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Fibernet Advisory Board Minutes 04-14-2015MINUTES REGULAR MEETING — FIBERNET MONTICELLO Tuesday, April 1411, 2015, Boom Island Room, Monticello Community Center Present: Brian Stumpf, Charlotte Gabler, Jacob Kramer, Jon Morphew, Dennis Sullivan Absent: None Others: Jeff O'Neill, Rachel Leonard, Bryan Rabe Guests: Glen Posusta, Lloyd Hilgart, Tom Perrault, Tim Hennagir 1. Call to Order Brian Stumpf called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes DENNIS SULLIVAN MOVED TO APPROVE THE MARCH 10, 2015 MEETING MINUTES. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. JON MORPHEW MOVED TO APPROVE THE FEBRUARY 10, 2015 MEETING MINUTES. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. 3. Management Presentation • Recap of the current management structure put in place after Brian Estrem left in July 2014. Jeff O'Neill and Dan Olsen functioning as interim GMs, Bryan Rabe and Rachel Leonard supervising day to day operations in the headend and business office. Established on an interim basis. • Not meant to be permanent and new opportunities in 2015 make it necessary to establish the long -term management plan. • Based on conversations with staff and council, there were three options presented: Office Manager, Business Manager, and General Manager. Each position would have different responsibilities and salary range. • Request for FiberNet Advisory Board to make a recommendation. Their recommendation will be brought to City Council at a future meeting for a final decision about which position to post. • Office manager cited as the smallest salary and coverage of duties currently being done by Rachel Leonard. However, only a small reduction in Jeff O'Neill's time devoted to FiberNet. • Business Manager cited as a larger salary but with more duties covered. Person hired would be responsible for business operations and management. Moves Rachel FiberNet Advisory Board Minutes: 4/14/15 Leonard back to marketing and communications, reduces Jeff O'Neill's time at FiberNet, and puts a central leader in place similar to a department head. • General Manager cited as the largest salary with responsibilities in both the technical and business operations. Moves Rachel Leonard back to marketing and reduces Jeff O'Neill's time, but also creates redundancies on the tech side because of the current presence of Dan Olsen and Bryan Rabe. Glen Posusta expressed concerns about current lack ofmarketing in the corgi munity. RL responded the marketing could more easily be addressed once a new manager is in place. Mr. Posusta also questioned whether staff is missing opportunities to add new business customers. Jeff O'Neill stated that while FiberNet has not secured all new or relocating businesses in town, it has gotten several new business customers, including new builds and relocations. • Glen Posusta questioned whether someone without significant technical abilities would command the respect of staff as a leader. Rachel Leonard stated ideally the person will have some telecomm experience, but more on the business side. The person would work closely with Dan Olsen and Bryan Rabe on technical needs. Dennis Sullivan added FiberNet needs someone who knows what needs to happen, but doesn't have to be the person turning the wrench. • Jon Morphew asked if the business manager is selected does it contribute to over- reliance on Dan Olsen and Bryan Rabe. Rachel Leonard answered that it's a valid concern; however, with such a small staff FiberNet is already probably overly reliant on current staff. Later in the conversation Jeff O'Neill and Bryan Rabe spoke about efforts being made to cross -train additional staff to reduce reliance on individual people. • Discussion about staff working with Dan Olsen has developed its capabilities. By doing the transition to the E7 by FiberNet staff it saved money, and also allowed staff to become very familiar with the platform. • Discussion about the potential for any increased market share with each position. Concerns that the cost of a General Manager could not be matched with great enough increase in customers. Lloyd Hilgart stated the market is always divided among three providers and hiring a GM is unlikely to significantly increase FiberNet's share. Hilgart also questioned whether significant marketing would make much of an impact on subscriber counts. • Jacob Kramer expressed the opinion that he would like to see FiberNet focus less on residential subscribers and more on bringing new businesses into Monticello because of the technology opportunities. General direction of the conversation was toward the positives of the business manager. Charlotte Gabler stated perhaps over time the business manager would evolve into a general manager if necessary. FiberNet Advisory Board Minutes: 4/14/15 DENNIS SULLIVAN MOVED TO RECOMMEND THE BUSINESS MANAGER OPTION. JON MORPHEW SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. 4. Finance Update • Finance Director Wayne Oberg presented a schedule of revenue and expenses for FiberNet through first quarter 2015 as well as monthly subscriber counts for the year. Explained there is a budget in place and FiberNet working toward greater consistency. • Lloyd Hilgart requested a breakdown of the finances to see how much costs for each service, including how much it costs per subscriber. • Discussion of the Prairie Center building. FiberNet pays rent to the city for use of a suite in the building, Wayne Oberg explained this is common practice for enterprise funds like FiberNet. Glen Posusta asked if the city is seeking additional tenants. • Glen Posusta asked if FiberNet is charging enough per service as well as whether Staff is doing enough to sell multiple services to subscribers. • Rachel Leonard answered that part of the need for a new manager is to review pricing. In the interim, if staff determines a specific service is at a loss, measures are taken to correct that area. • Lloyd Hilgart asked about the cost to provide video service, most expensive. Bryan Rabe stated staff has been looking into options for providing video service in a different way to hopefully reduce the cost. 5. Meeting Time CHARLOTTE GABLER MOVED TO CHANGE THE REGULAR MEETING TIME OF THE FIBERNET ADVISORY BOARD TO 6:30 P.M. JACOB KRAMER SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. 6. Next Meeting The next meeting is scheduled for May 12', 2015 at 6:30 p.m. in the Boom Island Room at the Monticello Community Center. 7. Adiournment JON MORPHEW MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 7:40 PM. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. FiberNet Advisory Board Minutes: 4/14/15 Recorder: Rachel Leonard Approved: May 12, 015 Attest: erry Burri, !Interim City Clerk