Greenbelt Internet Access Cooperative

Monthly Board Meeting – December 8, 2005

Conference Room, Greenbelt Police Station

D R A F T

M E E T I N G   M I N U T E S

 

DIRECTORS:   Peggy Bates, Mary Camp, Ed James, (Absent: Anne Andersen [illness])

OFFICERS:     Terry Henderson

MEMBERS:     Neil McLeod

GUESTS: 

 

=== PRELIMINARIES ===

 

1.      Call to order promptly at 7:05 pm

Meeting chair: Mary Camp

 

2.      Introduction of Directors, Members, and Guests

 

3.      Changes to Agenda

a.      Proposals (additions/deletions) and approvals - None

b.      Approval of final agenda (?? moved, ?? seconded, unanimous approval)

 

=== GUEST PRESENTATIONS ===

 

4.      Scheduled Guests (15 minute limit)

 

5.      Unscheduled Guests (3 minute limit)

Appointment of volunteers to roles and tasks

 

=== MONTHLY REPORTS ===

 

6.      Secretary (Terry Henderson)

a.      Approval of meeting minutes

MONTHLY MEETINGS

1)     Meeting October 12 – ballot D-051027 not completed

2)     Fourteen meetings 1999-2003 not available - Closed

3)     Meeting November 10 – draft available December 1; ballot not yet posted

ANNUAL MEETINGS

4)     Meetings June 7, 2005, not submitted

·         Sign-up sheet – please forward to Neil for posting (Peggy)

·         Ballot summary – please forward to Neil for posting (Peggy)

5)     Meetings 2004/2002/2001 not available - Closed

6)     Membership meeting 2000 – Treasurer’s report needed (Peggy)

b.      Old action items

Buy paper

c.      New action items - None

 

7.      Treasurer (Peggy Bates)

a.      Financial report

1)     Class expense ($120) needs to be added to report

2)     Mary Camp will make purchase to spend down final 21.67

b.      Membership report

No new members

c.      Old action items

1)     Send latest contacts PDF to all – In progress

2)     Send accounts database (or spreadsheet) to Neil – Spreadsheet uploaded / Done

3)     Relocate GIAC bank account and CD – Neil gave Peggy the Articles of Incorporation (same one as posted online); Mary and Peggy will go to the bank to set up account

4)     Submit Treasurer’s 2005 Annual Meeting Notes [membership report, financial report, audit reports] – No progress

5)     Upload Member journals – In progress

d.      New action items

1)     Collect receipts from Mary Camp, Terry Henderson

2)     Need list of classes (Mary)

3)     Billing of webspace – suggest back-billing from August 2005 to present (instead of whole year)

 

8.      Vice President (Mary Camp)

a.      Classes report

1)     Scheduled classes

·         No one attended the 11/17/2005 or 11/30/2005 classes

2)     Proposed class topics

·         A security class could be worked up as a handout available online

·         An e-mail class could also be worked up as a handout

b.      Old action items

1)     Make sign for New Deal Cafe showing GIAC's sponsorship of WiFi hotspot. – In progress by Phil Larkin

2)     Configure and test wireless relay. (Neil)

·         Hardware requirements identified and configuration plan finalized.  Subsequent purchases will depend on the outcome of GIAC class planning.

·         Mary indicated that wireless DSL access from classroom nearest News Review office might be sufficient.

3)     Prepare PDF file of membership kit. (Mary) – No activity

c.      New action items

1)     Make class handouts available online.

2)     Plan to hold classes only once/year on certain topics.

 

9.      President (Any Directors) [acting]

a.      Old action items

1)     Recruiting for principals and committees. – Neil is done

2)     Update posted Board procedures per past minutes. (Neil) – No activity

·         Stalled pending outcome of bylaws update ballot D-051101

3)     Enforce Board procedures. (Directors) – No activity

·         Stalled pending outcome of bylaws update ballot D-051101

·         Action past due on Anne Andersen nonfeasance

4)     Schedule meeting room for 2006 - Done

b.      New action items - None

 

10.  System Administrator (Peggy Bates, Neil McLeod)

a.      Technical support activity report (Duty Directors)

1)     E-mail outage discussed.  Dedicated mail server may be available soon to protect against internal (i.e., host-shared) spammers.

2)     Protection against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks will be implemented next year for small cost increase.

b.      Old action items

1)     Report Greenbelt News Review network upgrade status. (Neil)

·         Static IP addressing, originally implemented to simplify network documentation, was replaced by dynamic addressing (DHCP) to facilitate the relocation of network stations as needed.  This simple change turned out to be a big deal (~10 hours overnight) because the router firmware had to be upgraded to support DHCP.

·         The existing enhanced (and expensive) wireless router will be replaced with two devices, a standard router and an enhanced wireless access point, giving equivalent performance but a more flexible physical arrangement within the News Review’s office space.  Neil still owns all of the upgraded networking components, allowing configuration flexibility until all has been tested, finalized, and turned over (i.e., donated) to GNR.

