the three options How about I have punt where you we approve it? Is as long as we've heard from the people that haven't seen it or heard it and talked about it yet like cj In other words, we solicit inputs for the people that couldn't be here tonight And unless there's something that they bring up that means that we need to Provisional approval. Yeah, that's what I was If you if you want if you want to turn that into a motion, I I mean Well, it's it's me looking for a compromise I'd like to say yes to everything that rob's done and what were The water that we're skating on that mike doils not here to defend but backs up rob And carl this is point seem to be really smart, but I I can't imagine cj not having also some other input on this So I the the idea of accepting it totally without any qualification of looking for votes votes from other silent board members Um that that's the only part part that I was looking for a slight compromise on I like that idea Provisional acceptance waiting on input from cj and mike doil um Sue was that a motion? I moved that we provisionally accept the budget, uh, yeah pending the by board members who aren't in attendance tonight Okay, I think I think we do have a clean motion. Thanks, sue um It's David It is is there a second to provisionally accept this budget? um Providing for the vetting of uh, thank you rachel The the vetting of this budget by board members who are in present. How's that that captured it? Yes And uh, so rachel, you know what you got yourself into you when you seconded that that sounded like Clearly um A clear motion not a hedge motion um Great, so we we've got um Sue moving and rachel seconding um All those in favor of a of a provisional acceptance of this budget Uh, please indicate by saying I I Okay, and opposed and Carlos your mic was off. I don't know if that's an abstain or you just your mic was off I think I'm gonna abstain right now. Okay. I think you know, I yeah, I'm I'm saying I think the motion. Yeah Got it. So I've got a A three count on approval no nays and one abstain um and logistically um I guess we're charging rob with an individual sit down with uh cj And my doile That gets us that gets us up to seven Okay Do we need do we need so in order for it to approve? Do we need everybody to be on board with this? Is that what we're saying right now? um, I mean it Like like any other motion majority rules, um, correct So it's approved. I mean basically well well the funny thing is is that with an abstention and to not present It's basically a tie right now um So so rob would need to twist an arm or two behind the scenes But but I I think I think rob especially, you know, especially our treasure. I think I think that's some of our some of the weariness right now is um Uh, yeah, my doile has sort of in the past Generally said yeah, we could do a deficit budgeted this way or that way um, and the padding's there, but if if you could sit down with him and cj And um happy to yeah See if see if there'd be two more eyes there or two more abstains there or what would what would be there? but yeah presently The quorum is is you know Three out of four ain't bad, but in terms of the full board It makes the provision even it makes the provisional acceptance make even more sense the fact that Um two aren't here one of them being our treasure So who audits our our our books? There is we don't do audits at this point. We've done financial reviews We're not required to having an audit. We are not you know, the only reason Would be if I mean we've had discussions in the past And there are levels a full audit can be quite expensive We have in the past done what's called a financial review Which is less expensive and less digging deep There have has been no need for outside Protocols or procedures needed for an audit You know oftentimes if a nonprofit is going to a foundation or something like that they would want to have an audit But it's really up to the board of directors at this point as to whether they're not they want to see If we pass muster. So it's been a few years. So, you know, it might be worth considering Looking at whether we want to do a full audit or a financial review I can certainly I think the last one probably was about five years ago That was from my past where I was the director of the parent child center and I wouldn't have dared to make some kind of a provisional budget without knowing that the auditors would understand So that's why I asked We used to do regular audits and it just turned out that they were, you know, just the numbers just rolled over. So It did not seem to be cost effective to have them as regularly as we were But if we as we divert, you know, potentially just diversify our funding, there may be a need to do that, you know Really, it's just that we are we are beholding to Comcast at this point But if more is coming in from different sources, we may want to yep And if we can go to foundations and ask for money, then, you know, there could be They'd want they might want to see reviews or audits. So okay great, um I think we're at a point where We could entertain a motion to accept the financial reports As most the heavy lifting was with the budget Yeah, I so move uh, sue sue moves to accept the financial reports and Is there a second I'll second Rachel is seconding. Thank you um all those in favor of Accepting our financial reports for the evening, uh, please indicate