Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia
Board of Trustees
Minutes of November 10, 2010 Meeting

Attendance
Members present were: Barry Ahrendt (President-Elect), Linda Brennison (Treasurer), Michael Sullivan (Secretary); Members at Large: Ivy Coleman, Marcia Fletcher, Elizabeth Harris, Walter Patterson (partial attendance), and Andrea Pixley; and Ex-Officio Members Joe Long (Past-President) and Neal Jones (Minister). Others present for parts of the meeting were Ann Johnson (Personnel Committee Chair), Alison Thirkield (Finance Committee Member), and Jim Burton.

Call to Order and Establishment of Quorum
The meeting was called to order by Barry Ahrendt at 6:40 PM. A quorum was present.

Chalice Lighting and Opening Words
Barry did a reading from Victoria Safford’s “The Gates of Hope” (The Nation, September 20, 2004):
Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of hope–not the prudent gates of Optimism, which are somewhat narrower; nor the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense; nor the strident gates of Self-Righteousness, which creak on shrill and angry hinges (people cannot hear us there; they cannot pass through); nor the cheerful, flimsy garden gate of “Everything Is Gonna Be All Right.” But a different, sometimes lonely place, of truth-telling about your own soul first of all and its condition, the place of resistance and defiance, from which you see the world both as it is and as it could be, as it will be; the place from which you glimpse not only struggle but joy in the struggle. And we stand there, beckoning and calling, telling people what we’re seeing, asking them what they see.

Check-In
All present gave brief personal updates by way of checking in.

Approval of Minutes
On a motion by Ivy, seconded by Elizabeth, the minutes of the October 13, 2010 meeting were unanimously approved.

Consent Agenda
The Minister’s Report and Administrator’s Report were accepted on the consent agenda.

