Meeting Minutes of September 17, 2009
Present: Cyndi Alden, Ron Bennett, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills, Jim Otis, and Deb Sandler.
Absent: Eben Marsh
The meeting was called to order by the Meeting Chair Ron Bennett at 7:00 p.m. Deb Sandler was appointed Meeting Secretary.
The minutes of the June 4, 2009 meeting were reviewed and accepted.
Old Business:
Financial Statements and Budget:
Cyndi provided a review of our financial statements and budget. revenues are approximately on budget except for rental property. Expenses are in line with budget.
On utility costs: Guy reported that the computer system is fully in place. It allows for remote control of the heating and cooling in each room. It will also calculate by zones where we are loosing heat. This hopefully will help us bring down the utility costs.
Jim recommended that Cyndi breakout item #5020 Rental Property into #5020 rental property income and #5021 rental property expenses so that we have a clearer picture of the rental properties budget.
Tenant review:
329 Cottage - Downstairs: rental is in place and going well. Upstairs: Dottie is moving by October 1st. She has had mice and fleas in the past month. She thinks the mice were from left over food the former downstairs tenant left behind. She has set many traps and caught 4 mice. She thinks she has trapped them all. She has also set off 7 bombs, but has not been able to eliminate the fleas. We will exterminate after she leaves.(or before) The apartment needs paint, bathroom fixtures, reglazing of the tub, new kitchen sink, closet work, windows, insulation and electrical work. These expenses will come out of the major maintenance account and were noted in the CNA report as to be done during a tenant turnover. Cyndi will advertise an opening for Nov. 1st for $700/m.
509 Sawyer, Bungalow: In May we authorized Cyndi to negotiate a lower rent with the tenant since she had lost her job. Rent went from $1000. to $750. In June Lisa, the tenant, got a new job…that job has fallen through.
Even though our lease states that there are ‘no pets allowed’ Cyndi gave Lisa verbal permission to have a dog. Over the summer the tenant took down the gate that separates her yard from the Discovery Center playground and allowed her dog to poop there. She was verbally asked multiple times by Cyndi and Pam Howard to clean up the poop and the cigarette butts. When she did not comply Cyndi, Tom and Pam met on August 27th and sent her a letter asking her to please find a new home for her dog by Sept 14th. She did not.
The ‘no pets allowed’ clause in the lease was waived by Cyndi’s verbal ok. The letter has officially replaced that clause and Lisa is now in violation of the lease. As a result we asked Cyndi to hand deliver her a letter stating that if your dog is not out by Oct 1st, we will serve you with a notice to vacate the premises.
(Update 9/23/09: Cyndi delivered the letter to Lisa on 9/18. On 9/22 Lisa responded that she has found a temporary home for her dog, starting 10/3, while she looks for new housing. She asked if it was ok to wait 2 days and make the transfer on the weekend. The A-Team, via e-mail, has agreed to that accommodation.)
Report of meeting with independent accountants: Jim, Ron and Cyndi met with Lori-Anne Wilson and Wayne Smith of Smith & Associates on September 10th, 2009 to talk about last year’s financial statement review. Simply put, it was recommended that small groups, such as the Eskimos and Hilltop Guild can be ‘forgiven’ from being included in the financial statement, but other programs, such as Holidaze Bazaar and Discovery Center should be included. It was a very comprehensive meeting and we had much discussion. Jim will write up minutes of that meeting to share with the Council.
Homecoming Sunday update: Deb reported that she had a table and was able to get two volunteers for the Garden Committee. Beyond that it was quiet with great baked goods.
Committee Reports:
House: Guy reported that
o Windows have been replaced on the 3rd floor in both the Sunday School and Community rooms.
o Painting is being completed on the office front.
o We are exploring an $8000. option to convert our oil burner to an oil or gas burner with the flick of a switch depending on the cost of oil or gas at the time.
o C,F&G has asked us to explore the idea of putting hand sanitizer dispensers on the walls throughout the church.
Counting: Peggy Murray has taken over as chair of the counting committee for the 2009-2010 church year and all is well.
Planned Giving: Ron & Chris will write a short article for the beacon to be submitted and reviewed at the next A-Team meeting.
New Business:
Web design: Discussion tabled until our next meeting.
New A-Team members: Chris agreed to call Rod Redstone, a new church member who expressed interest in being on the A-Team, to share ideas of the various committees he could join now and explore his joining the A-Team next June when we rotate off.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:09 p.m.
The next meeting will be held on October 1st, 2009.
