of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Columbia SC February 12, 2001
Members Present: Dave Dickey, Joe Kyle (Pres.), Morgan Maclachlan, Bill Meller, Kevin Meredith, Patrick Price, ex officio, and Joan Watterson.
Members Absent: Heather Cunningham, Betty Glad, Kay Gregory, Dave Sparrow, and Rusty Wenerick.
Visitors Present: Don Mohr, Mark Tompkins, and Judy Turnipseed.
Call to Order: Joe called the meeting to order at 6:05pm. Joan read the opening words.
Minutes of Previous Meeting: Heather was not present to provide the January minutes. They will be given at the March meeting.
Long Range Planning: Don Mohr provided both a written and verbal report on the Long Range Planning process. Due to a number of reasons, there has been a one-year hiatus of the LRPC. There needs to be a visioning process by members who were not originally involved. It was discussed that an update and review process of old members should be done using the information gathering during the cottage meetings of 12-24 months ago. It was decided to rev up the committee and its thrust in September. The Board requested that Don assemble the committee and to include at least one "newish" member. After meeting, he would report to the Board later in the spring and include some key plans and dates.
Treasurer's Report: Dave Sparrow was not present to give the Financial Report, although he did provide an explanations sheet with both statements. From the Statement of Income and Expense, he reported that pledges were very good in January and a $1000 gift was received from the Erbs; while the year-to-date pledges are still down, there is a decreasing rate of the below expected pledge income; the Facilities line item is high due to the increased rate for gas and electric; the Standing Committee costs are not a real cost from our operating fund, as it is actually the result of a transfer of the Minister's Discretionary monies. From the Statement of Financial Position sheet, he highlighted: the cash position is getting better, but still not great; the Cool It Fund will drop to $1563 after the payment for the furnace, which will happen this month. A final note was taken that "given the state of our General Operating Account' I would hold off from spending this money (the $1563.00, from the Cool It fund) for a while."
Sabbatical Committee: Judy Turnipseed reported the Sabbatical Committee has met and implementation of their plan was started this week by placing an article in the Unigram. Other plans from the committee are:
The Board requested that the Sabbatical Committee report back in March.
- Communicating extensively with the general congregation.
- Communicating with the various committees, especially the Caring and Worship committees.
- Janet Swigler will be presenting the plans to the Co-Council.
- The goal for the finalization of plans is May 1.
- Brochures obtained from another congregation will be distributed to ours.
- Something will be placed in the Unigram on a regular basis informing them of what will be happening during the Minister's Sabbatical.
Canvass Committee: The first meeting of the Canvass Committee will be held Sunday after church. Members of the committee will decide if there is to be a chair, if they need more members, and will distribute duties for each to do. Joan will report the progress back to the Board.
Dues Drive: The subcommittee working on the Dues Drive reported on progress as follows:
- Dave D. has placed posters in the foyer each Sunday pointing out a different perk that results from our being a Fair Share congregation.
- Pulpit Editorials for 2 or 3 weeks have been arranged by people active in UUA and TJD (Donald and Gertrude).
- A letter is being sent out to the congregation regarding the importance of paying the dues.
- "Big Givers" were going to be contacted after 1-3 above to see if they would pay more than their Fair Share.
Air Conditioning Unit: Kevin volunteered to obtain bids for a new air conditioning unit.
Personnel Committee Report: A report from the Personnel Committee was given on the following items:
Minister's Report: Rev. Patrick Price's report was reviewed and accepted as written.
- Bookkeeper position: A mother of two small children with much experience in accounting has answered a newspaper advertisement. Terry is interviewing her. The Board OK'd for him to hire her if all goes well.
- Youth Director position:
- The search is still on for an Interim Youth Coordinator. It was agreed that we would rather have someone within the Fellowship. If any Board member has an idea, they are asked to let Alice Leeper know.
- The Youth Director job description is complete and a copy was provided to the Board members. The Search Committee has yet to meet. Morgan suggested that we post the job description on the bulletin board of the Education Department at USC.
- Job Descriptions and Employee Handbook: Mark has asked Lynn Sparrow and Shell Tain to serve on the Personnel Committee for the purpose of completing the job descriptions and creating the handbook.
Administrator's Report: There wasn't an Administrator's report to be read.
As an aside, there was a suggestion during the Board meeting to have in the Unigram a calendar format with the dates of events. Joe offered to help Laura with this effort.
Director of Religious Education Report: Susan's report was read and accepted as written.
Building and Grounds Issue: Kevin brought up the fact that when children are out on the playground, the back door needs to be propped open, which causes a loss of heat from the building. He suggested that an opening-from-the-outside device be looked into. Also a concern was that the gate to the playground does not have a locking device on it. Kevin agreed to look into both.
Closing Logistics: The sign-up sheet for the welcome was passed around and completed as requested. Joe will bring snacks to the next meeting and Bill will provide a reading.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned around 7:30pm.
Heather Cunningham
Secretary, UUFC Board of Trustees
Summary of February 12, 2001, Minutes
Motions Passed:
Decisions Made:
- Action Items:
- Don Mohr, Chair, will reconvene the Long Range Planning Committee. Afterward, he will report to the Board with some key plans and dates.
- The Sabbatical Committee is progressing with their plans. They will report at the March Board meeting about their progress.
- Joan Watterson, At-Large Board and Canvass Comm. member, will report at the March Board meeting on the Canvass Committee meeting.
- Kevin Meredith, At-Large Board member, will look into bids for the air conditioning unit and into solving the issues with the playground safety.
- The Board is encouraged to send the names of people who might be able to fill the Interim Youth Coordinator position to Alice Leeper.
- The Youth Coordinator Search Committee will meet soon.
- Joe Kyle, Board President, will work with Laura Ingram, UUFC Administrator, to include a calendar format with dates of events in the Unigram.
- Terry Shaw, Finance Committee Chair has Board approval to hire an interviewee for the Bookkeeper position if he felt she could do the job.
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.
Your comments/corrections are welcome. Email to Donald Griggs at dgriggs@chaliceweb.org