Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia

Board of Trustees

Minutes of October 15, 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, Tim VanDenBerg; Ivy Coleman, (Co-Past President), Neal Jones, Minister.

Members absent: Dot Brown (Chair Finance Committee), Robin Scherer (Co-Past President), Janet Swigler  (Trustee).

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Regina Moody at 6:45 PM.

Chalice Lighting

Bob Whitaker lit the chalice and presented a reading.  We re-affirmed our Covenant.  We had a brief check-in.

Approval of Minutes

Numerous revisions were proposed for the minutes of the September 17, 2014 meeting.  Bob Whitaker moved approval of the amended minutes.  Richard Culler seconded.  The minutes were approved as amended.

Treasurer’s Report

Bob Whitaker recently learned of a peculiar quirk in the UUCC bookkeeping practice.  If someone donates more than they pledged, the “excess” is considered a donation to the next year’s budget.  Had that money been applied to the 2013-2014 budget we would not have had a deficit at the beginning of the current fiscal year.  [Bob questioned the rationale for this bookkeeping practice.  Ann Cargill reported that is what was being done when she began bookkeeping for us and she continued the practice because that was the way it was being done.  There are some other quirky practices in the bookkeeping.  Bob and Ginny Verne, current bookkeeper, plan to remedy them this year.]  The UUCC had a budget surplus at the end of 2012-2013; that money was designated as a Reserve Account for the Board to use.  During the August 20, 2014 meeting, Bob reported that the Board Reserve balance was $2,369.12, carried over from last year.  Tonight Bob reported that the Board Reserve Fund no longer exists; it did not carry over from last year.  Bob made a motion to reduce temporary restricted line 830001, Board Reserve, to zero and move $2,369.12 to the undesignated fund balance line 310000.  Richard seconded.  The motion passed.

On September 30, 2014 we completed 25% of our fiscal year.  Pledge collections are $43,772.33 which is 84.9% of the amount we planned to collect by this time in the fiscal year.

Staff Reports

Reports from the Minister and the Administrator were accepted.

Sunday Service Announcer

Regina requested volunteers to do the greetings and announcements for Sunday services on October 19 and December 7.  Bob Whitaker volunteered for October 19; Gareth Fenley volunteered for December 7.  The sign-up sheet is in Room 1.

OLD BUSINESS

Search for DRE   Neal Jones reported for the Search Committee.  They have five applicants; they have interviewed four and have the final interview scheduled.  They are very pleased with the quality of the applicants.

Leadership Development Update    Regina reported that Carolyn West has agreed to chair the Buildings and Grounds Committee.  The Board agreed to her appointment.

There is a vacancy on the Endowment Committee; Pat Davy has resigned.  There is still a vacancy on the Leadership and Development Committee.  The Finance Committee has requested an additional member.

Buildings and Grounds Committee members have changed their sub-committees to be called Teams.  They are the Building Maintenance and Repair Team, the Interiors Team, and the Landscaping Team.  Each Team is led by a Coordinator.

Ad Hoc Committees

Before being dissolved last month, the Safety Task Force suggested some actions related to their work.  They suggested that the Trustees appoint a Board Member to serve as a Safety Liaison Officer to be in charge of monitoring congregational safety.  The Board agreed to the suggestion and appointed Gareth Fenley to the position.

The Safety Task Force also recommended that the Board appoint another Task Force to consider the issues raised by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) survey conducted by members of the Buildings and Grounds Committee and to develop a course of action to address them.  Trustees agreed that task will be assigned to the Facilities Assessment Task Force.

Policy Manual Development   Buzzie Kelly and Tim VanDenBerg are revising the 2006 Disruptive Behavior Policy.   Marc Drews continues leading the development of the UU Coffeehouse Policy.  Pat Mohr is working on attachments for the Memorial Garden Policy.

