Minutes of UUYO board meeting
December 5th, 2019
Present : Louisa Berger,Rev. Joseph Boyd, Andy Crabb, Marguerite Felice, Judy DeGenova, Lizbeth Searle White, Diana Shaheen. Gene Pusateri by phone.
The meeting was called to order at 6:06 pm by Andy Crabb, president. The covenant was read, consent agenda reviewed . Treasurer’s , minister’s report and November minutes were reviewed and approved.
Sexton Search
No luck in finding a new hire. Suggestion made to change name to custodian on job description as many people don’t know what a sexton is. New member Achilles has volunteered to help Roger clean. Randy Cox may be willing to help with more structural building maintenance issues.
Sanctuary Railing Nothing has changed from prior discussion.
Safer Congregations Committee
Committee on hold. However as a board we did decide to see to the panic buttons (all three )being installed and sign installed. Rev. Joseph confirmed panic button on the chancel. One is in the office. Third will be placed. Sign on Illinois street door informing people they will be locked during the 11 am Sunday service will be posted. Marguerite will make signs. Lousia will see about panic buttons working with alarm system.
Architectural review/ accessibility
After discussion it was decided the architect’s report lacks enough specificity to warrant meeting with Jon Locketti as was proposed. Rev. Joseph will reach out to Sarah and Jon and Randy Cox to discuss development of a plan.
The condition of the pipe organ was mentioned .Andy said there is a fire hazard from deterioration of the electric components. Cost to repair was researched in past and is cost prohibitive.
Louisa will look into purchase of handicap parking signs to place in front of main church entrance on Elm Street.
2020 Stewardship Campaign
Lizbeth reported some pledges of currently pledging members are still are still outstanding but if all pledge at current levels we should reach our goal of 140,000. Lizbeth & Louisa will approach these folks.Overall she feels the campaign has succeeded and church members are more aware of the importance if their pledge in maintaining stability in the church.
Open Board positions
All current members will stay on. Diana and Judy, who were appointed to fill open seats, will run for their term. Gene will also run for a new term. Annual meeting will be held January 12th at 12:30.
Capital Campaign
Brief discussion on priorities, sanctuary or patio. Proposed move to finance committee. All agreed.
Thank UU’S
Karen Myers of Richard Brown Memorial for community Thanksgiving dinner. Gina Pierce for our T.day dinner. Rabbi/president of congregation thank for interfaith service in October. Also Thank yous to Karen Lapidus and Lowell & Ellen Satre.
Religious Education
Parent Night Outs have been well attended. Lack of children for Sunday RE classes was noted.
Rev. Joseph is glad to have more intergenerational services .
RE Committee to meet in December to support Mystery in her role as interim RE director.
NEW BUSINESS
FY 2020 BUDGET
Discussion of value of live streaming our services. We are spending $150 a week to have Brian record sermons, interview members and upload onto social media. Our first sermon was uploaded onto You Tube today.
Diana questioned whether we need to do this every week and if the money would be better spent for other church purposes such as paying the office manager for more hours.
Rev. Joseph discussed his experience in Tulsa. He said there were people who engaged only with UU online and actually pledged ,some from out of the state. He also said it is a way to allow our members to introduce UUYO to their family & friends.
All agreed we need to collect data over the coming months to determine whether UUYO is benefitting from the expenditure.
Some discussion of financial reports, budget v. income and Quickbooks.
We decided this would be a good topic for our board retreat as several members, including yours truly, are unclear on these matters.
Fiscal Agent request
Discussed whether to become fiscal agent for Plant Ahead Ohio. Unanimoulsy voted to decline their request.
CUPOLA LIGHTING. Contact made with Tom Beck & Brian Konya . It was noticed the light intensity was decreasing in the cupola. Repairs have been made.
BOARD RETREAT will be held January 18th 9am-3pm at the home of Lizbeth Searle White. Topics will include role of the board, election of officers,fiscal planning, vision planning, partnering with UU’s nationally/internationally.
Meeting was adjourned at 8pm. Next meeting is January 9th, 2020, 6pm at UUYO.
Respectfully submitted
Marguerite Felice
secretary