by saying hi Hi and a post and Carlos, uh, you're muted again. I don't know if you were an iron, uh, nair and abstain I I I All right, we have unanimous consent on the budget. Sorry on the financial reports. I watch my mom. Um Rob, you're up for executive directors reported change hats and be the same guy though. Yeah Um, I that was probably the biggest thing. So I'm looking at my report to say, you know, um I'm not sure that we have much more. Um staff reports are moving forward There is an opportunity now with this provisional acceptance of the budget to talk The staff about compensation. I think that it might be appropriate to maybe, uh Redo the personnel committee to talk about it How we would move forward of staff to you know, we're having conversations about it the, uh, you know the the, uh I don't know how much of this we can do an open meeting but We are anticipating that there will be at least a cost of living increase And then with this budget, uh, and actually it's quite large this year as a six percent But I think it's a it's a good practice to do to do So I've told staff that they can expect a six percent cost of living adjustment for their compensation We are getting in conversations about health benefits So, uh, you know, I can see that there might be some Opportunities at the beginning of the year to talk about to to get a vetting with the board the committee on the board About best way forward with some of those policies We are also spending a quite a bit of time On inventory we're trying to get the inventory finalized with the new stuff this year and get it into one place Website discussion that has been going on quite a bit. Uh, we are Looking at improving our websites You know, what do we like what do we don't like about it? The obvious thing that we don't like is, uh, the search capacity on it It's very difficult to search and find things. So there's uh Um and migrating to a platform called localize that we've we've signed on to which is a cooperative content management system for for live for video. So That's happening Christopher's going gangbusters and some of the after school stuff And Yeah, we're just trying to Tying up and getting ready for the legislative session So, uh, we're looking at and have been in contact with staff at the state house and with the governor's office as to What will it look like? The last thing I got from the governor's office was that the state of the state address Will be happening on january 5th. So that first straight week in january is lining up pretty quickly here or teeing up pretty quickly um And then I'd gotten touch with the sergeant at arms and the it guy at the state house About what they're planning on doing and they're getting back. We don't know legislative rules It's still trying to figure out if they will even come back in person. But um, the plan is right now that they are But they're giving it a real look Because of the omicron surge and stuff like that. So there There may be a real chance that they go entirely virtual virtual for the beginning of the session. So We're trying to be Nimble and on our feet and ready to deal with anything that might come to us Uh, and you know, as we know for many years of working in the state house Things can change pretty quickly and pretty fast. So, uh, you know, keeping our lines of communication open With the the key individual state house and the administration So that we we can be informed as quickly as possible so we can adjust any production That we might have to do Uh, and obviously the rest of the band community is very interested in the state house So they've been asking what's your plan? Are you going to be there? There's sort of those banner events at the beginning of the of the session And then there's sort of the general question of like what's happening in the committee rooms Um, I know there's been a lot of discussion as to whether or not They're going to do them in those tiny little rooms at the state house or move to other Um, uh, real estate that the state can participate different community committee rooms But the idea of everybody, you know, and prior to the pandemic everybody being Packed into those committee rooms Does not sound appealing. So I'm sure they're they're trying to figure out what to do about that And you know, the obvious question is is which media it will be allowed I mean, if you're going to limit the people that are in the committee rooms What does that mean for media as well? So, uh, hopefully we're well positioned So Rob, a question is Yeah, my question is if If it's going to be remote and still people are going to be at the state house Um, having some meetings with smaller groups Is or committee in a position and also advertising to To the state That we offer, um Assistance in terms of audio and video capability for that streaming. Is that something that we could do? So, you know, we do feel that we can do a better production than what they're doing If they just put the camera at the table, uh, you know In the difficulty is that the camera at a wide shot with nobody manning it People don't really know who's talking or anything like that. So if they're, uh If we identify things that we want to be at we think that we can do it better We don't want to get in a position where we can say we can do all of it We can't do every committee. We just don't have the resources to do that So, uh, we're trying to be