Respectfully submitted by: Deb Sandler, Meeting Secretary
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Music Committee
Meeting Minutes of September 10, 2009
Present: Shirley Curry, Kim Early, Anna O’Connor
1. Reviewed and accepted May minutes.
2. Discussed plans for Homecoming Sunday. Kim will call Robin Reinhold to see if she is interested in continuing the Joyful Noise Choir and will make sign up sheets for that, the Children’s Choir, the Meeting House Choir, the Hilltop Ringers, and the Music Committee. Anna will hang some posters and man the table on Homecoming Sunday.
3. Committee members agreed to divide the writing of the thank you notes to those who volunteered for Summer Music.
4. After listing the Reed Organ on Craigslist and having Tom Saturley check with his contacts about auctioning the organ, with no success on either avenue, during the 2008-2009 church year, Kim reported that she contacted the Organ Historical Society and the Organ Clearing House over the summer. The Organ Historical Society does not deal with selling or buying of organs. The Organ Clearing House charges a finders fee, generally paid by the purchaser, which is $1,200 or 5% of the sale, whichever is greater. Kim agreed to contact the Organ Clearing House again to find out if the value is only 2,000 what the finders fee would be. The committee also discussed the possibility of not being able to sell the organ. Options include giving it away or leaving it as is.
5. Shirley reported that Sue Stevens had requested to use the clavinova at the Maine Conference Annual Meeting. Anna volunteered to check with Sue to see if she was still interested in borrowing it and if so if the church or even the conference has insurance for the clavinova to leave the building.
6. The committee set the following dates for its meetings for 2009-2010.
October 1st
December 3rd
February 4th
March 4th (if needed)
May 6th
Meetings will be held at 7 p.m. (Note: Easter is on April 4th in 2010.)
Present: Shirley Curry, Kim Early, Anna O’Connor
1. Reviewed and accepted May minutes.
2. Discussed plans for Homecoming Sunday. Kim will call Robin Reinhold to see if she is interested in continuing the Joyful Noise Choir and will make sign up sheets for that, the Children’s Choir, the Meeting House Choir, the Hilltop Ringers, and the Music Committee. Anna will hang some posters and man the table on Homecoming Sunday.
3. Committee members agreed to divide the writing of the thank you notes to those who volunteered for Summer Music.
4. After listing the Reed Organ on Craigslist and having Tom Saturley check with his contacts about auctioning the organ, with no success on either avenue, during the 2008-2009 church year, Kim reported that she contacted the Organ Historical Society and the Organ Clearing House over the summer. The Organ Historical Society does not deal with selling or buying of organs. The Organ Clearing House charges a finders fee, generally paid by the purchaser, which is $1,200 or 5% of the sale, whichever is greater. Kim agreed to contact the Organ Clearing House again to find out if the value is only 2,000 what the finders fee would be. The committee also discussed the possibility of not being able to sell the organ. Options include giving it away or leaving it as is.
5. Shirley reported that Sue Stevens had requested to use the clavinova at the Maine Conference Annual Meeting. Anna volunteered to check with Sue to see if she was still interested in borrowing it and if so if the church or even the conference has insurance for the clavinova to leave the building.
6. The committee set the following dates for its meetings for 2009-2010.
October 1st
December 3rd
February 4th
March 4th (if needed)
May 6th
Meetings will be held at 7 p.m. (Note: Easter is on April 4th in 2010.)
Monday, September 14, 2009
Spiritual Life and Worship
Meeting Minutes of September 3, 2009
Attending: Elaine Brownell, Betsy Keiter, Dana Wiggins, Debbie Riley, Rick Angell, John McCall
Opening Prayer by Betsy
Review of June 9 Minutes – Approved as written
Request from Sue Stevens – Sue has been the Executive Assistant at the Maine Conference office for 2.5 years and has grown in her faith while serving in matters of administration and communication there. As a continuation of her faith journey she is beginning her second year of studies to become a Commissioned Minister, one of three types of authorized ministers within the UCC. Commissioned ministers would not perform duties of an ordained minister but would specialize in their own area of expertise within the operation of the church. Sue asks for our support as she continues her studies. Betsy will craft a letter that will be reviewed at our next meeting. At that point we'll discuss a submission in the Beacon describing Sue's endeavor and our support of it.
Homecoming Sunday and Fair – Signup sheets were produced and will be on the tables this Sunday. SL&W tables will be in the Gallery opposite the curved wall hallway. Other groups will be set up throughout the church encouraging members to visit and learn about each group. Rick, Dana and Betsy and Debbie will be answering questions and acquiring new members for SL&W sub-groups of Greeters, Ushers, Acolytes, Narthex, Communion, Chancel, Worship Leader, Altar Flowers . We also hope to sign another member for SL&W to fulfill the minimum number. (Music and Lay Visitation, sub-groups of SL&W, will have their own sign up people.)
