UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION OF COLUMBIA

Board of Trustees

Minutes of February 18, 2015 Meeting

Attendance

Regina Moody (President), Marc Drews (Co-President Elect), Patty Drews (Co-President Elect, Chair Membership Committee), Sandy Chubon (Secretary), Bob Whitaker (Treasurer), Members at Large: Richard Culler, Caroline Eastman, Gareth Fenley, Janet Swigler, Tim VanDenBerg; Neal Jones (Minister), Del Maticic (guest).

Absent: Ivy Coleman and Robin Scherer (Past Co-Presidents), Dot Brown (Chair Finance Committee).

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Regina Moody at 6:36 PM.

Chalice Lighting

Richard Culler lit the chalice and provided a reading.  Trustees re-affirmed our Covenant and checked in.

Approval of Minutes

Sandy Chubon offered an amendment to correct her use of the term “CON” when she meant “lock-in” on page 3.  The minutes were approved with that correction.

Staff Reports

Clarification was requested and provided regarding the length of time that Barbie Seymour has agreed to serve as Chair of the CYRE Committee; she will serve until August, 2015.  The staff reports were accepted.

Treasurer’s Report

We continue to have a positive variance with revenue exceeding expenses to date.  Rental income and fundraising are both short of what we had planned.  Spending for staff salaries has been below budget because of turn over and lack of staff in some positions for periods of time.

Standing Committee Updates – Board Liaisons

Finance Committee   Dot Brown was ill and not able to attend the meeting.  She will send a report to Trustees electronically.  The Pledge Drive begins March 8.

Social Action Committee   Mike Sullivan plans to step down from the Chairperson’s position July 1.  No one has expressed willingness to take on that position.  Mike is asking members of the Committee to take responsibility for various recurring activities or projects to ensure some continuity into the next year.

Membership Committee   Patty Drews reported they are planning a Comnmittee Fair on April 19.  They are sending e-mails to other groups (program groups) inviting them to participate.  March 15 will be the deadline for groups to ask for a table in the social hall for the Fair.

The Membership Committee has a plan for informing people about committees and what they do.  A representative of the committee will be given ONE MINUTE during the announcement time during a Sunday service to describe the committee’s functions.  There will be a paragraph describing the committee in greater detail in the OOS that day.  The committee representative will be at the red table in the social hall after the service to answer questions and/or recruit new members.  The plan has been approved by the Worship Committee.  The Trustees supported the plan.

Ad Hoc Committee Updates

Facility Assessment Task Force   Richard Culler reported they have not met since their organizational meeting in the fall.  He is proposing that they try to do their work via e-mail.  He has identified a contractor to look at the building, especially the RE wing.   He would like to get a second opinion from another contractor.  Richard thinks the Boudreaux Group judged that wing as non-salvageable and followed with recommendations for its being demolished and replaced with another building or a new wing.  Regina suggested getting an estimate to repair the foundation and possibly renovate the basement.

Staff Compensation Study   Since the last Board meeting, Janet Swigler has replaced Patty Drews as Chairperson of this Ad Hoc Committee.  Janet thinks they have all the materials collected and ready to send to Denise Rimes, the UU District Consultant.  Before she sends the materials Janet would like the Committee’s  charge modified so (1) they review job descriptions and compensation packages for all UUCC employees and (2) they do not address staffing structure or the alignment of performance evaluations with job descriptions.  A motion was made and seconded to approve the changes Janet requested.  However, the discussion bogged down in confusion because Trustees did not have all versions of the charge making it difficult to see how the latest version addressed the issues.  The discussion was tabled; Janet will provide additional documentation to the Trustees and we will vote electronically.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

2006 Disruptive Behavior Policy

Tim VanDenBerg reported that he met with Buzzie Kelly and they made some changes to the policy and also re-formatted it to conform with the current policy format.  He was asked to present that at the next Board meeting.

Ratification of January 29 Online Vote re’ The Whipping Man

On January 27 Neal sent an a-mail to all Trustees to inform us that the UUCC has an opportunity to collaborate with NIA, One Columbia, and Columbia Commemorates to sponsor/produce the play The Whipping Man April 10-12, 2015.  The play will be performed by NIA at the UUCC with evening performances on Friday and Saturday and a matinee on Sunday.  This is a gripping play about family, politics, history, and religion set in Richmond at the end of the Civil War.  NIA is a creative, cutting-edge Columbia theater company.

Marc and Patty moved that UUCC serve as a sponsor partner and host of the play, The Whipping Man, to be presented April 10, 11, and 12, 2015 in our sanctuary.  Bob Whitaker seconded the motion.  In 24 hours allowed for discussion, most Trustees commented very enthusiastically in favor of the motion.  There were no negative comments.  E-mail voting on January 28 yielded 8 yes votes.  The motion passed.

UU Coffeehouse Update

Marc reported that Tim will work with Steve Fisher to convert the UU Coffeehouse to an independent entity, either a LLC or a 501 (C)(3).

Endowment Committee

Tim reported that the Memoranda of Understanding for the two Endowment funds approved by the Trustees last month have been signed by the Board President and the Chair of the Endowment Committee.

NEW BUSINESS

Application for a Chalice Lighters’ Grant

Del Meticic is interested in applying for a Chalice Lighters’ Grant for the young adult group, Iuuenes.  The purpose of the grant is to increase the number of people in this age group (18-25) in the UU.  He hopes to obtain at least a letter of support from the churches in Charleston and Clemson.  Trustees encouraged him to include the Spartanburg church.  He is in the process of formalizing Iuuenes as a program; he has written a charter which needs some polishing.  He hopes to strengthen Iuuenes and then provide outreach to other UU congregations in South Carolina to encourage them to provide similar programming.  If the process is replicable it would be of interest to funders.  His grant application would seek funding for promotion of programming for young adults.  He agreed to work some more on the charter and have it ready to be ratified by the Trustees at our next meeting.

UUCC Website

Regina has talked with Devon Hicks, a new member of our congregation who is a professional web master/designer.  He is willing to offer us one year of service on our website free of charge.  He estimates he will be donating 20 hours/month for this project.  He will assist in establishing policies and in-house training to keep portions of the web site going after his contract is finished.  Thereafter, we would need to budget money to pay a web master.

Currently there is a survey posted on our web site asking people for their comments on its usefulness.  Only about 10 people have responded.  There has been no publicity about the survey being posted.

Dates for Future Meetings

We agreed to hold the Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday, June 7, 2015.

Our Board Retreat will be held on a Saturday in August.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:36 PM.

Action Items

Below are the action items to be followed up at the next Board meeting.

1. Del Maticic will present a draft of the Charter for Iuuenes.
2. Tim VanDenBerg will present the revised Policy on Disruptive Behavior.
3. Richard Culler will report on the work of the Facilities Assessment Task Force.
4. Janet Swigler will report on the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on Staff Compensation.
5. Ivy Coleman will report on the work of the group developing plans for the use of a flat screen TV in the social hall.
6. Marc Drews will report on the Policy on the Coffeehouse.

Minutes recorded by

Sandy Chubon, Secretary