Members Present: Becky Dickey,
Bill Meller, Regina Moody,
Sloan Christian, Sandy Chubon, Joe Long, A.G., Dwight Pregler, Andrea
Derrick
Members Absent: Kevin
Meredith, Mary McGriff
Ex-Officio:
Patrick Price, Mary Heriot
Guests: Audrey
Muck, Gertrude Edge, Mike Paget, Carita Barr, Sej Harmon, Tootsie
Holland, Sara
Williams, Cindy Harper, Mary Maclachlan
Call to Order:
Regina Moody called the meeting to order at 6:10 PM.
Opening Words:
Bill read the opening words.
- Last Months Minutes: The revisions
to the March minutes were reviewed. Sandy made a motion to accept the
revised March minutes, the motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
The minutes of the April meeting were read. Sandy made a motion to
accept the April minutes, the motion was seconded and passed
unanimously.
Staff Reports -- The staff reports were read. Patrick
expressed Susan's apologies that she did not have time to email her
report in
advance.
The Minister's report
referenced several hospital visits and Sloan stated that she was in the
hospital and was not one of the visits referenced. It was noted in the
Administrator's report that the administrator is going back to Icon to
compare
their copier offerings and to revisit the trade in value.
Sandy questioned the IRS and the payroll tax
deposits. Joe stated there is confusion over two employees UUFC payroll
numbers. Dave Sparrow (former Treasurer) advised Joe that this issue
had been
resolved with the IRS several years ago. Joe will investigate. Sandy
questioned
how this dispute could exist for three years while accruing penalties.
Patrick
stated the IRS just this week notified us of the dispute in a letter
received
at 4:00 PM today. Sandy requested a full disclosure from the Board at
the
Congregational Meeting this Sunday including the amount of the dispute.
Joe
stated he would do what was possible to have a resolution available for
the
meeting.
Sandy questioned why the bank account reconciliation
had not been done for two months. And why receipts did not get to Jill.
Patrick
stated he was Chief Administrator but was not in charge of Jill. Mary
H. stated
the breakdown in the process has been corrected. Mary H. will review
the back
account reconciliation with Isabel each month.
Becky questioned Isabel's pay rate, the budget states
$9.50 per hour but the she has been getting $10.00. Patrick recommended
we
stick with $10.00 per hour and adjust the budgeted hours, as needed.
The new
budget calls for a cut of 1.5% in wages, so we need to limit Isabel's
hours
anyway. If this is not resolved by the next Board meeting we will have
to
decide by July 1 when the new fiscal year begins. Regina will write a
letter of
apology for the confusion over the pay rate. The rest of the staff is
aware of
their accurate hourly rates.
Jill is transitioning her work to Isabel but it is
going slowly due to Jill's medical condition.
Sandy
questioned exactly what went wrong and wondered how we can prevent it
from
happening again. This will remain an open issue. We believe, in
general, we
need a full time administrator.
Amy made a motion to accept the Staff Reports, the
motion was seconded and passed with one abstention.
2.
Treasurers Report: Joe stated we are in pretty
good financial
shape at the moment. Cindy asked if the reimbursements due to RE can be
made
and Joe will check.
3.
Canvas Update: Mary H. stated we have $89,000.00
in pledges so
far. The second request for pledges did bring in a couple of thousand
more
dollars. These figures do not include some of the new members who will
likely
pledge. In the new budget we are counting on receiving all pledged
funds, as in
past years, but went light on fundraisers that often fall short of
projections.
A significant number did not pledge at all, many are long-time members.
Dave
Dickey will check if everyone had been canvassed. Joe moved to formally
thank
Dave for his canvass efforts this year, the motion was seconded and
passed
unanimously.
4.
Audit Report: We received the Audit report three
days ago.
Mary H. stated the report is weak. The auditor stated that we are doing
well
except in the area of maintaining records. Records maintenance is
spotty but
has improved in recent years. Tootsie questioned if the audit is
sufficient to
apply for Federal Church Funding. It was stated that this audit was not
sufficient and an audit of that nature costs a lot of money to perform.
A copy
of the audit report will be available by the Sunday Annual Meeting and
will be
on display. The invoice for the audit should be manageable, and
volunteers
agreed to pay for it.
Mike Paget asked if there was ever an audit of the
Endowment Fund. Joe will provide a number for Mike to call to inquire.
The
Bylaws state the Endowment Fund should be audited yearly. We noted the
cost of
such an audit is prohibitive given the amount in the fund. It was
discussed
that there are Bylaws changes needed regarding the audits. Regina
stated that
next year we need a Bylaws Committee.
5.
Recommended Budget for 2003/2004: Mary H. and
the Finance
Committee recommend the budget in the last column on the sheet
distributed that
excludes funding for the Youth Coordinator who will be funded from fund
raising
events. This budget calls for a 1.5% reduction in salaries across the
board.
Joe stated the salary shortage is about $1,000.00. Sloan asked if we
should
consider going with a part-time Minister, but the Finance Committee
rejected
that idea (the Bylaws state the Finance Committee recommends a budget
to the
board.)
Cindy stated that the new budget does not provide
any funds for a summer program for the youth and only includes nursery
expenses. The trade-out agreement with the Sierra club has expired,
they used
to provide for a summer program in exchange for free building rent.
Sara Williams stated she felt a salary cut was more
appropriate than cutting youth programs because cutting youth programs
sends
the wrong message to our youth. Cindy stated it was intended to fund
the Youth
Coordinator position for one year only from fund raisers, not fund the
position
forever that way. The summer program would cost about $500.00 to
coordinate and
recruit teachers.
