Category: HCTV Government

HCTV Board Minutes: January 14, 2021HCTV Board Minutes: January 14, 2021

HCTV Board Meeting
January 14, 2021
7:00 – Zoom
Present: Leif Goldberg, Wiz Dow, Rip Keller, Mike Gray, Kurt Bos, Jim Kelty, Rachel Kane (arrives 10
minutes into the meeting)
Absent: Robin Grant

In Rachel’s absence, Rip opened the meeting at 7:15
Kurt moved; Michael seconded, and unanimous vote approved the minutes from October 2020
with no additions or corrections.
In a discussion of the Profit & Loss statement, Mike and Jim raised some informational
questions. Leif explained the COVID money. Kurt moved; Mike seconded, and a unanimous vote
approved the statement.
The Balance statement revealed nothing new or startling. Our depreciation has not been updated
recently, so they will need adjusting, but the rest has no surprises. Wiz moved; Kurt seconded, and a
unanimous vote approved the statement. Rachel joined the meeting.
Leif gave the Station Report.
He submitted two reports to the state on his use of the COVID money, and, as per usual,
he funneled the report through VAN. He received more money than expected and discovered that
someone at VAN had changed some of the numbers. Leif reported the change to VAN which suggested
that we hold onto the money and spend it later. Several ideas arose that would use the money to benefit
the community. Wiz moved; Kurt seconded that we set the money aside to use for COVID-related
projects. The motion received unanimous approval.
Leif met with a consultant from VAN to do a study of all the stations in the system.
They reviewed operations and looked for areas of improvement. Hardwick and Woodbury participate in
our activities and receive our programming on cable and from them we receive our funding. Craftsbury,
Greensboro, Wolcott, and Walden all participate in our activities, but they cannot receive our
programming through cable – only internet streaming. We need the cable connection for funding. That
delivery discrepancy raises the question of how we can expand our business model to benefit
financially from the people who use the service for free?
Currently, we’re broadcasting no basketball games. Teams are practicing with a schedule
in place, but the Governor has given no permission for teams to congregate to play games. When he
does, we will be very busy all of a sudden. Since the games will have no audience, this service will
bring the games to the families, so the Hazen Union Athletic Director wants us to cover all the games –
Middle, Jr. Varsity, and Varsity – in Hardwick, not just the 25 Varsity games. If that happens, we will
broadcast one or two games every other day. Hazen offered to find sponsors for the productions. Leif
has figured out the personnel, so we’re ready to go when the Governor gives the word.
We need a bookkeeper who can manage QuickBooks, can do the year end taxes, and
keep track of some of the payroll issues.
Kurt asked about the Workers’ Comp. issues from the previous meeting, and Leif
recognized that we need to get straightened out. We need to get the policies together, especially since
we’re hiring a new person. We agreed to put it on the agenda for the next meeting. Mike suggested we
create an ad hoc committee to sort it out: Kurt, Rachel, and Leif.
Rip left the meeting.
On the Comcast Agreement, Leif gave the background on how VAN developed the contract. He
then pointed out that it obliges Comcast to give us our subscriber numbers, which we’ve never had. It
also requires Comcast to support the stations with promotion – like a statement on the Comcast bill. It
continues the annual reimbursement. The contract allows stations to request to have the channel
upgraded to High Definition.
Leif expressed concern about the ‘remote origin’ site clauses. We have one at Hazen and one at
the Town House. We have our ‘origin site’ in the Memorial Building which feed right into the cable
feed. This contract does not list these remote origin sites. Instead, we have a broadcast server at the
station which picks up the signal and feeds it into the cable feed. Leif is concerned about the
maintenance of those sites. After a lot of discussion, Mike suggested we try to get ourselves written
back in. Leif will raise the issue with the Comcast representative. Wiz moved; Kurt seconded that Leif
sign the contract. Unanimous agreement.
Other Business: None.
Adjourn at 9:02.

