Alabama NENA Executive Committee

MINUTES Alabama NENA Executive Committee November 16, 2004 – Sandestin, FL

1. Meeting Called to Order – 2:05 PM President Bill Brodeur

2. Welcome – Members and attendees present

 Bill Brodeur  Roger Humphrey  Roger Wilson  Harold Parker  Larry Duncan  Donnie Smith  Ray Preston

3. Review and approval of July 22, 2004 Executive Committee Minutes No discussion  Motion to approve – Donnie Smith  Second – Roger Humphrey  Motion Carried without discussion

4. Financial Report – Bill Brodeur The July 2004 financial report was approved by the membership in the Chapter meeting earlier in the day. There was new discussion about a need to have an auditor review the Chapter books periodically. This has not been done in the past. No decision was made and it will be discussed at a future date. There was discussion about the position of Chapter Treasurer. Dorothy Maddox from Cullman County E911 volunteered to serve as treasurer, but the committee was unsure if someone other than an executive committee member is allowed to do so by the chapter bylaws. The bylaws will be reviewed prior to the January 2005 meeting. Richard Holt will close out the books through the 2004 conference, and a new treasurer will assume duties at that point. The position will be determined during the January 2005 executive committee meeting.

Bill Brodeur requested the chapter secure a permanent chapter post office box, and use “forwarding” from that box to the treasurer. By doing this, a new post office box will not need to be established each time a new treasurer is installed.

5. Legislative Overview and Discussion – Roger Wilson reported the Alabama County Commission Association meeting is scheduled December 1 and 2 at the Birmingham Marriott. He expects many changes to be proposed. Harold Parker, Roger Wilson and Roger Humphrey all stated their districts are experiencing a steady decline in wireline revenue. Roger Wilson stated a solution for revenue generation from VoIP is critical to ensure continued funding for E911. He further stated the Chapter must take a position in the discussions. Bill Brodeur mentioned a request for the Alabama Chapter of NENA to join in a class action lawsuit. Extensive discussion followed, but the decision was made that the Chapter should not take a position although the members certainly could do so. A motion was raised to post a link on the Alabama NENA web site that describes the Chambers County E911 vs. City of Valley pending lawsuit over whether a municipality can “succeed” from an existing E911 district.  Motion - Roger Wilson  Second – Roger Humphrey  Motion carried with no further discussion

6. Managerial Training – Bill Brodeur reminded everyone this was discussed during the Chapter meeting earlier in the day. A correction was made to remind the membership that the charge for non-members is $100 per one-day class.

7 Minimum Dispatch Standards – Roger Wilson is working to provide a cost to fund minimum dispatcher standards.

8. 2004 Annual Conference Report – Bill Brodeur stated the conference had not completed and the conference committee had not settled with Sandestin. The attendee count for the 2004 conference was 530. Bill reported some problems with the Resort management that were being worked, to include a “surcharge” by the Resort to allow vendors to use the facility electricity and for bringing in outside audio-visual equipment. He also stated that approximately $5,000 in registration refunds would be given due to relocation of the conference.

9. LATA Reports a. Birmingham – Harold Parker had nothing to report b. Montgomery – Donnie Smith had nothing to report c. Mobile – No report d. Huntsville – Larry Duncan had nothing to report e. Roger Wilson recommended each LATA Vice President try to hold a short LATA meeting immediately following the BellSouth OGM meetings.

10. Old Business – There was some discussion about Homeland Security but no new information was presented.

11. New Business a. Bill Brodeur recommended the Chapter give the old chapter laptop computer away as a door prize at the closing session. The hard drive had been cleaned of any chapter information and the laptop was no longer needed.  Motion – Roger Humphrey  Second – Donnie Smith  Motion carried b. Ray Preston requested the committee direct him how long to retain chapter and executive committee meeting tapes. After discussion, it was decided to retain the tapes for 2 years unless the topic during any of the meetings was a controversial topic. c. Larry Duncan asked the committee what to do with the chapter’s video camera. He stated it is a semi-professional camera that requires certain manual settings. He also stated the battery needs to be replaced. No decision was made at this meeting. d. Roger Wilson reported finding the “north” Reddy Fox costume damaged and missing parts. Someone in a garage had stored the “south” Reddy Fox costume and the costume had been wet and was in poor condition. Roger stated the last user to have the costume was to have it dry cleaned and to submit the receipt to the chapter for reimbursement. Roger Wilson recommended no further purchases of “community use” items since these had not been taken care of properly. e. Bill Brodeur mentioned the chapter library at Calhoun County E911 needed to be moved, as Calhoun County needs the space. f. Bill Brodeur raised a question that had been asked earlier in the day during the chapter meeting. A request was made from the floor of the chapter meeting to keep the chapter meetings at central locations such as Montgomery or Birmingham. Extensive discussion followed, but no decision was made. This will be discussed at a future committee meeting. g. Bill Brodeur reminded the committee about the NENA Critical Issues Forum in Washington D.C., and asked if the chapter would pay the expenses for someone to attend to represent the chapter. This will be discussed in the chapter meeting in January 2005.

12. Next Executive Committee meeting date established at a time to be determined during the Annual Conference in October 2004. Motion to adjourn.

Motion – Roger Humphrey Second – Larry Duncan Motion Carried

Next Executive Committee meeting at 2:00 PM, Wednesday January 26, 2005 at the BellSouth Alabama Operations Center, 3196 Highway 280 South, Birmingham, AL 35243