Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of February 4, 2010

Present: Ron Bennett, Deb Sandler, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills, Rod Redstone and Jim Otis.
Excused: Eben Marsh and Cyndi Alden (Business Manager).

The meeting was called to order by the Meeting Chair Ron Bennett at 7:05 p.m. Jim Otis was appointed Meeting Secretary and Chair for the next meeting.

The minutes of the January 7, 2010 meeting were reviewed and accepted.

Old Business:
Financial Statements and Budget: We reviewed our financial statements and budget for the period January 1 through February 4, 2010. There was a $(9,962) loss for this period vs. a budgeted loss of $(27,284) for the calendar year. Given the seasonality of certain expenses and accelerated payments of other expenses, we felt the variances were reasonable and we concluded that we are on track at this time. We happily noted that we have received 101% of the budgeted Previous Year’s Pledges.

Tenant review: 1.) 331 Cottage Road: The downstairs is currently rented for $1,200 per month to a commercial tenant and things are going fine. The upstairs residential tenant has left after many years and we are currently seeking proposals to rehab the space so it can be rented again (see House Committee report below for details). 2.) 509 Sawyer Street: We have a residential tenant leasing on a (temporary) reduced rent of $700 per month.

Chancel Rail Proposal: We noted that our Procurement Policy calls for 2 proposals if the proposed expenditure is estimated to be $500 to $2,500 and 3 proposals if the estimated cost is $,2500 to $10,000. We felt this could go either way. We reviewed a very similar proposal provided to FCC in early 2007 from Thomas Pittman, Cabinetmaker, for $3,000. Eben Marsh also contacted Wright Ryan (WR), a local reputable contractor and they have submitted a detailed proposal (with a schematic drawing) for $2,500. We discussed this extensively and felt comfortable in awarding the contract to WR, subject to: Council concurrence, congregation feedback and oversight by Eben Marsh (he offered to do this-thanks Eben!). We also noted that the WR drawing reflects different style ballisters than the present ballisters which extend across the chancel. We would like Eben to contact WR and see if they can modify the design to match the ballisters and provide us with an updated schematic drawing (before our March meeting) that we can use when we show this to the congregation. Eben should also ask if this will result in any additional cost. We are also planning to put an article in the Beacon.

Committee Reports:
Counting: Peggy Murray didn’t submit a formal report, but she has been nicely organizing the counters and related scheduling.

House: The House Committee has been very busy recently with the upstairs at 331 Cottage Road. They have inspected the premises carefully and have designed an RFP which includes numerous work items to bring this one (1) bedroom residential unit up to rentable status. Notable items include correcting the front entrance, new kitchen, bathroom remodeling, painting and new electrical plugs and CO2/smoke detectors. We noted that the Committee has done an amazing job. The RFP has been sent out to 3 vendors, with one (1) proposal received so far. We discussed the need to have three (3) proposals and Rod offered to provide another possible vendor (which he has done already!). We hope to have 3 proposals to evaluate at our March meeting. We also expressed a concern about the overall cost of improving the space to obtain estimated rental income of $750/month.

Planned Giving (PG): Ron submitted a second article for the Beacon and we all commended him on the quality of the articles. Ron also mentioned that Allen Bosch volunteered to assist the PG Committee. Allen has a lot of experience with planned giving in churches and educational institutions.

Web Site Subcommittee (WSS): Guy and Rod have been serving on this subcommittee. Rod indicated that he won’t be able to attend the 5:00 p.m. meetings due to parenting obligations, but Guy will continue to attend these. Rod and Guy mentioned that feedback on the proposed web site design RFP was sought and provided by church members. They noted that the final RFP was being sent out today or tomorrow to 5 vendors. The proposals should be received by March 5. The WSS will apparently receive the proposals, evaluate them and make a recommendation to the A Team.

New Business:
Growth Group Request: Chair Dave Allen asked Jim Otis for advice on how to address the issue of a lack of signage around the church. Jim said that he would bring this to the A Team for discussion. We all agreed that signage was a good idea so that we can be as user friendly as possible to our members and guests. Chair Guy of the House Committee said that his Committee would discuss this at their next meeting and take appropriate action and coordinate things with Dave and the Growth Committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:01 p.m.

The next AT meeting will be held on Thursday, March 4, 2010.

Respectfully submitted by: Jim Otis, Meeting Secretary