careful about saying that we can we can come in and solve your problems for every committee room Because that's not what we did. We would try to identify key committees or or things that are in the news that we would We would want to get a camera operator at But if we do have an opportunity to get a camera operator, we do think that the production will be better. So Will there be a plan? Will there be a van meeting before the legislative session starts a van meeting Yeah, nothing Because it might be that the other van Uh operations would like to have some advice from us on what are the protocols now? Yeah, so I I mean certainly there are key individuals particularly with the uh Uh channel 17 or town meeting television in muck and brollington So they they have been reaching out to us asking what their plan can can they help? So there there's some communication happening there for sure. Good. Good Uh, yeah, so then uh, we've gone through finances. I talked about the the work that we've been doing with the ask and the advocacy You know, it's been a lot of uh developing relationships playing on relationships with uh, key legislators identifying key committees and that work continues pretty feverishly I will say that Lauren Glenn has been a juggernaut. She's out there almost every day Dialing up legislators trying to get them on board champions or at least they'll say that they'll support the ask You know, and I've been you know They've been trying to coordinate key people. So as they identify legislators who might be in a particular access centers region Then uh, they'll do it. So I'm enlisted for instance to talk to Uh, the senate finance which is shared by senator and Cummings Uh, so she's our senator from washington county And then of course mary hooper, which uh chairs the appropriations in the house. She's our representative here from Montpelier. So Uh, a lot of a lot of flurry of activities in the last few weeks as we get ready For the state house to open in the legislative session to open Rob is is that written in a way or I don't know how how written it is but is that nine hundred thousand dollars would that be distributed Based on size of access center or based on the the access centers that are Experiencing the most loss So that was actually a topic of discussion this morning at the fan board meeting Because we got the word from the advocacy team if we do get the money How is that then paid out? So the first thing we have to realize that if we get The three hundred thousand dollars from the fiscal year 2022 2021 20 22 it have to be uh expenditures that happen before july So that's one timeline that ticks if we get to the greater thousand and then The discussion sort of centered around the idea of Uh that exact question and I think there was some Some feeling that you know if we're all paying into this legislative work and then we're that we should all benefit from that but also There might be some way to say that the people who are really seeing that the money going down are the people that needed the smaller centers So we're looking at some sort of math formula that would help sort of get to that That incorporates both of ideas You would expect that the state would give van the Room to carve that up by itself or no you you it would be in the legislation It would be I think in legislation with some direction or something but you know counseling from van and say how do you How does van so I I'm not sure that it's a check to van other or you know The belief is that it would be similar to the covet relief funds where we kind of provide the numbers and then Although that was distributed. I think evenly across Everybody got a certain the same amount um, so this the new thing about this is you know Supporting the people who are real really seeing the numbers go down Uh, you know, and there's a variance that's across the state as I said I think we had nine access centers who were seeing the line go down. So Um, you know, I and I I guess I'm a little bit worried about some of these strategies I'm discussing here and that we're actually putting this online and for people to watch Uh, and uh, so I'm not sure That there's anything I said, but I guess I guess I'm really wary of of getting too too deep into the strategies Sure Well, there I mean there it's public knowledge that this 900,000 is being floated around of course somehow that if Pending approval, there's a lot of ifs there. Yeah, it would have to be distributed in a way that um, people felt was equitable So I I think we're Fully within our comfort. Oh, yeah, I think in general, you know that we're we're we're advocating we're working With legislators who are who understand the importance that we play in our in our in our communities Uh, we're getting a lot of good uh feedback from them But it's it's a learning process for us at band as well. So Okay, thank you Uh more on the executive directors report or uh entertain a motion to accept and move to which to accept I second so I think that was a three for one. Okay, so sue got it. Yeah, sue got the motion and carlos got the um Second to accept the executive directors report all in favor say I And oppose nay unanimous acceptance of the executive directors report. Thank you rob old business I've got one The uh the whole uh, we had a visitor with a presentation about a radio station rob and I I was With the licenses for microbe to come out in 2022 