HCTV Board Minutes: October 29, 2020HCTV Board Minutes: October 29, 2020

HCTV Board Meeting
October 29, 2020
Minutes
Present: Mike Gray, Rip Keller, Leif Goldberg, Wiz Dow, Rachel Kane, Kurt Bos
Absent: Robin Grant
Guest: Jim Kelty, formerly of GMATV.

Rachel called the meeting to order at 7:04

Minutes:
No additions or corrections. Mike moved and Kurt seconded acceptance. Unanimous approval.
Profit &Loss statement:
Leif explained the COVID money we got from the state, saying that while the station has not
made any major changes, shifting ways of working caused some new expenses and shifted in old
expenses. Making the shifts and working in the new ways also took more of his time. All of that the
state money paid for.
Mike asked for clarification of some of the terms on the report.
Kurt moved and Mike seconded acceptance. Unanimous approval.
Balance statement:
Mike asked for some clarification about the CDs. Leif pointed out that the depreciation numbers
haven’t been updated, because the bookkeeper’s eyes have begun to fail. She hasn’t been able to keep
up with inputting data.
Kurt moved and Kip seconded acceptance. Unanimous approval.
Budget:
Rachel asked for clarification on the website design proposal. Ours is mounted on WordPress,
and Leif discussed some of the limitations of the platform. We discussed how to go about developing a
new one, probably not using WordPress, which makes the development a lot more complicated and
expensive. Several board members suggested people who could do it, but we made no decision.
We discussed the potential need of new cameras or computers and why Leif had budgeted for
them, but we made no decisions.
Leif also put a line for play-by-play announcers in the budget. He’s convinced that there will be
crowd-less sports season at the school this year, and we’ll need announcers.
Mike asked about the capital spike payment. Leif explained that it’s a historical line, going back
to 2011, and it’s not clear that we’ll ever use it again.
Kurt moved and Mike seconded acceptance. Unanimous approval.
Station Report:
We generally agreed that we should start looking for another bookkeeper/accountant; the current
one encourages it.
Leif explained that we still do not have a contract with Comcast. VAN and Comcast had fruitful
negotiations underway when COVID shut them down. Negotiations will begin again in November.
Rachel asked about our line of communication with Comcast. Leif explained that Comcast
requires an annual report and a 3-year plan from him with full documentation. After they get all the
stuff they request, they review it and get back to us. Otherwise, Leif contacts them if he has questions
or problems.
Leif reported on our participation in a statewide movie project to remake Castaway. He and a
group of community members did two scenes which he said went well.
Soccer season has not yet ended, so he’s still shooting sports. Lance is back as an announcer,
and James, now at Lyndon, would like to do what he can during basketball season – as will Lance,
delighted at being paid. Jim (our guest) offered to run the camera for basketball games. Kurt suggested
running two cameras – one on the floor and one in the stands.
Leif is feeling the weirdness of the Covid world, but he likes what he’s doing. The trail people
asked them to do the witch reading stories in lieu of the pumpkin walk.
We discussed the limitations to what we can film because of copyright issues. We use Vimeo as
a way of distributing our material, and the company is really touchy about posting copyrighted
material.
Other business:
Rip offered some videos he’s making in his role as music director at the Episcopal Church.
Jim offered to join the board. Since he needs to be elected to the board, he agreed to attend
meetings until he’s elected in April.
Leif raised the issue of the renewal of our workers’ comp insurance. We had a long discussion
about the fairly complicated issue. The fact that our “contractors” use station equipment makes it
difficult for us to legally call them independent contractors, so we may need to get certificates of
insurance for them as employees. The insurance company wants to know who works here and how we
insure them. Mike talked about how the Town of Woodbury issues waivers to local tradespeople rather
than requiring them to carry workers comp. Leif will talk to other TV stations and ask how they handle
insurance.
Meeting adjourn at 8:56
Elizabeth H. Dow

