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Meeting Minutes: Board of Trustees

of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Columbia SC

July 10, 2000


 


Members Present: Heather Cunningham, Dave Dickey, Kay Gregory, Joe Kyle (Pres.), Joan Watterson, and Rusty Wenerick

Members Absent: Betty Glad, Morgan Maclachlan, Kevin Meredith, Patrick Price, ex officio, and Dave Sparrow

Visitors Present: Carita Barr, Gertrude Edge

Call to Order: Joe called the meeting to order with a reading at 6:10.

Team to Select Bookkeeper Reports: Mark Tompkins, representing the team selected at the June Board meeting to interview, select, and hire a bookkeeper, reported to the new Board. Mark reported there were four persons who submitted formal requests for the position. Of the four, two stood out with formal qualifications, including a substantial amount of formal experience. Shell Tane, who is a long-time and involved UU, worked as an accountant in several firms in California. Peter Kandis, retired father of member Peter Kandis, among other prior experience, worked as the Treasurer for his church for a number of years. Neither are members of the UUFC at this time, which was mentioned as a preference for filling the position, eliminating the issue of conflict of interest. Mark's suggestion was to have Shell to fill the position for the 1st quarter of the fiscal year, asking her to bring insights into how we carry on business and possible solutions to current problems. Shell would serve from July 2000 through the end of September 2000. Beginning in October, Mr. Kandis would fill the position permanently. As of the meeting, Mark had spoken to Shell, and she was agreeable to this arrangement. He stated he would speak to Mr. Kandis this evening, to verify his agreeability. Also, Mark is arranging a meeting with Shell and Laura to discuss training opportunities.

Mark asked the Board to approve this arrangement and to give him the authority to move forward if both parties are congenial. Joan moved to accept Mark's proposal to offer Shell Tane the position of bookkeeper for the UUFC for the 1st quarter of the fiscal year, with Peter Kandis (father) filling the position afterward; Dave D. seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Mark agreed to send Joe the draft of a letter of hire; Joe will sign and forward as acceptable.

Rusty questioned the purpose of advertising the position among the UUFC congregation if a preference was for the position to be filled by non-members of the congregation. A short discussion was held, confirming the majority's understanding that the experience of the person(s) selected was of greater priority than membership to the UUFC. In conclusion, it was agreed that, for future job positions, advertising in the Unigram should be carefully worded if the leadership would prefer a non-UUFC member to fill the position.

Administrator's Orientation: Laura Ingram, UUFC Administrator, was not in attendance to give the Administrator's Orientation to the new Board members, due to the number of members absent. Joe will speak to Laura and reschedule her orientation for the August 2000 Board meeting.

Minutes of Previous Meeting: The June 2000 meeting minutes were read and approved as written.

Treasurer's Report: Dave Sparrow was not in attendance to give the Treasurer's Report

2000 Board Retreat: Joe and Rusty related information discussed in the Board retreat workgroup meeting. A discussion was held and decisions were made regarding the following topics:

  1. Lutheran Seminary was chosen for the location, as there is a conference room with a kitchen, parking available, and it is FREE. Rusty will call the Seminary to confirm.
  2. The retreat will be held on Saturday, August 26, 2000, from 9am-3pm. Invitations will be given to staff and Committee Chairs to attend the retreat through lunch. Approximately 20 people are anticipated for the event.
  3. Joan referred the decision of whether to invite an outside facilitator or not to the retreat workgroup.
  4. The day's events are as follows:
    1. Board Orientation  the how, what, why of being on the Board  est. 30m.  9-9:30am
    2. Board and Committee Relations  who's responsible for what  est. 1h.  9:30-10:30am
    3. Personality Exercise  to discover our valuable differences  est. 1h.  10:30-11:30am
    4. Potluck Lunch  for Fun & Fellowship!!  11:30-12:30pm
    5. 2000 Board Visions & Goal Setting  2 = h.  12:30-3pm
Persons responsible for each segment are still to be confirmed, as well as coordination of the invitations and potluck lunch.

Report on Capital Drive: Joe distributed a copy of the letter submitted by Terry Shaw to introduce the $10,000 capital drive to the congregation. The Board reviewed the letter and approved the letter for mailing, with a few editorial changes.