Report from Year-Round Canvass Chair
Alison Thirkield reported to the Board on the 2010-2011 pledge drive which is being organized around the theme of “Sustain the Flame”. Its emphasis will be on broadening our connections and building the congregation we envision, all of which our pledges make possible. The canvass is being rolled out in stages, starting with the first issue of “The Chronicle” newsletter which was done by Marcia. “This I Believe” testimonials, to include the youth, will start in December and will be excerpted in the newsletter and posted in web videos. An appreciation party for the entire congregation is being planned for early next year. Neal Jones will give a sermon on stewardship and giving. Volunteer canvassers are being recruited to make personal visits with all members. Members’ experience of UU and recommendations for changes will be solicited, along with their pledges. The Canvass Committee will be meeting monthly to coordinate this series of events. The committee members are Alison as chair; Sue Thayer as co-chair; Dave Crockett and Ann Johnson as leadership gifts chair and co-chair; Janet Swigler as appreciation party chair; Andrea Pixley as administrative chair; and Marcia Fletcher, in charge of publicity. The Board deferred discussion of its role in this new year-round canvass until next month.
Personnel Issues
Ann Johnson, Personnel Committee chair, requested approval of a revised job description for the position of custodian, which was written by Building and Grounds Committee Chair Jerry Cover and also Glenn White. Yard work has been added back into the job duties as it was deemed more cost-effective to have this done by the custodian than by a lawn service company. A motion was made by Marcia, seconded by Elizabeth, to approve the job description of custodian. The vote in favor was unanimous. (See Appendix 1 for job description). Ann also presented their recommendation for the hiring of Will Lamb as custodian contingent on the completion of their screening. He has extensive maintenance and machinery experience, documented in his resume and confirmed in their telephone interviews. The Personnel Committee is requesting provisional approval of his hiring in order to have a desired overlap with our retiring custodian, John Squire. A motion was made by Michael, seconded by Ivy, to approve the hiring of Will Lamb as custodian effective December 1, 2010 contingent on favorable completion of screening by the Personnel Committee. The vote in favor was unanimous. Neal will report back to the Board about this. There was agreement to add the amount previously approved for a lawn service contract, $1,225, to the custodian’s salary of $5,356 plus FICA. A motion was made by Michael, seconded by Linda, to approve an annual salary of $7,085 including FICA for the position of custodian. The vote in favor was unanimous.
Treasurer’s Report
In reference to the monthly financial reports, Michael raised a question about a shortfall in the plate collections line (502100). It was suggested that this may reflect an overly optimistic income projection; further discussion was deferred until the co-presidents’ return. Linda reported resolution of the Board’s questions regarding pledge accounting for the current year vs. previous fiscal year. This was discussed in a November 3rd meeting between Board and Finance Committee representatives. The amount allocated to pledges received for the previous year has been corrected to $8,280 rather than $20,836. $12,216 had been erroneously categorized as arrears due to a program glitch and has been reclassified to line 501100 as pledges this year. With this correction, pledges received through the end of October are slightly ahead of budget.
There were errors in some of the quarterly pledge statements due to software and other issues; the former Finance Committee Chair and Bookkeeper have been working to correct these. A motion was made by Barry, seconded by Michael, to authorize up to 15 additional hours for the Bookkeeper to complete the correction of the quarterly pledge statements. The vote in favor was unanimous. Barry reported on the plans to avoid these problems in the future. Several new persons have been recruited as collection counters. Training in the financial database program (ACS) will be made available to them and others as needed, to streamline the data entry process and reduce the workload.
Barry gave an update on the recruitment of a new Finance Committee Chair. This has been an urgent priority since the resignation of the previous chair, Pat Davy, effective October 31, 2010. A motion was made by the Treasurer, seconded by the Secretary, to appoint Connie Hudson as the new Finance Committee Chair. The vote in favor was unanimous.
Linda recommended converting the senior nursery worker position of Ivey Kaiser to employee status for purposes of tax reporting. A motion was made by Linda, seconded by Marcia, to add Ivey Kaiser to the employee payroll for tax and FICA purposes effective January 1, 2011. The vote in favor was unanimous.
Finally, Linda presented a summary of the year-end bonus payments made to employees last year. There was discussion of several issues relating to bonuses, including eligibility and differential payments based on employee status (full-time versus part-time, newly hired or retiring, etc). A motion was made by Marcia, seconded by Michael, to request the Personnel Committee develop a policy on bonus payments for 2011. The vote in favor was unanimous.
On a subsequent motion by Ivy, seconded by Michael, the Board unanimously agreed to go into executive session for a discussion of bonus amounts for specific employees. In executive session a total of $575 in year-end bonuses was unanimously approved on a motion by Ivy, seconded by Andrea.

Updates
Barry gave a brief report on the organizational meeting of the strategic planning team. Ivy and Elizabeth reported on the October 23rd yard sale fundraiser. It was a big success and raised $1850 for the general fund.

New Business
Jim Burton of the Interiors Sub-Committee of the Buildings and Grounds Committee presented the board a written overview of the new art exhibits program. The program displays the work of UUCC members and other local artists in the social hall and raises funds for the congregation through commission sales. The board received the report as information.
Ivy raised the issue of building security based on her observations while organizing the yard sale. Access to the building may need to be better controlled. She will raise this concern with the Building and Grounds Committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Sullivan, Secretary

Appendix 1: Custodian Job Description

Qualifications

Ability to lift at least 50 lbs
Ability to climb, stoop, and bend for periods of 30 minutes or more
Ability to follow schedules and directions
Ability to work unsupervised and available for a variety of scheduled times
Basic mechanical abilities
Ability to operate equipment safely and efficiently

Duties

Inside

Set up Social Hall for Sunday and scheduled events
Unload dishwasher when needed
Run dishwasher again if needed
Change light bulbs
On Thursday, take trash to curb
On Sunday set up coffee
60 cup urn
12 cup for Forum
12 cup decaf
hot water
set up coffee cups and condiments
Order coffee, napkins, condiments when needed
Other duties as required

Outside

Pick up litter, dead branches
Blow off walkways
Trim shrubs when needed
Mow when needed
Sweep up leaves when needed
Maintain mower