Salt and Light – Elsa has requested the SL&W create a worship moment about salt to tie in with the Homecoming 2009 theme of Salt and Light, reflecting on Matthew 5:13-16. We opted to talk as a group about salt in our language, expressions, food, cravings and needs. We'll start with definition of salt from the dictionary and assign characters to speak - such as an "old salt", a "salt of the sea" etc.
Hymnal Memorial Bookplates – Debbie and Dana will meet again to work on the book plates, estimating 2 weeks to finalize design, 2 weeks for printing with a target date of Oct. 4 for placement.
Website Update – Upgrades to the site would enable online forms for Sunday school registration, Youth Group permission slips, a link for web based donations, photo additions, more organized information, easier readability and navigation. John has a contact interested in discussing a site upgrade with us. Chris Keiter, Elsa, John, Dana and other interested members will form a group that will consult with the web-designer regarding available options, our priorities, and moderating costs. Once a new site is launched, text and photo updates can be made by a point-person, a volunteer within our church, to whom we can send new and changing content.
Altar Table - With communion going smoothly from the lower placement of the communion table, it's time to consider a table that can stay in the sanctuary rather than be moved each month from from Davidson Loung. A smaller, lighter and more portable table was suggested. We discussed costs of ready made or custom built. Debbie suggests submitting a diagram and dimensions to the Windham Correctional Institution for an estimate as they have an amazing woodworking shop with work being done by the inmates.
Multimedia in Worship Service - After discussion and research on multimedia worship services, Rick is tabling the idea due to lack of time to pursue start up and content development. He hopes the subject can be taken up at another time.
Discussion on John Attending SL&W Meeting – John will continue to meet with SL&W this year.
Next Meeting: Oct.1, 2009
Adjourned at 8:55 PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Dana Wiggins
Attending: Elaine Brownell, Betsy Keiter, Dana Wiggins, Debbie Riley, Rick Angell, John McCall
Opening Prayer by Betsy
Review of June 9 Minutes – Approved as written
Request from Sue Stevens – Sue has been the Executive Assistant at the Maine Conference office for 2.5 years and has grown in her faith while serving in matters of administration and communication there. As a continuation of her faith journey she is beginning her second year of studies to become a Commissioned Minister, one of three types of authorized ministers within the UCC. Commissioned ministers would not perform duties of an ordained minister but would specialize in their own area of expertise within the operation of the church. Sue asks for our support as she continues her studies. Betsy will craft a letter that will be reviewed at our next meeting. At that point we'll discuss a submission in the Beacon describing Sue's endeavor and our support of it.
Homecoming Sunday and Fair – Signup sheets were produced and will be on the tables this Sunday. SL&W tables will be in the Gallery opposite the curved wall hallway. Other groups will be set up throughout the church encouraging members to visit and learn about each group. Rick, Dana and Betsy and Debbie will be answering questions and acquiring new members for SL&W sub-groups of Greeters, Ushers, Acolytes, Narthex, Communion, Chancel, Worship Leader, Altar Flowers . We also hope to sign another member for SL&W to fulfill the minimum number. (Music and Lay Visitation, sub-groups of SL&W, will have their own sign up people.)
Salt and Light – Elsa has requested the SL&W create a worship moment about salt to tie in with the Homecoming 2009 theme of Salt and Light, reflecting on Matthew 5:13-16. We opted to talk as a group about salt in our language, expressions, food, cravings and needs. We'll start with definition of salt from the dictionary and assign characters to speak - such as an "old salt", a "salt of the sea" etc.
Hymnal Memorial Bookplates – Debbie and Dana will meet again to work on the book plates, estimating 2 weeks to finalize design, 2 weeks for printing with a target date of Oct. 4 for placement.
Website Update – Upgrades to the site would enable online forms for Sunday school registration, Youth Group permission slips, a link for web based donations, photo additions, more organized information, easier readability and navigation. John has a contact interested in discussing a site upgrade with us. Chris Keiter, Elsa, John, Dana and other interested members will form a group that will consult with the web-designer regarding available options, our priorities, and moderating costs. Once a new site is launched, text and photo updates can be made by a point-person, a volunteer within our church, to whom we can send new and changing content.
Altar Table - With communion going smoothly from the lower placement of the communion table, it's time to consider a table that can stay in the sanctuary rather than be moved each month from from Davidson Loung. A smaller, lighter and more portable table was suggested. We discussed costs of ready made or custom built. Debbie suggests submitting a diagram and dimensions to the Windham Correctional Institution for an estimate as they have an amazing woodworking shop with work being done by the inmates.
Multimedia in Worship Service - After discussion and research on multimedia worship services, Rick is tabling the idea due to lack of time to pursue start up and content development. He hopes the subject can be taken up at another time.
Discussion on John Attending SL&W Meeting – John will continue to meet with SL&W this year.
