Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia

Board of Trustees

Minutes of August 20, 2014 Meeting

Attendance

Regina Moody (President), Sandy Chubon (Secretary), Bob Whitaker (Treasurer), Marc Drews (Co-President  Elect), Patty Drews (Co-President Elect, Chair Membership Committee), Members at Large: Richard Culler, Caroline Eastman, Gareth Fenley, Janet Swigler, Tim VanDenBerg; Co-Past Presidents: Ivy Coleman, Robin Scherer; Dot Brown, Chair Finance Committee; Neal Jones, Minister; Keitha Whitaker & Joe Long, partial attendance.

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Regina Moody at 6:38 PM.  A quorum was present.

Chalice Lighting

Marc Drews lit the chalice and provided a reading.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes had been circulated with some revisions; re-wording of one sentence was requested by Sandy Chubon on behalf of a board trustee.  On a motion from Marc Drews with a second from Gareth Fenley, the minutes were approved as amended.

Treasurer’s Report

Bob Whitaker distributed his July report and the Variance Report.  With the passage of one month in the new fiscal year (8.3% of the year), we do not expect to find any large variance from the projected budget.  Bob pointed out that we had an 8.25% shortfall on pledge and non-pledge giving in the last fiscal year.  That was partially offset by under-spending, primarily due to the medical leave of the Administrator.  Pledge and non-pledge giving is starting the new year at 6.67% of the projected amount in July.  The Board Reserve balance is $2,369.12, carried over from last year.

Staff Reports

Richard Culler moved and Patty Drews seconded a motion to accept the reports of the Minister, the Administrator, and the Director of Religious Education.  The motion passed with one abstention. 

Housekeeping Issues

Regina announced that we have no chairperson for the Building and Grounds Committee or for the Children and Youth Religious Education Committee.  Three committees have no Board Liaison: Caring and Hospitality, Denominational Connections, and Green Sanctuary.   There were no reports from any committee liaisons at this meeting.  The Adult Religious Education Committee will host Committee Night in September.

Neal Jones demonstrated how to lock the doors from the social hall onto the patio.  These doors are often found unlocked when staff come in to work; this is a major safety issue.

OLD BUSINESS

Picture Directory   Patty Drews reported that the order was submitted for the picture directories and they should arrive by the end of August.  Fifty extra copies were ordered to be distributed to new members who join in the near future.  There was a brisk discussion about the 50 extra copies and what funds would be used to pay for them.  Janet Swigler made a motion to try and cancel the order for the 50 extra copies and if it cannot be cancelled, to pay for them from the Board Contingency Fund.  Richard Culler seconded the motion.  It passed.

UUCC Website    Marc Drews reported that he has not received bio sketches from all trustees.  There was some discussion about how to get those and trustees’ pictures posted once they are received.

Regina reported that there is now a place designated on the website for Policies and another for Social Action.

UU Coffeehouse    The unwritten policy has been for the Coffeehouse to give the UUCC any money earned in excess of $1500 each year.  They have given the UUCC  $1300+ for last season.   Steve Fisher, the new Coffeehouse manager, was introduced to the trustees during our meeting.   Regina, Marc, Steve Fisher, and Mike Allen have met to work on written policies for the Coffeehouse.

Policy Manual    Regina reminded us that within 7 days of the acceptance of a new policy by the board, the policy will be posted on our web site.  A paper copy will go into the Policy Notebook.

Reminders   Regina reminded trustees that we are each required to read Balancing Acts: Keeping Children Safe in Congregations annually.  It is available on the web and there is one paper copy available to be circulated.  When you have read it, sign the list which is stored in a notebook beside Andrea’s office door.  Deadline is October 1.

Regina asked for suggestions of how to keep track of desired bylaws changes throughout the year until we appoint a committee in the spring to work on bylaws revisions.

The use of Sign Up Genius for trustees’ schedule of doing the announcements has been declared a failure.  We will not be using the program this year.  Sign-up sheets are available using pen or pencil.

NEW BUSINESS

Safe Congregation Policies and Procedures   Keitha Whitaker and Joe Long joined the meeting to present the work of the task force on safety policies.  Work on this project began in June, 2012 and first resulted in Safety Policies for Children and Youth Served which was approved by the Board in August, 2013.  During the past year the task force has worked on this comprehensive overview of safety issues which will be combined with the Safety Policies for Children and Youth Served.

