2021-10-26-Minutes

NCF Board of Directors
Minutes of Meeting
October 26, 2021 

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

• Cable internet services launched on NCF's website.
• NCF reaches its 29th anniversary.

Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Directors

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. with Anis Hanna as Chair and Graeme Beckett as Secretary for the meeting.

INTRODUCTIONS

Board members present:
Anis Hanna (gb499) Chair
Andrea Holland (es170) 1st vice Chair
Peter MacKinnon (fr198) 2nd Vice-Chair
Emmanuel Adenlolu (gc476) Treasurer
Graeme Beckett (aw958) Secretary
Christopher Cope (bz787)
Lauren Gardner (fy923)
Martin Dubois (al432)
Majd Karam (gc029)

Regrets:
Michael Chan (ga869)
Lindsay Carreau (gc034)

NCF Management/Staff present:
Executive Director: Shelley Robinson

Guests:
None

Once around the table.
Informal pre-meeting conversation, with Directors taking turn offering personal views and commentary on interesting things that might not make it to the Agenda.

1. Confirmation of Quorum
   
   Quorum was confirmed.
   
2. Review of the Agenda
   
   Motion: To adopt the agenda as circulated.
   Proposer: Peter MacKinnon (fr198)
   Seconder:  Majd Karam (gc029)
   The motion was carried.
   
3. Review of the Minutes of the Previous Meetings
   
   Minutes accepted as circulated.
   
   1. September 28, 2021
      
      Motion: To adopt the minutes of the August 24th meeting as circulated.
      Proposer: Andrea Holland (es170)
      Seconder: Martin Dubois (al432)
      The motion was carried.
      
4. Reports  
   
   1. Executive Director's Report (Shelley Robinson)
      
      Shelley distributed her ED report in advance of the meeting for both the open and in-camera sessions of the meeting.
      
      Select Highlights from the public portion of the Executive Director's Report
      
      Total members: 4948
      
      DSL usage average and median: Jan. 1/19 to Oct. 1/21
      ●  DSL usage which had increased significantly during Covid 19 began a decline in June of 2021 as lockdowns were lifted and people are moving back to work. This decline has continued to date. 
      
      Operations:
      ●  We successfully installed two new servers and increased memory on existing servers without
      affecting member services. We will continue to work on these upgrades over the next month.
      ●  Andres Carranco is transitioning from the HelpDesk to be our new Operations and HelpDesk
      Manager. Congrats to Andres!
      ●  Cable internet services are now publicly launched and available for sign-ups on the website or
      through the HelpDesk.
      ●  NCF celebrated our 29th anniversary! We pivoted on the online event with Bruce Buffalo, instead
      recording and interview about his work which will be made available to all NCF members.
      
      Covid 19
      Communications:
      ●  Because the Delta Variant is significantly more contagious than other current strains of COVID-19 and given that the province has paused the re-opening plan, we are maintaining our high-level of caution.
      ●  NCF COVID-19 Safety Plan, regularly updated: www.ncf.ca/coronavirus
      ●  Office visits by appointment encouraged: Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm.
      ●  Remote HelpDesk hours: Monday-Friday 10am-7pm, Saturday-Sunday 10am-5pm.
      ●  Masks must be worn in the office at all times.
      ●  Following national and local health guidelines we’re encouraging office staff to use the three-layer medical masks we provide.
      ●  We have two extra-large air purifiers for the office: one for the office and one for the HelpDesk area.
      ●  Only one member/member group in the office at a time, chairs are in the hallway spaced more than 2m apart.
      ●  At least half the staff are working remotely at any given time to ensure staff can maintain appropriate social distance in the office.
      ● We have a daily office cleaning checklist.
      ●  We have a Plexiglas shield for the front desk and a washable plastic cover for the debit machine.
      ●  We have hand sanitizer, gloves, lots of cleaning fluid, hand soap and face masks.
      ●  We encourage members to use the lockbox (during and outside of office hours) for modem and payment drop-off.
      ● We encourage members with no payment method on file to use forms of payment that don’t require them to come to the office in person. We continue to accept cash.
      
      Motion: To move in-camera.
      Proposer: Graeme Beckett (aw958)
      Seconder: Peter MacKinnon (fr198)
      The motion was carried.
      
      Motion: To receive the Executive Director's report..
      Proposer: Peter MacKinnon (fr198)
      Seconder: Christopher Cope (bz787)
      The motion was carried.
      
5. Ongoing Business
   
   1. Discussion about ED priorities, review work-to-date and staff capacity  (Shelley Robinson - in-camera)
      
      This item was conducted in-camera.
      
6. New Business 
   
   1. Discussion about upcoming OTF resilient communities fund application  (Shelley Robinson - in-camera)
      
      This item was conducted in-camera.
      
   2. Discussion on making the Marketing Committee a standing committee (in-camera)
      
      Discussion on the upcoming vaccination policy was conducted in-camera.
      
   3. Discussion on Pricing and Budget Considerations (Shelley Robinson in-camera)
      
      This item was conducted in-camera and the Draft budget is expected at the November Board meeting.
      
      Motion: To move out of camera.
      Proposer: Christopher Cope (bz787)
      Seconder: Andrea Holland (es170)
      The motion was carried.
      
7. Announcements
   
   1. There were no announcements.
8. Date of Next Meeting
   

The next meeting is scheduled to be November 30th, 2021 at 7pm.
Location: Electronic meeting.

1. Adjournment
   
   The meeting adjourned at 8:59 p.m.

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