um Where where does that all stand? So initiative that's fallen by the wayside or is that something that's no it's still in the in the in the fire Uh, uh, so I I had the last I spoke with uh, Lou was probably four or five weeks ago She has now accepted a position as the manager of gdr right, so uh, but she is in touch, uh, probably you know Monthly I think and christopher and I have been talking about it of what exactly so that um But I think the timeline, you know if it Was pushed back from the scc, so I think there's The window is is not closing on us. I think there's still room to have that conversation uh, and Probably do to touch back in with low and maybe bring her back Bring them back. Sorry, uh to uh the van board to our board and uh talk a little bit about what what that looks like for Next steps if we're still interested so loon remains a fan of of orca Um, housing a radio station just may not have the time I don't think she has the time. I think you know, she they have the time Okay, all right. That was my one old business. Um, any other old business? Um, I guess it's to be new business That sounds like we've run out of old business, so I guess we are up on new business go ahead rob Well, I just want to uh curious as to the process for, um Chad if you if the board is interested, uh, I know he presented I don't know if you guys are ready to vote on it or how you feel about it I also want to add that, you know, I my conversations with rachel. I think he's an excellent candidate Rachel is the director of the waterbury library and has I think a librarian is a great person to add to the board as well as somebody who happens to be working in a community That we uh, we want we are very interested in so I don't know how you guys I mean I'd like I'd like to see like a resume or curriculum vitae for each. Yeah um But maybe people are itching to move this evening. I you know, I'm wary of adding an even number That's my other piece. It's great if they come in in pairs And we remain with our odd number, so we You're you're wary of Of not adding enough You said you're wary of adding adding an even number, but of having an even number having an even having an even Because if we add even numbers we do get the odd number Did we have eight for a minute? And it was just everything was a pain in the butt like with quorums where we needed five for a quorum on eight and um But um that though it's my two cents love to see some some paper For each Well, might might be might right he's gonna phase out at some point. Does that bring their numbers down? Yeah, I mean in that that's right. We don't we don't have to maintain the nine, but we can grow to nine and then that gives uh veteran board members a little room to assess their um Uh the viability of remaining on the board for them personally. So yes, good point Carlos or leap frog right or leap frog Correct, right Yeah, well said So rob you interviewed chad already, right? I'm not You know, I Not in any sort of real sense of as an interview. I mean, it's it's just uh I spoke to him. He said he you know, actually, you know, he was interested And I said, well, I you know, it's really up to the board. The process is not really through me It's really at the discretion of the board is to decide whether they would want to add you to the to the to the open positions. And so I would recommend that the besides the Getting the paper trail and finding out the resume That might might be able to just call him and talk to him about what how he felt about the beating that he sat in on and Any other ideas that he might have Just to sort of warm us up, you know To having him be with us But did you guys get a favorable impression or I did I I did too. I I mean, I I know him from From before this meeting And he seems capable again. I don't know all his references Um, but he seems more than capable It's a very impressive resume Yeah, and that um filmmakers collectively was speaking on you could see some Good cross cross collaboration there Yes, and similar kinds of collaboration professionally that we're trying to do with van and stuff, right So yeah, no red flags. Just you know process Yep Yeah, I think we didn't really get a sense of of Him we got a little bio, but you know, be good if you talk to him I can Um, you know just feel out what kind of person You'd be adding what kind of personality would we be adding to the board? Yeah, yeah Um, I I'd be happy to once I get once I get some paper to sort of have to speak from Rob, could you facilitate that? That's why what I imagine is I would I would connect the two of you and say, you know We're looking for for some of that cv or resume. Yeah And actually as a filmmaker he has a reel as well Great, great And then I can ask rachel the same thing so that you guys might have a little bit more sense I mean, I I'm sure that she would plan on attending the february meeting so that you guys can get a sense to know or You know, maybe it's the same thing where michael gets a chance to talk with her and gets a little bit to know about that So we can that process a little bit forward so that we're in that that two people Realm for you know for michael's concerns on the on the forum Rachel, what's her name again our last Rachel muse m. U. S. E Wow Very aesthetic name. I will have a muse for the whole organization where we've we've been dying for Rachel's on a board. I know Oh, I hope they