Executive Committee Meeting - September 28, 2026

Call to Order

Chris Noble, Vice Chair, called the meeting to order at approximately 2:07 PM ET.

A quorum of the Executive Committee was present.

Attendance and Introduction of Guests

Guests are shown in the provided attendance sheet.

Dan Leavitt suggested introducing Scott Brooks and welcomed Ken Parrot to the Executive Committee. Chris Noble recognized Ken Parrot’s addition to the Executive Committee.

Al Iuppa reported that Scott Brooks recently joined the VISPO board about two months ago, bringing significant industry experience across operations, government relations, and related areas. Ken Parrot asked whether Scott Brooks was local. Scott Brooks stated that he lives in Quechee (since 1999) and previously spent 15 years in Northfield, Vermont, so he knows the Central Vermont and Upper Valley territory well. He noted that he worked for TDS Telecom, which holds properties in the Northfield, Roxbury, Ludlow, Perkinsville, and Cavendish areas, and that he spent the last four years with Fidium (formerly Consolidated). He said he looked forward to getting up to speed with ECFiber and working with Al Iuppa and the team.

Changes to Agenda

Chris Noble asked whether there were any changes to the agenda; none were formally adopted at that time. He also asked whether any participants had schedule limitations requiring reordering of items; none were raised.

Public Comments

No members of the public commented.

Approval of Minutes

a. September 3, 2026

Chris Noble asked whether there were any questions, concerns, edits, or corrections to the prior minutes. Hearing no objection, the minutes were approved by unanimous consent (~2:08 PM ET).

Operations Update

Liane Allen reported that a full operations report was not prepared for this meeting due to the prior week’s schedule, but that a full report is anticipated for the full Board meeting.

• Marketing: The team continues to attend events, including the Bethel Forward Festival, the Corinth Fall Festival, and the newly added indoor Chelsea Holiday Market. The team has begun raffling off a Roku for people who sign up at the event booth, which has proven popular for gathering prospective customer names.
• In-kind venue program: The Chandler has indicated it would like to join the in-kind venue program, which will provide a larger presence than the prior sponsorship arrangement.
• Installs (preliminary, unconfirmed): Liane Allen reported 130 installs with 48 disconnects, for a net of 82 new customers. She noted the customer support side had been “blissfully calm” over the last couple of weeks.

Liane Allen noted that Cliff Rankin’s discussion would come later, and handed off to Corey Klinck.

Corey Klinck asked whether the “Zhone” matter was its own agenda item; John Powell confirmed it was not on this agenda. Corey Klinck described an initiative — discussed at the last Governing Board meeting and earlier that day at the VISPO board meeting — to order a quantity of Calix equipment and replace the existing Zhone OLTs with Calix OLTs, noting that Calix has created a compatibility layer allowing Zhone ONTs to run on Calix ONTs.

Chris Noble said he had seen the emails and that the proposal had merit, but expressed concern that Executive Committee members had not yet had the opportunity to review it in detail. He asked whether Corey Klinck was seeking a decision that day. Corey Klinck said he did not need a decision from the Executive Committee that day but hoped the Governing Board would ultimately decide. Chris Noble recommended hearing the presentation, then circulating the materials to Executive Committee members for study before the matter goes to the Governing Board, and asked that the materials also be sent to him so he could share them with F. X. Flinn.

Irv Thomae said he did not object to adding the item to the agenda even though the meeting was underway, but stressed the importance of studying it before making a recommendation. Dan Childs asked a practical question about the timing of the next Governing Board meeting; John Powell confirmed the next Governing Board meeting is scheduled for October 13, roughly two weeks out. Dan Childs noted that Corey Klinck was seeking a decision from the Governing Board as the ultimate decision maker.

Motion: by Irv Thomae to allow the VISPO operations presentation and to permit Executive Committee members to study the materials and provide their concerns (~2:18 PM ET). Seconded: by Dan Leavitt. Hearing no disagreement, the motion passed by unanimous consent. Vote: unanimous, passed.

Chris Noble asked Corey Klinck to send the materials (to be provided to John Powell) and to limit the presentation to 10–15 minutes, focusing on areas of potential concern. Chris Noble reminded participants that the materials are proprietary, business-sensitive, and pre-decisional.

Following a suggestion that the matter be handled in executive session, the Committee moved to enter executive session.

On a motion by Irv Thomae, seconded by Jerry Ward, the Board voted unanimously that premature general public knowledge would clearly place the public body at a substantial disadvantage pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313(1)(A) (~2:21 PM ET).

On a motion by Irv Thomae, seconded by Jerry Ward, the Board voted unanimously to enter executive session at approximately 2:22 PM ET pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313(1)(A). The following persons were present during executive session: Executive Committee members and VISPO attendees.

The committee returned to open session at approximately 3:17 PM ET. No formal action was taken in executive session.

Revised ECFiber Subscriber Agreement

Discussed as part of the executive session.

Chair Report

No Chair Report was provided.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 3:18 PM ET.