July 15, 2009 KSDP Meeting Minutes

Posted on: October 11th, 2010 | Author: General Manager | Filed under: Minutes

Aleutian Peninsula Broadcasting, Inc.

KSDP Radio  P.O. Box 328   Sand Point, Alaska  99661   Phone: (907) 383-5737   Fax: (907) 383-5271

Meeting of the Board of Directors

KSDP Office

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

7:00 P.M.

MEETING MINUTES

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:19 p.m. by Chairman Robbe Gilmour.

Roll Call

Board members present: Robbe Gilmour – Chairman; Marta Varga – Secretary / Treasurer; Jim Brown – Chairman Emeritus

Board members excused: Joanna Karlsen – Board member; Justin Godbehere – Vice President; Jack Foster, Jr. – Board member

KSDP staff present: Kells Hetherington – General Manager; Shannon Sommer – Administrative Assistant

Approval of Agenda

Jim moved to approve the agenda.  Marta seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

Approval of Minutes

Robbe moved to delay approval of the minutes from the last meeting until the next meeting.  Jim seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

Report from the General Manager

Kells recapped the Board election reporting that Jack Foster and Justin Godbehere had tied for third place.  Because Justin departed Sand Point, he willed “willingly” his seat to Jack.  James Brown and Marta Varga both won their respective races by wider margins than when they were first elected to the Board.

Kells brought the Board up-to-date on the following:

The station is now fully upgraded to HD and broadcasting in high definition.

Earlier this spring, the broadcast tower was restored.  Nolan Brothers fixed broken clamps, repainted the tower and installed the new STL dish.

The station will soon be on the state satellite system.  This means that anyone of the 26 public radio stations in Alaska with a SIP dish will be able to tune us in.  Kells has been in touch with the station in St. Paul and Dutch Harbor about taking some of our local programs.  His discussions with those GM are set to continue.

Next month, Ron Zastrow will return to Sand Point possibly with Chuck Lakaytis.  Ron will address the following issues:

  • Installation of a program called iMediaTouch Importer, which will automatically download programs from the Content Depot NPR site.  We are currently downloading programs and importing them into the system.  The process is time consuming because of the slow internet speed.  The program will enable us to automatically download overnight, as well as at anytime without human involvement.
  • Installation of NewsRoom4 on other workstations.  The news program is used every day to assemble news stories and pop in the audio clips that you hear.
  • Address some microphone issues in the on-air studio.  We want both mics to be connected to the phone line.  Also, fix something that happened to disable the caller from hearing intro music or a PSA played on the air during a live interview.  Ron will also connect a second on-air phone line in order to allow for a call in program.
  • Set up the Emergency Alert System

The Board would like a written breakdown of the cost for the engineering visit with Ron and Chuck.

We have a new SIP dish installed outside the radio station.  The dish will allow the station to receive statewide broadcasts.

The Public Telecommunication Facilities Program (PTPF) is a federal program that supports public broadcasting.  Grant applications are just out and the program is reportedly flush with cash.  The program supports capital projects and Kells would like to apply for funds to erect a better FM radio translator in King Cove.

Additionally, Kells wanted the Board’s approval to apply to the Alaska Capital Grants Program for a grant to upgrade the production room studio.

Kells has been in contact with NOAA about the station’s proposed lease agreement.  KSDP is finally negotiating with the right people in Seattle and he has completed forms to lease tower space to the Department of Commerce for NOAA in Sand Point.

TelAlaska has communicated with Kells about finding space on the station’s tower.  Kells responded that it is probably available with Board approval.  Kells and Bob Barnett discussed TelAlaska paying roughly forty thousand dollars to raise the current broadcast tower in exchange for a twenty year tower space agreement.  TelAlaska sent a man to look at our tower to see if it is of interest to the company.

Finally, Dennis McMillian, President of the Foraker Group in Anchorage will be in Sand Point July 28th for a Board training session.  Dennis will hold a meeting for about two hours for Board members, GM and station staff.  The Board suggested Kells move the training date.  Kells said he would take care of changing the date.

Old Business

No Old Business discussed.

New Business

The Board elected to hold the budget until the next meeting and to swear in new Board members in September.

Robbe motioned to approve project funding; Marta seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

Robbe wants to be kept up-to-date about NOAA and the tower issue.  The station wants seven hundred and fifty dollars per month for the lease.  Jim motioned to give Kells the authority to negotiate a lease with NOAA, Marta seconded the motion and the motion passed.

Checks will be signed by Marta tomorrow.

Public Comments & Discussion

No Public Comments

Next Meeting

The next Board meeting will be Thursday, August 13, 2009.

Adjournment

Adjournment at 8:15 p.m. by Jim Brown; Robbe seconded the motion.

Minutes submitted by Shannon Sommer, Administrative Assistant.

Minutes reviewed by Kells Hetherington, General Manager.