The first item discussed was the definition of the terms “youth” and “adult”.  After some discussion, we agreed to define an adult as:  A person who is 18 years of age or older and who is not a youth as defined by this policy.   Gareth Fenley moved and Caroline Eastman seconded that the definition of youth will be:    An individual who is under 19 and is enrolled in the CYRE program.  The motion passed.

              Caroline Eastman moved that we add “and a Safety Policy for Children and Youth Served” at the end of Section 4.2.  Gareth Fenley seconded the motion.  It passed.

              It was suggested that we include the Seven UU Principles in an Appendix since they are mentioned several times in the policy.  After some discussion it was agreed that we will not include the Principles.

In Section 6.5 and 6.6 the term “President of the Executive Board” is used three times.  Gareth Fenley moved and Caroline Eastman seconded the motion to delete the word “Executive”.  The motion passed.

              With the consensus of the group, in Section 7.3 the words “the fact” were deleted.

Under Section 9.0 Safety Procedures, we agreed to add Section 9.3.1.  For any disturbance on UUCC’s property call 911 immediately and follow the UUCC Protocol for Any Disturbance on the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia’s Property (Appendix 5).  The minister, or the service leader in the minister’s absence, will determine any direct action taken.

Also under Section 9.0 Safety Procedures, we agreed to add Section 9.5 Alcohol.  All applicable state laws regarding the use of alcohol must be observed.  In addition, at the conclusion of any UUCC event at which alcohol is served all alcohol must be removed from the premises.   This is identical to the policy statement in our rental agreement.

Janet Swigler moved that we remove the signatures on page 8.  Caroline Eastman seconded the motion.  With our new format for policies, the names of individuals or committees who wrote the policy are  listed at the top of the first page of the policy.   The motion passed.

There was some discussion about whether the Resources listed at the end of the policy should be dated.  There was agreement that was not necessary.

Dissolving the UUCC Safety Task Force   Keitha reported that the Safety Task Force would like to be dissolved upon approval of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia Safe Congregation Policies and Procedures  considered at this meeting .  They believe they have completed the task assigned to them by the Board of Trustees.

ADA Survey and Recommendations   Keitha circulated copies of an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Survey of the UUCC property conducted by Jean Capalbo and Greer Lawson along with the guidelines they used.

UUCC Animal Ministry Request    The Animal Ministry Committee has requested permission to have an educational display in the social hall by H.E.A.R.T. to promote short term foster homes.  They did not provide a specific date.  Their request was approved provided that it does not conflict with other events already scheduled  in September.

Building and Grounds Committee project   Members of the committee have developed a plan to add wall shelving to the stage storage room.  Their cost estimate is $1190.  They propose to use $500 from the Art Exhibit Fund and $600 from the excess UU Coffeehouse funds.   There was a brisk discussion about the cost of the project.  Members of the committee will come to a future board meeting to present more details.

Approval of new member of Endowment Committee   Trustees unanimously approved Linda Brennison as a member of the Endowment Committee.

Future Plans for Facilities    After some discussion trustees agreed that our planning for the future should be centered on planning for improvements/changes in our facilities.  Gareth Fenley, Richard Culler, Marc Drews, and Robin Scherer were named to develop a charge for the ad hoc committee on facilities.

Use of Board Contingency Funds   Bob Whitaker moved that we buy our lunches for the Board Retreat from the Board Contingency Fund.  Gareth Fenley seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

Adjournment   The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 PM.

Action Items

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

1. A trustee will volunteer to serve as liaison to the Caring and Hospitality, Denominational Connections, and Green Sanctuary Committees.
2. A member of the Board will volunteer to draft a List of Responsibilities for Committee Liaisons.
3. Dot Brown and Patty Drews will present suggestions for changes to Section 5 of the UUCC Bylaws on the “Membership” requirement at the September Board Meeting.
4. Marc Drews will send Board members a draft of the Policy on the UU Coffeehouse at least one week before the September Board Meeting.
5. All Board Members will read Balancing Acts: Keeping Children Safe in Congregations on the UUA web site. A print copy is available to circulate.  Each individual will sign the book indicating that they have completed this annual task.  (Book stored beside Andrea’s office door.)
6. Membership Committee will create a suggested revision of their section of the UUCC Bylaws to say that all members of the committee must be members of the congregation.
7. All Board Members will read the Safe Congregations Policies and Procedures before the September Board Meeting.

Submitted by

Sandy Chubon, Secretary