Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of September 9, 2010

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

Call to Order: Ron called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Jim agreed to record this meeting and run the next meeting in October. Rod volunteered to do this the next time.

Minutes of the Admin Team June 3, 2010 Meeting: reviewed and accepted as written.

OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Financial results through September 9 were reviewed. The year is 69% complete. Revenues stand at 65% of the year’s budget. Highlights include the Per Capita Contributions at 179% of the year’s budget, lower net rental income due to vacant commercial space and less than market residential rent, and lower pledge receipts (normal for this time of year).
Expenses are about 73% of the year’s budget. This probably is due to the possibility that the Sept. 9 statement includes payroll for more than the 9 days and that the annuity and insurance has been paid for the entire year.
Overall, actual income and expenses vs. the budget appear reasonable. The actual loss was $(49,612) vs. a budgeted loss of $(27,289). The financial report was unanimously accepted.
Discussion items with Cyndi next month are: (1) cutting off statements on the last day of the month and understanding when payroll is paid; (2) quarterly summaries of major maintenance work item expenditures; and (3) higher actual audit costs.

Tenant Update: The tenant at 509 Sawyer Street house is now paying $800 per month (up from $700). In order to provide a long notice, we would like Cyndi to contact the tenant before the October meeting to see if increases are possible to $900 at 1/1/11 and $1,000 at 7/1/11 (this is estimated to be the full market rent). The upstairs tenant at 331 Cottage Road is paying $750 per month for this newly renovated space. The downstairs commercial space at 331 Cottage Road is still vacant and we have had only one inquiry. We need to discuss more aggressive marketing with Guy at the next meeting. We also discussed our standard lease and thought that an automatic renewal (unless either party gives an advance 60 day notice, etc.) with an inflation increase should be considered with the next tenant.

Chancel Railing: We tabled this until next meeting when there are more members present. An article was inserted in a Beacon last June describing the railing and requesting additional contributions. No response to date as far as we know.

Church Signage and Rummage Storage: Guy noted last June that there was available storage area in the basement at 331 Cottage Road that could be used for storing rummage items. Guy was going to contact the first floor (commercial) tenant for approval, but that is not needed now since the tenant moved out. The church basement is now being used for rummage sale storage. We tabled this so we can get an update on rummage storage and signage from Guy at the next meeting.

Church insurance renewals and possible agent review: Ron has discussed possible roles with the agent who nicely offered to help in any way. Roles could include being an advisor/consultant or an agent making a bid. We tabled this so we could discuss this at the next meeting when Cyndi and other A Team members are present.

COMMITEE REPORTS:
Counting: No formal report. We are not sure who is the new coordinator/chair for the 2010-2011 year. Jim will contact the Counting Committee and get an update.

House: Deb reported the following:
• The House Committee (HC) met last Tuesday to vote on awarding the 2nd half of the contract to complete the steeple job to Mid Maine Restoration (MMR)(steeplejacks). In June, the HC, after receiving 4 bids, awarded the contract toMMR to inspect the steeple and assess what work was needed to be done to repair the leaking that has caused substantial staining in the balcony ceiling. Last month company personnel went up on the steeple with Tom to do that inspection. Highlights included very complex issues such as poor flashing and caulking around the urns, caulking at the base of the copper steeple, reproofing the cake tiers, rebuilding the 4 louvers and replacing the bottom “quoins” above the roof. The gutter system seems to be working OK. The HC voted on a selected list of work items totaling $17,222 that they feel will correct the leaking problem. Not included in this was the cost for the 2nd day of evaluation and the removal of staging (estimated $4,000), so the total cost will be about $21,000 (Cyndi later told us that the final amount paid to MMR was $20,385). Deb will also check on the contractor warranty/guarantees with the HC.

• The next issues on the HC agenda include having the balcony ceiling fixed and repainted and also painting the sanctuary.

Planned Giving: Ron will do another article in the Beacon before the end of the year.

NEW BUSINESS:
• Homecoming Sunday, Sept. 19: We haven’t heard about any program and we’ll listen for an update this Sunday.

• Fuel Oil Strategy: There are apparently large surpluses of gas and oil on hand right now. However, there are many factors that affect the price, which could stabilize soon. We agreed that we would lock in at $2.35 if the opportunity presented itself before Sept. 30. We also agreed that it is OK to wait longer to watch the market and to consider not even having a contract through the heating season.

• A Team Member Replacements: Ron and Chris will be off the team next June and we have to provide for new replacement members. We need to think of recruiting strategies.


Date of Next Meeting: Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Meeting adjourned 8:34 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Jim Otis