Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia
Board of Trustees
Minutes of March 21, 2012 Meeting

Attendance
Trustees present were: Barry Ahrendt (President), Ann Johnson (President-Elect), Linda Brennison (Treasurer), Michael Sullivan (Secretary); Members at Large: Ivy Coleman, Elizabeth Harris, Buzzie Kelly, Walter Patterson, and Bauer Westeren; and Ex-Officio Members Neal Jones (Minister), Don Mohr (Past Co-President) and Pat Mohr (Past Co-President). Others present for parts of the meeting were Jerry Cover (Building and Grounds Committee chair), David Crockett, and Jessica Kross (Shared Ministry Committee chair).

Call to Order and Establishment of Quorum
The meeting was called to order by Barry at 6:33 PM. He noted a quorum was present.

Reading
Barry read a selection by George Washington Carver .

Approval of Minutes
On a motion by Don, seconded by Ivy, the minutes of the February 15, 2012 meeting were unanimously approved.

Consent Agenda
The following reports were received on the consent agenda: Minister’s Report, DRE Report, and Administrator’s Report. The Treasurer’s report, including the monthly variance report, was removed for further discussion.

Shared Ministry Committee Report
Jessica presented the recommendations of the Shared Ministry Committee for mission, vision, and values statements. She and fellow committee members Neal, Donald Griggs, and Janet Swigler worked on this charge from the Board.
• The committee concluded that the current mission statement , which had been developed by the congregation, contains both an inward and outward focus and needs no change.
• The vision statement proposed is: “Our vision is the work of building an inclusive community of love, truth, justice, stewardship and service within and beyond these walls.”
• The values statement proposed is the congregational covenant that appears in the beginning of the Order of Service .
There was discussion of each of the recommendations, and of the distinctions between, and commonalities among, the three types of statements. A motion was made by Michael, seconded by Elizabeth, to adopt the recommendations as presented. A substitute motion was made by Pat, seconded by Linda, to approve the recommendations with one change — deleting the phrase “the work of building” from the vision statement. This motion was passed 8-1 (all voting in favor except Michael). The main motion as amended was then passed unanimously, with the vision statement being “Our vision is an inclusive community of love, truth, justice, stewardship and service within and beyond these walls”.

Discussion of Building and Grounds Priorities
Jerry identified the priorities of the Building and Grounds Committee from among various spending requests the Board has received. These are for new door locks of the coded, keyless type (estimated cost of $1200); Memorial Garden features and landscaping, and installation of permeable pavers by the sitting wall in the new courtyard (one bid received for $6200 for the installation of pavers; total costs TBD); and an annual HVAC maintenance contract (estimated cost of $500). There was also discussion of the need to renovate the sanctuary windows and the hazardous material abatement costs this will entail. Buzzie recommended adding re-sodding of the construction area (estimated cost of $400 for sod). Don recommended adding repair of the downspout and soffit by the corner of the lobby and social hall (cost TBD). The Board thanked the committee for prioritizing these items.

Financial Review Recommendations
Linda presented the recommendations of the Finance Committee that were developed in response to the financial review conducted by Jackie Breland, CPA, last year. Connie Hudson and David Crockett, former committee chairs, had participated with her and Kathryn Carlson in identifying the most relevant of the recommendations Ms. Breland made in her extensive internal control checklist. These are:

1. All monthly financial reports prepared by the bookkeeper need to be sent to the finance committee meeting on the first Wednesday of every month. The finance committee will review the financial statements and issue a report for the Board explaining any significant variances.

2. Every two years when the UUCC changes treasurers, the finance committee will conduct an internal audit in order to make operations familiar to the new treasurer.

3. The finance committee will make a list of financial policies and procedures for the UUCC and maintain the procedures by periodic review.

4. Jackie Breland’s report cited the bookkeeper’s job as the only part of our financial system that has no oversight. In order to address this, the board could choose to appoint an external accountant on an annual or biannual basis to review the work of the bookkeeper(s).

5. Three areas need to be addressed by the personnel committee.

a. Write a conflict of interest statement to prevent officers and employees of the congregation from personally benefitting from church business or transactions.

b. Write a whistleblower protection statement for church employees.

c. Conduct exit interviews when an employee quits or is fired.

In discussion of these items, Linda noted that monthly variance reports (item #1) have already been initiated. Michael suggested that we obtain an estimate from the CPA for item #4, while David observed that due to the small size of our organization’s budget this may not be essential. The Finance Committee will need to follow through on recommendations #2, #3, and #4, and the Personnel Committee on recommendation #5. A motion was made by Barry, seconded by Don, to adopt these five recommendations of the Finance Committee. The vote in favor was unanimous.