Next Meeting: Oct.1, 2009
Adjourned at 8:55 PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Dana Wiggins
Mission and Outreach
Meeting Minutes of September 3, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Laurie Cary. Carol Scheffler offered the opening meditation by reading the Beatitudes.
All members were present: Laurie Cary, Maureen Clancy, Sandy Dyer, Mike Kasputes, Richard Parker, Sarah Randall, Carol Scheffler and Greg Wyman, and also Rev. Elsa Peters. We all gave brief introductions around the table.
It was noted that the secretary’s report omitted a discussion of a possible donation to GLSEN. Other than that the report was accepted as written. Laurie reported that thank you notes were received from The Wayside Soup Kitchen, Spurwink Services, Serenity House, the Protestant Hospital Ministry, Andover-Newton Theological Seminary, and The Center for Grieving Children, as well as Friends of the World Food Program, which received $949.60 from the Easter offering. The treasurer’s report was reviewed and accepted with thanks.
Elsa spoke about the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Maine Conference. The theme of the meeting will be “Justice”. She also described a program which will be featured during Advent called “The Advent Conspiracy”, which encourages people to make Christmas less commercial.
We discussed the Micah Project and made plans for an all-congregation mailing. Sandy will prepare the letter for the mailing. A “Mission Moment” will be given on Sunday, September 20th about the program. Maureen will speak at the chapel service and Carol at the 10 o’clock worship. A possible project for this year might be assisting with loading a truck for Konbit Sante.
Sarah described plans for the Homecoming table, featuring an umbrella theme. It was also mentioned that the newly renovated Emergency Food Pantry will be open that morning.
Sarah will get in touch with AnnElissa regarding the next food drive.
Quarterly disbursements of $750 each were designated for:
Habitat for Humanity Bangor Theological Seminary
The Iris Network Equality Maine
Day One Shalom House
Preble Street Lighthouse Shelter (for teens)
Maureen spoke about the Chestnut Street Family Shelter and will look into the possibility of making a donation there.
The program for high school students, GLSN, was discussed and it was decided to give them a $200 donation, from discretionary funds, for transportation to meetings. A check will be given to Deb Therrien.
The next Special Offering will be Neighbors in Need, on October 4th. Laurie will prepare publicity.
We were reminded of the Rummage Sale scheduled for October 24th and advised that helpers will be needed during the week before and for clean-up afterward.
Carol closed the meeting by reading the Beatitudes from “The Message” translation.
Respectfully submitted,
Sandy Dyer
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Laurie Cary. Carol Scheffler offered the opening meditation by reading the Beatitudes.
All members were present: Laurie Cary, Maureen Clancy, Sandy Dyer, Mike Kasputes, Richard Parker, Sarah Randall, Carol Scheffler and Greg Wyman, and also Rev. Elsa Peters. We all gave brief introductions around the table.
It was noted that the secretary’s report omitted a discussion of a possible donation to GLSEN. Other than that the report was accepted as written. Laurie reported that thank you notes were received from The Wayside Soup Kitchen, Spurwink Services, Serenity House, the Protestant Hospital Ministry, Andover-Newton Theological Seminary, and The Center for Grieving Children, as well as Friends of the World Food Program, which received $949.60 from the Easter offering. The treasurer’s report was reviewed and accepted with thanks.
Elsa spoke about the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Maine Conference. The theme of the meeting will be “Justice”. She also described a program which will be featured during Advent called “The Advent Conspiracy”, which encourages people to make Christmas less commercial.
We discussed the Micah Project and made plans for an all-congregation mailing. Sandy will prepare the letter for the mailing. A “Mission Moment” will be given on Sunday, September 20th about the program. Maureen will speak at the chapel service and Carol at the 10 o’clock worship. A possible project for this year might be assisting with loading a truck for Konbit Sante.
Sarah described plans for the Homecoming table, featuring an umbrella theme. It was also mentioned that the newly renovated Emergency Food Pantry will be open that morning.
Sarah will get in touch with AnnElissa regarding the next food drive.
Quarterly disbursements of $750 each were designated for:
Habitat for Humanity Bangor Theological Seminary
The Iris Network Equality Maine
Day One Shalom House
Preble Street Lighthouse Shelter (for teens)
Maureen spoke about the Chestnut Street Family Shelter and will look into the possibility of making a donation there.
The program for high school students, GLSN, was discussed and it was decided to give them a $200 donation, from discretionary funds, for transportation to meetings. A check will be given to Deb Therrien.
The next Special Offering will be Neighbors in Need, on October 4th. Laurie will prepare publicity.
We were reminded of the Rummage Sale scheduled for October 24th and advised that helpers will be needed during the week before and for clean-up afterward.
Carol closed the meeting by reading the Beatitudes from “The Message” translation.
Respectfully submitted,
Sandy Dyer
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