Members Present: Heather Cunningham,
Dave Dickey, Joe Kyle (Pres.), Bill Meller, Kevin
Meredith, Patrick Price, ex officio, Dave Sparrow, and Joan Watterson.
Members Absent: Betty Glad, Kay Gregory, Morgan
Maclachlan, and Rusty Wenerick.
Visitors Present: Mark Tompkins.
Call to Order: Joe called the meeting to order
at 6:05pm.
Bill read the opening words.
Minutes of Previous Meeting: The
January
2001 meeting minutes were
provided and read.
A correction from
the term
Interim Youth Coordinator to simply
Youth
Coordinator was
made.
Dave Dickey
moved
to accept the minutes with the correction noted; the
motion
was
seconded
and
passed unanimously.
The
February 2001meeting minutes were read.
An
addition was made under the
Dues Drive
area.
Kevin
moved to
accept the minutes with the correction noted; the
motion
was
seconded
and
passed unanimously.
A non-voting issue was discussed regarding the procedure of
the Sunday morning
Welcome and Announcements.
Per
agreement, the Board will begin to implement one of the
workgroup suggestions to have a :Farewell person in the foyer
following the
service.
The :Farewell person for a
given Sunday would be the same person giving the Welcome and
Announcements that
morning.
Heather agreed to adjust the
Announcements script to include this acknowledgement and email to
Patrick Price
for review and approval.
Personnel Committee Report: Mark
Tompkins gave the following report from
the Personnel Committee:
- Employee Handbook: There will
be a timeline of about 4 to 5 months for the handbook to be created, as
there are several issues to be considered. Mark
gave the Board copies of a memo outlining the issues to be discussed at
some point. One issue of importance was the
hiring of staff. The following question, as an
example, was raised from items on the memo:
- Who creates a search committee to
fill a vacant position? Should this
responsibility fall upon the Board or the Personnel committee? By general agreement, the Personnel committee would
recommend the Search committee members to the Board, who would then
approve and instruct the Search committee to begin the process.
- Youth Director position:
- An advertisement for the Youth
Director position went into the Sunday classifieds, March 11, 2001. The cost for the ad was $320. The
Board authorized Mark to place the ad again for a second Sunday.
UUFC By-Laws: Mark asked if
Heather could resend the correct language for the By-Laws
changes approved in the November 2000 Congregational meeting.
He will edit the By-Laws and send to Laura
and Board members as soon as he has received the changes.
Treasurer's Report: Dave Sparrow gave the
Financial
Report.
From the
Statement of
Income and Expense, he reported that pledges were down both monthly
and
year-to-date, and that this was largely due to the dues receipts that
picked up
during the Dues Drive.
As well, the
:Facilities line item exceeded the budgeted amount as we paid the
Furnace
bill, which would be offset from the Cool It fundraiser, and from
another
exceptionally high utility bill.
From the
Statement of Financial Position sheet,
highlights were the tight operating funds due to the low pledge
collections and
Dave's plans to liquidate one CD and transfer monies from the savings
account
in order to pay the dues (to the TJD and UUA) and transfer the
endowment funds
(to the UUA).
After the transfer, there
will be one CD and ~$2100 in the Savings account.
Dues Drive: The amount collected
for the Dues from the drive was ~$5000.
As this
amount will not pay both the Thomas
Jefferson District and Unitarian Universalist Association dues in full,
Joe
suggested that the amount collected be used to pay all of the TJD dues
and the
remainder be sent to the UUA toward our Fair Share pledge.
He asked Dave S. to contact the TJD
Treasurer and discuss the matter with him, getting his recommendation.
Dave agreed to contact the Treasurer and
then pay the TJD dues in full with the remainder to the UUA accordingly.
It was noted that the dues are due at the
end of March.
Endowment Report: Dave S. also
reported that there is ~$900 in the Endowment fund
to be sent to the UUA.
He will send
this in the month of March.
Bookkeeper Position: The UUFC is
a client of an accountant, as opposed to hiring a
staff member. We are paying her ~$250 per month.
She
will handle all of the bookkeeper duties and begin on March
15, 2001.
Shell Tain will provide her
with an orientation.
Missing Collection: Dave reported the
collection that came up missing in the fall of 2000
has been found.
The Finance committee
will place phone calls to the members who wrote checks and ask for
direction
with their found checks.
Joe agreed to
contact Terry as soon as possible to relay this information and an
article will
be placed in the Unigram for congregational notice.
Air Conditioning Unit: Kevin
briefly went over the estimates he has
received for the replacement of the A/C units.
As
he had just received them, he hadn't had time to go over the
different models recommended on the three bids.
Patrick
reported that, currently, the UUFC has two A/C units for
the sanctuary and the administrative wing.
There
were two units for the Social Hall, although one is down and the
other is stressed if used alone.
Heather offered
to research the differences in the bids and report back
to the Board at the April meeting, when a decision will be made.
Building and Grounds Issues: Kevin
brought up other issues about the
Building and Grounds, highlighted on a B&G Update memo.
The Board agreed to fix the door to the
playground with an outside latching mechanism so the door may be kept
closed
even when there are children on the playground.
(The
high costs of the utility bills and the safety of the
children were both large considerations for the decision.)
Other issues, including problem trees on the land, the need
for an additional light in the RE wing, and a conversation with
SCE&G
regarding an outside lamp, are in the process or estimates are being
requested.
Patrick brought up a concern
regarding the landscape and it being 'environmentally-friendly' and
appealing.
He asked about future
workdays to clean and spruce up the grounds.
Kevin
agreed to speak with Kim Connelly regarding the workdays.
Canvass Committee: Joan reported
that the Canvass Committee has been meeting once a
week for the past month.
The motto for
this years' canvass is :From the Flame Comes Enlightenment.
The Canvass plan is as follows:
- There will be a dinner hosted by Don
and Pat Mohr for the large contributors on March 31 in appreciation of
their continued support.
- In the next couple of weeks, a
brochure with the pledge card will be mailed to all members.
- On April 7th, there will
be a Canvass Kick-Off Dinner at the UUFC. The
event will be catered with a bar where donations will be accepted in
lieu of payment. Invitations will be mailed the
end of this week, with emphasis given on the :JUST FUN and not
canvassing information. There will be greetings
and recognition of volunteers this year. After a
brief discussion, it was agreed that childcare should be arranged and
offered for a small donation for families with children.
- The committee plans to have the
canvass completed by the end of April.
Reports and Updates: The staff
reports (
Minister's Report,
Administrator's
Report, and
Director of Religious Education Report) as well
as the
updates from the various workgroups and the Co-Council were postponed
due to a
lack of time.
The
Minister's Report
and the
Administrator's Report were received prior to the
meeting.
May Board Meeting: Due to concerns of the
Board meeting following the pre-Congregational meeting potluck on May
11, 2001,
the members agreed to change the May Board meeting from May 14, 2001,
to May 7,
2001.
Mountain Retreat: Joan
moved to
pay the $200 deposit and sign the contract required by the Mountain
Retreat
center for the UUFC April retreat; the
motion was
seconded
and
passed unanimously.
Closing Logistics: The sign-up sheet
for the welcome was passed around and completed as
requested.
Joan agreed to provide the
food at the next meeting and Heather will provide the reading.
Adjournment: The meeting was
adjourned after 8pm.
Heather Cunningham
Secretary, UUFC Board of Trustees