Hardwick Community TV Meeting Minutes ~ October 28, 2021

Called to Order by at 7:12. Present Kurt Bos, Jim Kelty, Michael Gray (Chair), Rip Keller, Leif Goldberg (Station Director) and Rachel Kane (recording secretary for 10/28) . Absent: Wiz Dow and Robin Grant.

Minutes of the 7/28/21 meeting approved with corrections. Motion to accept by Rachel Kane, second Kurt Bos.

Profit and Loss Report.

The station has had better than expected income, due to increased underwriting. Comcast income was up slightly. Coin drop and donations income was 1073.36. Leif will make the usual request for appropriation in 2022 of 3000$ from Hardwick, and 750$ from Woodbury. In 2020, HCTV received a grant of 11,000$ as part of covid-19 response, which we decided should be dispensed directly as ‘Community Creative’ grants to local filmmakers, to support the creative community. Motion to accept by Rachel Kane, second Kurt Bos.

Balance Sheet.

The report numbers were not precisely up-to-date for the day of the meeting, due to slow communication from the bookkeeper. We continue to search for a new bookkeeper. Leif will send the directors an email with hours and specific duties of the bookkeeper, so we can ask around for leads. Motion to accept by Rachel Kane, second Kurt Bos.

Budget for 2022

Average yearly expenses are 32,000. Discussion of the idea of keeping two years worth of money on hand, and extra money could go to an ongoing ‘creative fund’. (At a July 14, 2021 meeting out of 10 applicants, we settled on awarding the following: Elizabeth Rossano 2500$, Meredith Holch 4000$, Rip Keller 3060$ and Roy MacNeil 2340$ = total 11,900$). Discussion of having a public presentation of the work created by the grantees in May/June of this year, combined with a fundraising element, and to open the Community Creative Grant to new applications. Currently HCTV has had all our videos since 2013 hosted by Vimeo, and we have about reached the limit of space we can get for $400 per year. The directors agree that increasing the capacity of Vimeo is important, and agree to the increased level of $600 per year. We also have our videos on Youtube, and will keep it, for we use that service for our livestream events. Motion to accept by Kurt Bos, seconded by Rip Keller.

Station Report by Leif

Soccer season has been busy, we’ve covered 9 of 12 games, as the weather permitted. In August the Vid-Kids program went well, with 6 kids taking part, including some new faces. They did some editing too. HCTV is now a sponsor of WGDR/WGDH, and our ad is associated with the weekly show ReLocalizing Vermont. It cost $600 per year, and Lance Hall recorded the ad. A new high school student has been coming in to learn video editing. The Creative Community grantees have been advanced 50% of their grant amounts. Jim Kelty has been covering Hardwick Electric meetings. Leif announces that he would like to step down as station director, it has been 9 years, and he’s ready for a change. The directors accept this announcement with sadness but understanding. Leif will write up a job overview, and the directors will meet to discuss next steps in hiring a new director. Meeting Adjourned approx. 8:30.