Policy on UUCC Newsletter   Buzzie Kelly and Regina Moody met with Andrea Dudick (Administrator) to clarify and update the Unigram policy.  Neal will review it and then it will come to the Board.

Facilities Assessment Task Force   Regina announced that the Task Force members have been named:  Chairperson Richard Culler, Gareth Fenley, Robin Scherer, Barbie Seymour, Terrence Sullivan, and Linda Brennison.  Richard reported that they have had difficulty finding a time when they can all meet.

Social Hall Wall-Mounted TV   Ivy Coleman is leading an effort along with members of the Interiors Team to explore adding a flat display screen in the social hall.  This group is to explore how and by whom the screen would be used.

Additional Reports

Richard Culler continues to work on a description of the Role of a Board Liaison.

Definition of Membership   The Membership and Finance Committees have worked on a new definition of “membership” for the Bylaws.  We plan to make bylaws changes at the Annual Meeting in June.  The Board needs to provide guidance to the Membership and Finance Committees this year as they must deal with the problematic issues before the Annual Meeting.  This was tabled for discussion at the November meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

Facilities Assessment   Regina reported that the Board has agreed, by general consensus, to focus on our building and facilities this year rather than continuing work on the strategic plan.

Bylaws Revisions   Regina announced that an ad hoc committee will be named in January to prepare bylaws revisions for a vote at the Annual Meeting.

Committee Charters   Regina would like committees to have Charters (a list of their responsibilities).  We have no Charter for a Publicity Committee.  Alison Thirkield is creating a document and will bring it to the Board at a future meeting.

Congregational Dialogue   Regina reminded us that when Don and Pat Mohr were Co-Presidents they held congregational dialogues after Sunday services on a fairly regular basis to update members about ongoing activities.  We will continue our reports in the Unigram and the Orders of Service to inform members about the amount of pledge money we are collecting each week.  Caroline Eastman commented that talking to the congregation about money seems backwards.  Why not talk about who we are, what we want to do, and then lead into how we would pay for that.  Some Trustees talked about the brochure from the church in Florida which Bob shared with us.  They had pictures of various activities of the church with a short blurb describing them and they used it in their annual canvass drive.

Endowment Committee   Tim VanDenBerg shared two Memoranda of Understanding prepared by the Committee to create two new funds in our endowment: A Religious Education Lifespan Fund and a Capitol Improvement Fund.  These require approval by the Board.  Questions were raised about why someone would invest in endowed funds for RE or capitol improvement since that money cannot be retrieved in the near future; our needs in those areas seem relatively immediate.  Tim responded that we may want to change the bylaws to allow earlier withdrawal of some funds.  As it stands, the endowment is a rainy day fund to be used only when needs are urgent.  It provides guidance for estate planning.  Trustees noted that the new fund for RE is titled as being for lifespan RE but the text of the document only describes/addresses RE for children and youth.  We will address our questions in further depth at the November board meeting.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 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 Denominational Connections and the Green Sanctuary Committees.
2. Richard Culler will draft a List of Responsibilities for Committee Liaisons.
3. Marc Drews will continue work on the Policy on the Coffeehouse.
4. Pat Mohr will continue work on the attachments to the Memorial Garden Policy.
5. Tim VanDenBerg and Buzzie Kelly will continue revising the 2006 Disruptive Behavior Policy.
6. Regina Moody and Buzzie Kelly will continue revising the Policy on the UUCC Newsletter.
7. The Facilities Assessment Task Force will begin meeting this month.
8. Ivy Coleman and members of the Interiors Team will begin developing plans for the use of a flat screen TV in the social hall.
9. Trustees will discuss what procedures the Membership and Finance Committees should follow this year

while they await the bylaws revisions of the definition of membership.

10. The Endowment Committee will submit revised Memoranda of Understanding for two new funds in our endowment: A Religious Education Lifespan Fund and a Capitol Improvement Fund.

Minutes submitted by

Sandy Chubon, Secretary