Monthly Board Meeting Minutes
May 7th, 2020 via Zoom conference call. Meeting called to order 6:34 pm.
Present : Louisa Berger, Rev. Joseph Boyd, Andy Crabb, Judy DeGenova, Marguerite Felice, Gene Pusateri, Tim Raridon, Diana Shaheen, Lisbet Searle-White.
Check –in done
Consent Agenda ( minister’s report, April monthly board meeting minutes, treasurer’s report) reviewed and motion to approve was agreed to by all present (excepting Tim & Diana who joined in later in the meeting).
Louisa, our treasurer, noted we received approximately $1,000 for the MDF as the Give Away the Plate recipient as it were. However general giving to UUYO was down by 50%. So far this I not impacting out budget. We did discuss adding reminders into the Zoom service, perhaps during the offeratory , on the need to maintain giving to the church
Gene noted the UUYO endowment is conservatively invested and has weathered the recent economic upheavals due to the pandemic well.
Hiring Janitor: Discussed hiring disinfecting company but it’s unknown what they do, just spray the place down or actually clean as well.. Virtually no one enters the building except to the sanctuary on Sundays to stream the service and Rev. Joseph comes into the office. Marguerit & Roger will come to the church this Saturday to clean & disinfect the sanctuary, office and bathrooms as well as wipe down handle , light switched .,etc…. No action will be taken to look for new janitor at this time.
Bylaws. Diana was not present yet. As of last discussion on this issue, Randy Cox, chair of the committee , had not responded to her attempts t contact him. Louisa noted the needs of the congregation are far more urgent at this time then perfect bylaws. Andy made motion to table bylaws review discussion until September 2020. All agreed to the motion.
Capital Campaign : Due to the closure, all agreed this id not an appropriate time to launch a capital campaign. The finance committee did not meet as scheduled via Zoom.
Technology Update: Kudos to Andy, Tim Raridon, , Martin Berger for the vast improvement in musical sound quality during Marcellene’s service as well as our Sunday services. Hiring someone to do the streaming or training volunteers was discussed. Andy said he feels comfortable continuing to be available Sundays at this time.
We intend to continue using Zoom to stream services even when we return to in-person services as we see we are reaching a broader audience.
Issues with SOS panic buttons calling Louisa in the middle of the night have been resolved by the company
Social media/website/ communication . Nathaniel is continuing working to improve user friendliness of website.
Jennifer Boyd, Sarah Lowry and Jeanne Tucker are posting on our FB page. As this board had discussed in the past there is no “quality control “ or guidelines coming from leadership on content .
Louisa said she is going to burn DVD’s for our no internet members. She has also been sending written copies of sermons and weekly updates so they can join the service on a phone.
THANK UU’S : Jennifer Boyd, Devon Cleland, James Weidman, Cindy & Tom Smoltzer, Cecilia Yudha, Kivie Cahn- Lipman, Jeff Crouse for music at Marcellene’s memorial service. Lindsay Sinkovich and Kelsey Myers for excellent worship service leadership.
Wheelchair Accomodations: Committee has not met. No changes since March minutes.
Brief discussion on developing a plan for resurfacing driveway. Types of surface , environmental impact of conventional v. green, higher cost worth minimal impact of this tiny project. No definitive plans or timeline for the board to act on.
RE. Mystery continues to plan virtual RE events remotely. Response has been minimal. Questions is whether it is worth what we are spending. Are the parents and kids interested in another olne experience? We also don’t seem to hav a clear idea of how many kids were coming to RE during the past several months. Consideration was given to suspension of RE for the summer, which typically happens and beginning a search for a new RE director for fall 2020.
Lisbet is on the RE committee and suggested we do an email survey of parents. Rev. Joseph said we need to make calls to all parents to see what they want from RE and if they see a benefit in continuing the program at this time of virtual meetings . Louisa , Lisbet & Rev. Joseph have all agreed to make calls.
Music License.
Rev. Joseph informed us we need a music license when doing Zoom services that are streamed using copyrighted music . You Tube will remove streams w/o a license. The license will give us access to 25 million songs. Otherwise we are limited to originals and music pre- 1923 and hymns. A affordable yearly fee is charged. All agreed to purchase of a license.
Commissioned Lay Minister(CLM): Gary Davenport has obtained CLM status from UUA. Rev. Joseph said we need to have a ceremony acknowledging this important role for our congregation.
Melissa Smith also plans to begin the CLM program and would like board support. Andy made motion to support CLM for her, Diana seconded. All approved.
Minister’s Assessment. This is the final year for UUA to request an assessment of Rev. Joseph. The board review id due by July 1st and will be done by email. Draft review to be completed by june board meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
When to begin in-person services? There was discussion initiated by the facilitator, Gene Pusateri. Is there a way to do outdoor services. Issues with this are weather as we have no protected outdoor space or large enough area to do social distancing. UUA is closed until September. Ohio is opening restaurant patios, barbers, massage on May15th. Are we going to see a spike because of this ? At this time we decided to stay virtual until next monthly meeting and look at the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths. When we do resume in person worship we will continue to stream our live services for out of towners or anyone who decides to stay home and watch in their bunny slippers and pjs.
The UUYO Board will revert back to our regular monthly meeting schedule. Our next meeting time will be June11th, 6pm on Zoom.
Roles for June 11th meeting:
Facilitator: Judy DeGenova, Secretary: Marguerite, Timekeeper: Louisa, Process Observer: Gene Pusateri, Bits: Diana , Thank UU’s : Lisbet.
Andy made motion to adjourn, Diana seconded. All in agreement. Adjourned 8:21pm.
Submitted:
Marguerite Felice
Board secretary