ALGOMA DISTRICT COMMUNITY NETWORK (ADnet)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

SEPTEMBER 16, 2003

Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board

F.R. Mills Centre, 2^nd Floor

240 St. George Ave. E, Sault Ste. Marie

12:20 pm to 1:20 pm

Name	ADnet Member Affiliation	Present/Regrets
Charlie Whitfield, ADnet President	SSM EDC	Present
Greg Punch, ADnet Secretary-Treasurer	GHC	Regrets
Dan Friyia	SE CFDC	Regrets
Allan Frederick, ADnet Director	SSM PUC	Present
Lynn MacKenzie, ADnet Director	Algoma Family Serv.	Regrets
Julian Piwowarski, ADnet Director	SAH	Present
Jerry Dolcetti, ADnet Director	City SSM	Regrets
Art Callegari, ADnet Director	HSCDSB	Present
Tom Marinelli, ADnet Director	OLGC	Present
Norma Diamond, ADnet Director	M,NSTC	Regrets
Peggy Storey-Inkster	Sault College	Present
Pav Pottekkat	ADSB	Present
Observer(s)/Delegates
Gary Wight	GLP	Present
Staff
Wilf Lefresne, Executive Director	Staff	Present
Darlene Walsh, Administrative Assistant	Staff	Present
Emile Malvaso, Market Development Officer	Staff	Present

Charlie Whitfield opened the meeting at 12:20 pm with no quorum

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Approved.

PRESIDENT’S OPENING REMARKS: Charlie Whitfield

Charlie welcomed everyone back after the summer and introduced Gary Wight. Charlie suggested that the Board re-focus on the ADnet Objectives

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

MOTION: 2003 –19 Moved by: Allan Frederick Seconded by: Peggy Storey-Inkster

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Directors accepts the Minutes of May 27, 2003 as presented. Carried. (Approved at 12:40 with quorum)

BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES -

Letter to Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation: Executive Director’s report later in meeting

Press Release re: ADnet’s successes: Draft has been circulated and staff is awaiting feedback. Charlie requested that staff issue the document to the paper.

Project Assessment matrix chart: Draft to be reviewed and forwarded to committees for discussion.

Charlie Whitfield reviewed the Committee Chairs:

Telematics & Implementation Committee – Tom Marinelli

Finance and Administration Committee – Greg Punch

Executive Committee – Charlie Whitfield

FINANCIAL REPORT: Allan Frederick (in the absence of Greg Punch)

Allan introduced Gary Wight as the candidate for Secretary/Treasurer; Gary gave a brief overview of his career. Allan asked that the Board of Directors approve the appointment of Gary Wight as Secretary/Treasurer.

MOTION: 2003 – 20 Moved by: Allan Frederick Seconded by: Pav Pottekkat

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Directors appoints Gary Wight, Secretary/Treasurer of Algoma District Community Network Inc. with signing authority.

FURTHER MORE this appointment is renewable at the Annual General Meeting on or before April 30, 2004. Carried. (Approved at 12:40 with quorum)

Allan Frederick presented the Financial Statements to the Board.

Julian Piwowarski arrived at 12:40 pm providing a quorum all previous motions were approved.

MOTION: 2003 – 21 Moved by: Pav Pottekkat Seconded by: Art Callegari

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board accepts the Financial Statement of August 31, 2003 as presented. Carried.

MOTION: 2003 – 22 Moved by: Tom Marinelli Seconded by: Julian Piwowarski

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board accepts Vouchers 2003 – 05 ($110,933.18), 2003 – 06 ($18,304.50), 2003 – 07 ($114,320.49), 2003 – 08 ($13,606.44). Carried.

COMMITTEE/REPORTS

Executive Director: Wilf Lefresne

Members reviewed the attached report. The Provincial Elections will delay all pending funding approvals. Discussed the Infrastructure Project present status, Charlie asked what happens if Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC) insists on the contract completion date. Wilf assured the members that there is no liability to ADnet. A letter will be sent to Garden River First Nation stating that they are no longer on the Infrastructure Project list.

Planning Session is planned for October 24 & 25, 2003 at the Algoma Water Tower. Topic will be a 5 year renewal plan including a framework and strategic plan.

Wilf will attend the Northern Ontario Business Award (NOBA) banquet in Thunder Bay. He will drive with Bruce Strapp, Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp.

Broadband Conference in Hamilton on November 16 to 18, 2003. Wilf suggested that the Board meeting be changed to November 25/03.

Telematics and Implementation Committee: Tom Marinelli

The Committee is working on a marketing strategy and will start a promotion strategy.

Executive Committee: Charlie Whitfield stated that ADnet will require at least 2 new Directors in 2004. He asked members to give this serious thought.

NEW BUSINESS: Discussed in the Executive Directors report.

PRESIDENT’S CLOSING REMARKS: None

MOTION: 2003 – 22 Moved by: Allan Frederick Seconded by: Julian Piwowarski

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the meeting closes at 1:20 pm to meet again on November 18, 2003 or at the call of the Chair. Carried.