Mary H. stated we need more money in general. Amy
stated we need a fund raising committee. Patrick offered to fund some
of the
summer program from his discretionary fund. Tootsie stated the Caring
Committee
funds were at a minimum now and could not be cut. Their budget went
from $0.00
last year to $900.00 this year based on last year's actual experience
that
could be recalled. Tootsie will track actual expenses this year.
Mary Maclachlan stated she had not seen the numbers
yet, but she notes that Rusty Wenerick is being nominated as next
year's
Treasurer even though he does not pledge. She questioned if pledging
should not
be required to serve on the Board. There was general Board discussion
but it
was felt that pledging, while preferable, could not be required to sit
on the
Board.
Audrey suggested we put a request in the Unigram for
funds for the summer program. Regina suggested we fund the summer
program by
taking $100.00 from the budget of the Long Range Planning Committee,
$50.00 was
donated by Sej, $2.00 was donated by Sloan, $250.00 was taken from the
budget
for the accompanist, and $!00.00 from the Minister's Discretionary fund
-- thus
providing the funding the summer youth program at $502.00.
Bill made a motion to accept the proposed
budget, the motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Joe moved that
all
pledges in the future weeks will be allocated toward replacing the 1.5%
salary
cut and that any excess go toward funding the youth coordinator
position. Further
that, in anticipation of additional pledges being made, we will
continue to pay
salaries at the full rate for the next three months and reevaluate the
situation and decide on salary cuts then. Joe's motion was seconded and
passed
unanimously.
The budget, as proposed and with motions, is ready
to be presented to the congregation this Sunday. Don Mohr will be
advised of
the cut to the Long Range Planning Committee budget.
6.
Survey on Ministry: This agenda item was
stricken as it was
inadvertently left in from a prior month's agenda.
7.
Piano Recital Results: The recital netted the
UUFC about
$350.00. Bill will write a thank you letter on behalf of the
fellowship.
8.
Call for General Assembly Delegates: There is a
general call
for delegates. Based on the size of our congregation, we are entitled
to four
delegates not counting the Minister.
9.
Minister's Evaluation: Sej and Audrey presented
some changes
made to the headings in the proposed Annual Review of UUFC Called
Minister form
and omitted the printed date and year. They also proposed to remove the
word
'parish'. It is hoped this evaluation can be used to review all
ministry-related staff. Several other minor changes to the form were
discussed.
Sloan noted the form did not address the Minister keeping regular
office hours
nor the number of new members he should personally bring in each year.
Sloan
also stated she thought the Board was responsible for developing this
evaluation form. Sej commented that the Board did develop the form with
the
help and guidance of the MRC and with UUA
input.
Sej reminded us to look at the qualitative not quantitative
aspects of the form. The numbers of office hours and of new members can
be
addressed in the comments section of the form. Sej went on to state she
felt
the Minister was not the focal point in attracting new members.
Sandy asked who would compete this form. The Board
(anonymously at the June Board meeting) the MRC and Patrick (as a
self-evaluation). The MRC will consolidate the results. As this is a
pilot
year, the evaluation will not be made public. Sej will provide the form
at the
June meeting.
10.
A Brief Issue: Carita Barr asked, regarding fund
raising, if
there are no more UUFC coffee houses can we tap into the local artist
community
and propose some kind of idea there. Carita states this has happened in
the
past and that she still has materials from those events.
11.
UUFC Dance Fund Raisers: The dances proposed by
Andy Hendon
have had to be put on hold pending personal issues.
12.
Fund Raising Committee: Patrick and Mary H. are
designing a
committee to address fund raising and year-round pledge canvassing. Sej
has
volunteer to help get the fund raising part going. Sara stated she can
offer to
assist by providing CPR classes. The discussion of fund raising ideas
was deferred
until the next Board meeting.
13.
Hail Damage: There really was not any hail
damage to the
library roof. We do need to replace the roof very soon and we believe
the cost
to be around $1,500.00. This will be addressed by the Capital Committee.
14.
Coffee House Proposal: Mile Paget recapped the
document he
distributed regarding the favorable continuation of the coffee houses.
He
presented a draft plan for a committee to continue to host the coffee
houses.
The plan included:
a.
A
committee chair is needed who is a UUFC member.
b.
The
chair would direct committee members to do the work (not do all the
work
alone).
c.
The
chair would act as the 'treasurer' of the coffee houses.
d.
A
talent scout would be needed as the hallmark of UUFC coffee houses is
the
national talent. Jimmy cannot actively help but Susan can help with
getting
artist's names. Susan is plugged into the national music scene and gets
inquiries to play at the UUFC. The committee would really need Susan to
play
this role.
e.
A
publicity chair would be needed to raise attendance.
f.
A sound board position would be needed. We have
two who are
qualified and we would need to cultivate more. Perhaps this could be a
paid
position as had been done some in the past.
g.
A
facilities coordinator would be needed to handle set-up and break-down.
We reviewed the committee
roles and the considerations. We outlined how all the tasks could get
done. We
stressed the need for a very firm commitment from the chair. If we
pursue this,
the earliest we could host a coffee house would be January of 2004 as
the good
talent books six months in advance. If there is not a committee in
place by
July, we need to reconsider going forward. We would start with only one
show
per month. Hospitality must be considered a cost, as well. Patrick will
review
the committee charter with Mike. Email
paget@sc.rr.com
for comments.
Regina donated $100.00 for
gifts to Jimmy and Susan and asked for contributions.
15.
The Board wishes a
fond farewell to Amy who is moving out of town soon.
16.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM. Next time,
Sandy will
bring the food and Bill will provide the reading.
Humbly Submitted by:
Bill Meller
Secretary, UUFC Board of Trustees