Budget and Canvass Update
Pat reported we have obtained pledges of about $150,000, or 75% of our canvass goal of $195,000. Barry led a discussion of special fiscal items for the new budget, to aid Ivy and the Finance Committee in their budget planning. Ann recommended adding $5,000 for Neal’s installation ceremonies as our settled minister later in the year. Neal recommended the funds necessary to increase our DRE’s hours to ¾ time which the job is actually entailing. Michael recommended $1,000 for a new segregated account of replacement reserves, which would be restricted for repair or replacement of aging building components.

Monthly Variance Report
Michael requested discussion of Linda’s variance report prior to the next agenda item (construction update) as it suggested additional funds may be available for some remaining construction needs. Linda had identified a positive variance of $3,893 from delayed increased payments on our debt service for the construction project. Since our line of credit has not yet been tapped, our monthly term loan payments have been $543.76, not the $1,000 per month budgeted. Even with the pending increase in debt service to $1,402 a month, the YTD savings should result in a $3,750 surplus.

Construction Update
Don reported substantial completion of the construction project. Remaining to be done are installation of permeable pavers by the sitting wall in the new courtyard; repair of a downspout and soffit in the corner of the lobby and the social hall; and Memorial garden landscaping and features. Don has obtained one bid of $6,200 for the installation of pavers and hopes to receive lower bids. A motion was made by Michael, seconded by Ann, to authorize the expenditure of up to $6,000 for professional installation of permeable pavers by the courtyard sitting wall and for repair of the broken downspout and soffit. These funds will come from unspent monies in the construction reserves ($1,100 from sewer repairs and $2,200 from construction reserves) and from savings realized on debt service payments ($2,700). The vote in favor was unanimous. From the same debt service savings, a motion was made by Ivy, seconded by Buzzie, to authorize $400 for the purchase of new sod for the construction area. The vote in favor was unanimous.

Memorial Garden Policy and Procedures
Ann presented the Memorial Garden Policy and Operating Rules developed by an ad hoc committee which she chaired, consisting of Barry, Tony Ganong of the Funeral Consumer Alliance, Betsy Kaemmerlen, Mike Paget, and Erica Patterson. The Memorial Garden will be a sacred space with a centering structure used for meditation, remembrance, and ceremonial rites. It will contain areas for the burial of urns as well as a scatter garden. The policy and rules address eligibility, purchase of burial sites and plaques, documentation, requests to inter, liability, memorial plaques, services, interment, scattering of cremains, management of the garden, and fee schedule. In discussion, there was agreement on some clarifying edits proposed by Barry. There was also agreement that a pre-payment policy would be too difficult to implement due to inflationary cost containment concerns. A motion was made by Ann, seconded by Elizabeth, to adopt the Memorial Garden policies and procedures as amended (Appendix 1). The vote in favor was unanimous. The document will be published in the Unigram and posted on our website.

Status Report on Staff, Minister Reviews
Barry updated the Board on the progress of the Minister’s Evaluation being done by the Executive Committee. A longer format is required by the UUA Ministerial Fellowship Committee compared to our previous format. The Executive Committee met on March 11, 2012 to work on Neal’s evaluation and is in the process of writing it up. Barry will send the completed draft to the Board via encrypted email in advance of an executive session. Neal has completed the staff reviews which will be forwarded to the Personnel Committee.

Other Business
• Neal announced that the Southeast District’s (SED) Racial Justice Conference will take place on March 1-2, 2013. The SED staff will facilitate the conference with the aid of a Program Committee and a Logistics Committee. Judy Turnipseed, David Crockett, and Ivy Coleman have volunteered to serve on the Program Committee, and Ann Johnson volunteered to serve on the Logistics Committee. Registration fees will cover the costs of the conference. A motion was made by Barry, seconded by Elizabeth, that UUCC host the 2013 Racial Justice Conference, as recommended by Neal. The vote in favor was unanimous.
• The Board reviewed the Announcements Policy developed by the Worship Committee.
• The RE program has recommended that our two nursery workers be sent for Red Cross pediatric training at a cost of $220. A motion was made by Ann, seconded by Don, to authorize the expenditure of $220 for this purpose. The vote in favor was unanimous. Funds will come from training seminar funds ($120) and Board contingency funds ($100).
• Per Bylaw 7.2c requiring the automatic resignation of a Board member for missing three meetings, a motion was made by Barry, seconded by Elizabeth, to reinstate Ivy Coleman to the Board . The vote in favor was unanimous.
• Pat reported that the Ministerial Transition Committee will be meeting as soon as schedules permit. The timeline for Neal’s installation is next fall.

Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Sullivan, Secretary