2)     Submit 2005 Annual Meeting notes [ISP report]. (Peggy) – No activity

3)     Upload work orders. (Peggy) – No activity

c.      New action items

Give Peggy written notification of price change for 2006 hosting service. (Neil)

 

11.  Webmaster (Neil McLeod)

a.      Community Website report

1)     Apply monthly and weekly Community Calendar updates. - Ongoing

2)     Upgrade Gallery (using Google Picasa) - In progress

3)     Solicit photographs for Community Gallery.

·         Still working on Halloween photos

b.      GIAC Website report

1)     Post procedural decisions made during Board meetings. -  No activity

·         Stalled pending outcome of bylaws update ballot D-051101

2)     Upgrade Minutes section. – No activity

·         Stalled pending completion of minutes approval ballots

·         Locate (or create) financial and membership report files

3)     Upgrade GIAC website format. – No activity

·         Stalled pending outcome of bylaws update ballot D-051101 and enforcement of Board procedures

4)     Integrate PayPal sign-up procedure into Online Registration form. – No activity

·         Stalled pending resolution of Board nonfeasance

c.      Old action items – Integrated into monthly reports above

The Webmaster has finally drawn a solid demarcation between GREENBELT.COM and GIAC support items and issues.

d.      New action items - None

 

12.  Director (Ed James)

a.      Old action items

1)     Promote & support community WiFi usage. – Working to implement shared wireless access point (WAP) with neighbors in Crescent Road Court.

2)     City Council co-op certificate – circulate to Principals, then file - Done

3)     GATE interview available on DVD – circulate to Principals

b.      New action items - None

 

13.  Director (Anne Andersen) [absent - report submitted]

a.      Old action items

1)     Select and act on a new Director project ASAP. - No activity

2)     Open House at New Deal Cafι - postponed until possibly March

b.      New action items - None

 

14.  Audit Committee [vacant]

a.      Old action items

1)     Complete 2003 audit report. (Mary) – No activity

2)     Collect materials for 2004/2005 audits. (Neil) – In progress

·         Requested Member journals from Peggy on 10/18 – 2004 journals uploaded; 2005 in progress

b.      New action items - None

15.  ISP Committee [vacant]

a.      Old action items

Develop and propose new service offerings.

·         Negotiate IKANO DSL reseller package. (Peggy) – No activity

·         Document read-protected directories. (Neil) – No activity

b.      New action items - None

16.  Legal Committee (Neil McLeod) [acting]

a.      Old action items

1)     Review and update legal documents. – Suspended

2)     Amended Articles of Incorporation. (Neil)

·         Re-file Amended Articles rejected by Maryland SDAT due to procedural error

·         Must be done within 60 days to avoid additional fee

3)     Draft bylaw proposals. (Neil)

·         Ballot D-051101 (extended to 11/18) still not completed by Directors

4)     Compete IRS tax-exempt application (Form 1023). (Clement)

·         Pending acceptance of Amended Articles by Maryland SDAT

·         Pending completion of bylaws updates ballot D-051101

5)     Implement nonprofit hosting program.

·         Issue “invitation” form letters to candidate organizations. (Neil) – In progress

6)     Committee Meeting:  1:00pm, Saturday, November 19, at Neil’s – Clement and Neil attended.  First review of Form 1023 requirements.

b.      New action items - None

 

17.  Membership Committee [vacant]

a.      Old action items

1)     Update membership forms and save as PDF files. (Mary) – No activity

2)     Need committee volunteers to support recruiting activities. – No activity

3)     10th Anniversary Celebration

·         Need a vote to authorize the expense – on hold until results of preliminary invitation are available

·         Set a working date – Saturday, April 1?

·         Who will coordinate planning, invitations, food, etc.? – discussion on details by Principals began at this meeting

b.      New action items

Preliminary 10th Anniversary invitation to be sent out in January. (Peggy)

 

=== OLD BUSINESS ===

 

18.  Decision by the Board on its intentions to maintain the Cooperative and its mission:

a.      Important issues if YES:

1)     Demonstration of teamwork (response, attendance, voting)

2)     Essential recruiting of Members and Principals

b.      Important issues if NO:

1)     Continued pursuit of nonprofit status

2)     Disposition of GREENBELT.COM

 

=== NEW BUSINESS ===

 

19.  None

 

=== CONCLUSION ===

 

20.  Voice Mail Roster           (GIAC e-mail monitored daily by Ed James & Neil McLeod)

Dec 04 - Dec 10   Peggy Bates

Dec 11 - Dec 17   Neil McLeod

Dec 18 – Dec 24   Anne Andersen

Dec 25 – Dec 31   Ed James

Jan 01 – Jan 07   Mary Camp

Jan 08 – Jan 14   Peggy Bates

 

21.  Scheduled Meetings

·         Audit Committee: 

·         Legal Committee:  None scheduled

·         Membership Committee: 

·         Monthly Meeting:  7:00pm, Thursday, January 12, at Greenbelt Police Station

 

22.  Meeting adjourned at 9:40 pm


Respectfully submitted,

Terry Henderson, Secretary

December 19, 2005