HCTV Board Meeting Minutes: October 29, 2020HCTV Board Meeting Minutes: October 29, 2020

HCTV Board Meeting
October 29, 2020
Minutes

Present: Mike Gray, Rip Keller, Leif Goldberg, Wiz Dow, Rachel Kane, Kurt Bos
Absent: Robin Grant
Guest: Jim Kelty, formerly of GMATV.
Rachel called the meeting to order at 7:04
Minutes:
No additions or corrections. Mike moved and Kurt seconded acceptance. Unanimous
approval.
Profit &Loss statement:
Leif explained the COVID money we got from the state, saying that while the station
has not made any major changes, shifting ways of working caused some new expenses and
shifted in old expenses. Making the shifts and working in the new ways also took more of his
time. All of that the state money paid for.
Mike asked for clarification of some of the terms on the report.
Kurt moved and Mike seconded acceptance. Unanimous approval.
Balance statement:
Mike asked for some clarification about the CDs. Leif pointed out that the depreciation
numbers haven’t been updated, because the bookkeeper’s eyes have begun to fail. She hasn’t
been able to keep up with inputting data.
Kurt moved and Kip seconded acceptance. Unanimous approval.
Budget:
Rachel asked for clarification on the website design proposal. Ours is mounted on
WordPress, and Leif discussed some of the limitations of the platform. We discussed how to go
about developing a new one, probably not using WordPress, which makes the development a lot
more complicated and expensive. Several board members suggested people who could do it,
but we made no decision.
We discussed the potential need of new cameras or computers and why Leif had
budgeted for them, but we made no decisions.
Leif also put a line for play-by-play announcers in the budget. He’s convinced that there
will be crowd-less sports season at the school this year, and we’ll need announcers.
Mike asked about the capital spike payment. Leif explained that it’s a historical line,
going back to 2011, and it’s not clear that we’ll ever use it again.
Kurt moved and Mike seconded acceptance. Unanimous approval.
Station Report:
We generally agreed that we should start looking for another bookkeeper/accountant;
the current one encourages it.
Leif explained that we still do not have a contract with Comcast. VAN and Comcast had
fruitful negotiations underway when COVID shut them down. Negotiations will begin again in
November.
Rachel asked about our line of communication with Comcast. Leif explained that
Comcast requires an annual report and a 3-year plan from him with full documentation. After
they get all the stuff they request, they review it and get back to us. Otherwise, Leif contacts
them if he has questions or problems.
Leif reported on our participation in a statewide movie project to remake Castaway. He
and a group of community members did two scenes which he said went well.
Soccer season has not yet ended, so he’s still shooting sports. Lance is back as an

announcer, and James, now at Lyndon, would like to do what he can during basketball season –
as will Lance, delighted at being paid. Jim (our guest) offered to run the camera for basketball
games. Kurt suggested running two cameras – one on the floor and one in the stands.
Leif is feeling the weirdness of the Covid world, but he likes what he’s doing. The trail
people asked them to do the witch reading stories in lieu of the pumpkin walk.
We discussed the limitations to what we can film because of copyright issues. We use
Vimeo as a way of distributing our material, and the company is really touchy about posting
copyrighted material.
Other business:
Rip offered some videos he’s making in his role as music director at the Episcopal
Church.
Jim offered to join the board. Since he needs to be elected to the board, he agreed to
attend meetings until he’s elected in April.
Leif raised the issue of the renewal of our workers’ comp insurance. We had a long
discussion about the fairly complicated issue. The fact that our “contractors” use station
equipment makes it difficult for us to legally call them independent contractors, so we may need
to get certificates of insurance for them as employees. The insurance company wants to know
who works here and how we insure them. Mike talked about how the Town of Woodbury issues
waivers to local tradespeople rather than requiring them to carry workers comp. Leif will talk to
other TV stations and ask how they handle insurance.
Meeting adjourn at 8:56

Elizabeth H. Dow