Administration Team

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