MEETING DATES: Planning Session – October 24/25, 2003 at Algoma Water Tower

_______________________ _____________________________

Chairman Charlie Whitfield Recording Secretary Darlene Walsh

Executive Director BoD Report

Goals and Objectives 2003

(BoD 16 Sep 03)

Abbreviations/Acronyms

ACE	Algoma Community Extraordinaire
AGM	Annual General Meeting
BoD	Board of Directors
BRAND	Broadband for Rural and Northern Development
CFDC	Community Futures Development Corporation
COBRA	Connect Ontario: Broadband Regional Access
ED	ADnet Executive Director
EDC	Economic Development Corporation
FedNor	Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
FAC	ADnet Finance and Administration Committee
FN	First Nation
GIC	Guaranteed Investment Certificate
HRDC	Human Resources Development Canada
IT	Information Technology
JV	Joint Venture of PUC Telcom and ONTelcom
LID	Local Infrastructure Development
MDO	ADnet Market Development Officer
MEOI	Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation
NOHFC	Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation
NSTC	North Shore Tribal Council
SAP	Service Access Point
SOLS	Southern Ontario Library Service
SSM	Sault Ste. Marie
SSM EDC	Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation
SSM IC	Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre
TAG	Telematics Advisory Group (ADnet, SSM EDC and SSM IC sponsored)
TIC	ADnet Technical and Infrastructure Committee

Ongoing Activities
1.Manage, monitor and support the implementation of funded projects	Infrastructure (SAP). A meeting with the JV is scheduled for Friday, 12 Sep. Since this is after this report, a separate update will be issued at the BoD meeting. Libraries Project. ADnet Region: Sixteen of the 17 ADnet libraries are completed. Batchewana FN is in the process of being converted from a Bell connection to the JC network. Estimated completion date is 30 Sep 03. NEOnet Region: All sixteen libraries are completed. The final report for this phase of the project up to 31 Mar 03 was submitted to SOLS in August 2003. In accordance with the agreement with SOLS, upon acceptance and approval of our Final Report by SOLS, our funding request for 2003/2004 will be accepted. NSTC Mentoring. The IT Strategic Plan was accepted by the NSTC Board in August. The next stage is to implement the plan.
2. Identify sources and secure commitment of funding to ensure continuation of ICT community development activities.	Cellular Telephone Project: A revised funding request was submitted in June at the request of NOHFC. NOHFC felt the public to private sector ratio was too high. A revised request was submitted in June to reflect the desired NOHFC ratio. This was achieved by increasing the private sector contribution and reducing the scope of the project. No NOHFC Board meetings were held after the submission so the request was not approved prior to the election call. Do not expect to hear anything more on this project until after the election.
3. Conduct Information Communications and Telecommunications (ICT) information sessions in communities within the Algoma District.	As per the normal practice, no formal community information sessions were held over the summer period. Staff maintained contact on a one–to-one basis with a number of key people throughout the District. We responded to a number of small requests from community contacts related to specific issues. We continue to expand our acceptance by District leaders as the “go to” organization for help and assistance regarding IT matters.
4. Respond to new funding opportunities as announced by funding agencies	COBRA. Letter of Intent was accepted by MNDM (on behalf of MEOI) and permission given to move to the Business Plan Development stage. A draft application for Business Plan Development was submitted through “back channel” to MNDM for review and comment prior to staffing through the TIC and FAC. We are awaiting MNDM comments.
5. Implement corporate communications and marketing plans.	Plans being prepared for review by the TIC at next meeting in October.
6. Participate in community and regional ICT activities.	There were no activities during the summer. TAG and Chamber of Commerce Technology Advisory Group held their first meetings of the new season the first week of September.
7. Improve operational and administrative efficiency.	Staff supported the Executive Committee in the search for a Secretary- Treasurer (see separate report) and the development of a succession plan.
8. Monitor advances in technology and work with members and partners to ensure they are aware of a potential operational impact to existing infostructure.	Continue to provide members and BoD with news and articles on developments in the IT sector.
Community Development Objectives
1. Establish a personnel presence in the Superior East region, the East Algoma region and the Sault Ste. Marie (SSM) District region to assist local organizations with ICT community capacity building.	This requirement has been rolled into the COBRA Business Plan Development funding application. This is in parallel with an application to HRDC.
2. Prepare and submit funding applications under the Federal Broadband for Rural and Northern Development (BRAND) programme.	This is covered as part of the COBRA application process. The Business Plan will identify any components that require BRAND funds. The COBRA approach was used because COBRA is funded at 100 cent dollars while BRAND is only funded at 50 cent dollars.
3. Assist communities with the development of solutions for local broadband distribution problems identified by the Local Infrastructure Development (LID) project	This requirement will be partially rolled into BRAND and COBRA for those communities that wish to proceed that way.
4. Assist communities in the development of local ICT committees.	Staff is assisting the new Blind River EDC in the formation of the ICT component of their EDC. We are working closely with the General Manager. We are planning to meet with the new staff at the Wawa EDC during a “northern swing” at the end of September.
5. Develop a community mentoring programme.	No new activity
Organizational Objectives:
1. Develop an annual business plan and a five year forecast.	This will be the theme of the Annual Planning Session in October.
2. Update the ADnet membership package documentation for use in marketing, membership drives, and advertising.	This will be part of the Marketing Plan development noted above.
3. Monitor and respond to opportunities to develop formal partnerships or joint ventures with likeminded organizations while avoiding duplication of effort.	Staff continues to work with the SSM IC and the SSM EDC on the development of common issues. For example, since GEO Smart Ontario is an application based GIS programme, staff encouraged interested parties to work with the SSM IC. We are working through the CoC TAG to develop a wireless “hot spot” at one of the local establishments.
Continuous Improvement Objectives (ADnet Processes):
1. Conduct Board of Director (BoD) development activities to improve Board effectiveness.	A successful session was held in June. The main outcome was the need to develop an executive succession plan.
2. Conduct staff development activities and attendance at conferences.	No new activities in this area. The next scheduled events are the Northern Ontario Business Awards in Thunder Bay on 09 October and the Broadband conference in Hamilton on 16-18 Nov 03.
3. Review and update policy documents as required.	The next project is to develop the executive success plan policy for approval by the Board.