don't clash Did you spell it el or a el? That's the distinction Yeah, well in that case I welcome her openly and I look forward to meeting her That was close The other old business, you know as I emailed you we uh john blocks passing and I've been looking uh for a way to You know, we had talked in the past, you know, we knew this day was coming So, uh, you know, whether it's a scholarship or I had thought about naming the studio the john block studio You know, I think that with a scholarship would be great But there's always already been pretty established one with the capitelli fund through front media factory And they have done gangbusters and have developed this trust and so I don't know if it's um It probably could be certainly worth it for Kids, I mean there might be other kids who would be applying for it But I think that I would like to move forward with some kind of plaque acknowledging that the studio Would be forever known as the john block studio I think that's good. Yeah Yeah Yeah, and I I think we were Yeah, we we did discuss that in the last board meeting. So All right, if you're looking for a specific approval, I'm sure you'd get it, but I'd say I I see consensus Taking him ahead so I don't think that you guys would get too mad at me if I did that so Great great, please Go forth the name Yeah, it's a really it's a nice idea and stone, you know, we can even maybe do some press around it or something like that So don block studio in stone hall. Yeah Um Also, just it's a I don't know if it's new business, but lucen um personnel committee would meet on if we do you were sort of Bidding for that to happen. That would be the off month. Carlos and Dave. How does january 26 look the tuesday? Just generally for me. I mean, I mean january was gonna it's very hard I could do february but january like that the whole month is going to be It's a very packed room. Okay. This year this year this next year I'm open on the 26 and I can probably find other openings in february all right Well, rob, it sounds like you had some very specific things to figure out in terms of like how to um Get a little hone in on the the compensation end of the budget more So I if Dave and myself assisted you on the 26 You'd you'd have some shape to these yeah questions All right, um, so let's plan for that and then so um the fourth And now this is speaking to the whole board the fourth Tuesday in february, which would be our next board meeting I am is it's the 26th, is that right? No, goodness, how did I get to 2008? I somehow scrolled back to 2008. Oh Twas a better time or was it no there was a complete economic collapse back then we think we Yes, I got the 22nd of february is this Of 2022 28th Oh tuesday Right. Yep. Yep, tuesday. I know it's the second day of the week, but right sunday's there See old washington's birthday before it got collapsed into president's. Yeah, um, so i'm actually out of town then I could do the 15th or you guys could just have a Free for all and have a I guess carlos would share with the co would the treasurer chair or we can move it to the 15th the third Tuesday it's okay with me Are people all right with the 15th? Mm-hmm I'm hearing thumbs up and mm-hmms and okays. All right, so The 15th it is for our next board meeting february 2022. We'll see you in the new year Happy holidays. Yeah, enjoy all of them and then um, Dave myself and and rob will sit down the 26th of january And I think I think um We can call it an evening Hey, well, thank you all at uh 8 11 for those keeping track. Thanks carlos You're welcome. Um Yeah, uh, it's been quite a year and I I think we all deserve a nice collapsing here around the holidays Take care of yourselves. Hey. Hey rob. I got the grant. Thank you Great. That's good to hear awesome Yeah, that sounded like good news I'll take my very good week when you get it whenever you get it If you need lights, I have many lights coming in. I leave you lights. Oh, yeah, we got 40,000 lights if you got lights $40,000 So I'm excited. Thank you. Yeah Well, micah you done with your commute for a month or so Yeah, it's only half an hour and no one's here. We can play about a half hour commute, but boy I'm not used to it Uh, no, it's not a month. I get it almost almost two weeks off whoop-de-doo But um, we got a lot accomplished here It feels like yeah, thank you and um Yeah, enjoy enjoy the mall. Enjoy all your holidays. Take care of yourselves Yeah, and give give our best to the staff. You know, we uh, yeah There's any nog or anything there But uh, we're very pretty of them I'm due to go We're probably listening, but uh, I'm due to go make them some fudge Okay, good So that's my chore tonight is to go make them some fudge before they do Nights just getting started, huh? Yeah, so I don't know. Maybe it may not happen tonight No fudge on the fudge. No fudge. Don't scribble on the fudge Well, thank you everybody. Yeah. Yeah Um, okay. Well, I'm sorry. What's that soup? I just wanted to ask you one question if you um, and chris have been talking about the production video About making a making the story of orca Yeah You know what? I haven't touched that with it on that with him for a few weeks So I'll I'll be sure and bring that back up with it so we can try to move it along Yeah, thanks for the reminder. Yeah, all right Okay, happy holidays everyone. Yeah, you too. Take care. It was so good to see y'all again Yeah Bye. Bye. Bye