Heather reported on meeting with a representative from Burriss Electrical to get an estimate of the cost to move the sound equipment from the sound room to the alcove. She told the Board that we would also receive an estimate to install a dropped ceiling in the social hall to run the electrical wiring in fire code.

Memorial Society: After a request, Dave D. made a motion to allow the South Carolina Memorial Society to use the Fellowship for 2 hours provided the calendar is open; Joan seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Minister's Report: Rev. Patrick Price's report was accepted.

Youth Advisor's Report: Terry Murphy's report was accepted.

New Member Orientation: Gertrude Edge invited the members of the Board to attend the New Member Orientation to be held this week at the Fellowship.

Announcements & Greeters: When the list for Board members to sign up to do the Welcome & Announcements on Sunday mornings, a discussion was held regarding finding a replacement for Donald Cooper, as he may be leaving Columbia. Gertrude and Carita recommended reinstalling a Greeters Committee, as part of the Membership Committee.

During the discussion, the following format was suggested: Committee chairs would be invited and sign up to do what Donald Cooper has been doing, standing at the table in the foyer, greeting members, asking visitors to take a name tag and sign up for the Unigram, and passing out Bulletins for the service. Board members will continue to do the Welcome & Announcements at the beginning of the service; however, they will also stand in the foyer before each service and greet members and visitors and hand out bulletins for the service, along with the Committee chair.

Board members were asked to consider this, and Dave Dickey said he would speak to the Co-Council about this suggestion.

11th Board Member: It was decided, per the view of the President, to appoint the 11th member of the Board of Trustees, asking the Nominating Committee to make suggestions. The By-laws were consulted as to the official procedure in this matter, and it was discovered that the Board could elect members as needed.

Tai Chi: All present were notified they are welcome to attend Peter Kandis' Tai Chi class free of charge, currently meeting on Wednesday evenings at 5:30pm in the UUFC Social Hall.

The Mountain: Gertrude Edge encouraged the Board to find someone to serve as Mountain liaison for the fellowship. She also wanted Board approval to check into the Spring 2001 dates for a possible UUFC Retreat at the Mountain, which was granted. She was thinking, at the meeting, of April 7-8, April 28-29, or even Memorial Day weekend.

UUFC Dues: Joe produced a letter he had received from the UUA, asking member congregations to commit to paying the amount of dues per the membership record returned at the beginning of the Year 2000. The total amount due is $9,366.00, and asked Heather to confirm that we would be paying this amount in full. (It was Heather's objective goal of the last Board year to see that our dues were paid in full next fiscal year.) She adamantly confirmed the plan, and briefly shared an intention to be working with the Finance Committee on this goal. The dues year referred to on the form were July 2000  June 2001, and the total was calculated on 223 members reported at $42.00 (UUA dues) per member.

Heather confirmed the meeting time of the Finance Committee, which is the Saturday before the Board meeting, and was given the name of Bill Meller as someone to contact with information from the Annual Program Fund Committee.

Holiday Bazaar: Carita Barr was in attendance of the Board meeting to secure the support of the Board for the annual 2000 Holiday Bazaar to be held from late November into December 2000. She was specifically seeking the Board's approval for the bazaar to be held on the first weekend in December. Unfortunately, there was a conflict with the Coffeehouse on the office calendar for the same evening. Various members of the Board, including Joe Kyle, and Gertrude asked Carita if they could be allowed to speak on behalf of the Bazaar to Susan Corbett (organizer of the Coffeehouse series) about rearranging the schedule. It is hoped that a resolution to the conflict of dates can be accomplished.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned around 8:25pm.
 
 

Heather Cunningham

Secretary, UUFC Board of Trustees

Summary of July 10, 2000, Minutes

Motions Passed:

Action Items: Decisions Made:
 
  If there are any suggestions for additional indexing of items, or if there are any other recommendations about the minutes, please contact Heather Cunningham at 803-xxx-xxxx, or via email to heather@LFS-SC.org. Thank you.

In the event of discrepancies the paper copy of the minutes as contained the the board minutes binder shall be the official version.  This binder is maintained by the administrator in the congregation office.

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