Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of March 3, 2011
Recorder: Ron Bennett

Present: Ron Bennett, Chris Mills, Deb Sandler and Cyndi Alden (Business Manager).

Call to Order: Deb called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Ron agreed to record this meeting and run the next meeting in April.

Minutes of the Admin. Team February 4 Meeting: reviewed and accepted as written.

OLD BUSINESS:
• Financial Statements and Budget: Financial results through February 28 were presented by Cyndi. The year is 16% complete. Revenues are at 14.2% of year’s budget. Decrease in revenues is due to the fact that no revenue from endowments has been requested as of yet. Without the endowment revenue, we were on budget.
Expenses are at 16.9% of year’s budget, which is essentially on budget.
• Tenant Update: We reviewed Guy’s report on the tenant at the 509 Sawyer Street house. His report was generally positive. We have replaced the old refrigerator and will be replacing the stove. The electric service will be upgraded to 100 amp service. We will remove the old unused oil tank in the basement. The front porch also needs repairs. In return for this we will insist on a restoration of the monthly rent to $1,000 on July 1st. Cyndi was asked to write a letter to the tenant outlining the upgrades and new rent.
The tenants in the corner house report no problems. All tenants are current on their rent.
• Insurance Renewals: To be discussed at the April meeting.
• Team Member Replacement: No update.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
• Counting: No report. All appears to be going well.
• House: See above comments under Tenant Update.
• Planned Giving: Ron indicated that he will write a fifth article to appear for the Beacon in a few months.

NEW BUSINESS:
• Energy Efficiency Presentation - Discussed and agreed to send information to Dick & Barbara Merrill as well as Tom. We believe improvements undertaken during the past 3 years have made our properties energy efficient.
• Emergency Guidelines - We reviewed email from Nancy MacLean, Moderator, concerning usher guidelines for handling emergencies, the absence of evacuation maps in rooms, and the battery backup for fire alarm systems and the elevator. Many of these issues have already been addressed by Stan Jordan, Rick Angell and Tom. The House Committee will review all of the issues carefully at their next meeting and get back to the Council.
• Financial statement review by Smith & Associates - Review work completed. We are awaiting a draft of the financial statements.
• Nancy MacLean also inquired into our team’s role overseeing the personnel committee for non-clergy. Deb agreed to contact Nancy to provide some history about this oversight role being removed from the A Team by the Council in 2008.
• Web site issues were discussed with no action taken.
• We reviewed an email from the Maine Conference UCC announcing a seminar on April 2 for those responsible for church financial matters. Cyndi will not be available that day. We discussed the correspondence and believe we are compliant with appropriate policies and procedures.

Date of Next Meeting: Thursday April 7 at 7 p.m.

Meeting adjourned 8:08 p.m.

Adminstration Team

Meeting Minutes of February 3, 2011
Recorder: Deb Sandler


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

Call to Order: Chris called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. Deb agreed to be secretary for this meeting and Jim agreed to be secretary for the March 3 meeting.

Minutes of the Admin Team January 6, 2011 Meeting: Reviewed and accepted as written.

OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget:
Financial results for the month of January were reviewed. The year is 8.3% complete. Revenues stand at 8.3% of the year’s budget.

Expenses are about 10.7% of the year’s budget. Overall, actual income and expenses vs. the budget appear reasonable. The financial report was unanimously accepted. Once the Discovery Center has provided Cindy with their year-end data she will be prepared for the annual financial review with Smith & Associates which will take place on February 8. The Discovery Center and Holly Daze Bazaar are included in that review as requested by the Council in 2009.

Tenant Update:
509 Sawyer Street: Guy and Tom will do an inspection of this house this month to check on several electrical issues brought forward by the tenant. Pending the inspection the A-Team will decide whether it is time to return the rent to the original cost of $1000/month.

331 Cottage Road, 1st Floor: The Art Gallery held its Open House in January. The new inside basement door was installed to create privacy from those people bringing rummage sale items to store in the basement. 2nd Floor: All’s well.

Church Insurance Renewals:
Cyndi sent a copy of our insurance policy to the team in January. We tabled any further discussion until we hear a review from Scott Stacy.

Team Member Replacement:
Chris agreed to take a list, provided by Cyndi, of the current Counting Members and write a letter asking if any of them would be interested in serving on the A-Team in the future.

Committee Reports:
Counting: All appears to be working smoothly.

House: The door has been installed. Signage has been ordered for the Narthex/coatroom area. Placement for those signs will be determined with the help of David Allen. The committee will meet soon to discuss the bids for painting the Sanctuary which Tom has been busy compiling.

Planned Giving: Ron agreed to run the same 4 articles, which he wrote last year, in the Beacon later on this year.


NEW BUSINESS:
Annual Meeting: Both Ron and Deb expressed gratitude to Matt Early for the excellent job that he did explaining the 2011 Proposed Church Budget at the Annual Meeting last Sunday. His presentation was so clear, concise and complete that the vote was taken with no questions needing to be asked. Thank-you Matt!

Date of Next Meeting: Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 7 p.m.

Meeting adjourned 7:55 p.m.

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of January 6, 2011
Recorder: Chris Mills

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

Call to Order: Ron called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Per the rotation schedule, Chris will record this meeting and run the next meeting.

Introductions: Ron introduced Scott Stacy who is considering A-Team membership.

Minutes of the Admin Team December 2010 Meeting: reviewed and accepted as written.

OLD BUSINESS:
Finance: Cyndi reports that 2010 expenses were down 9% and revenues were up 12%. The budget deficit for 2010 was just under $4000, reduced from $27,000.

Tenant Update:
• Sawyer - Cyndi has not heard from tenant concerning tenants job status. Cyndi believes tenant will not be in a position to raise rent (currently $800 mo.) soon . In our desire to work with tenant, the rent was to move from $800 to $900 to $1000 by June. Guy suggested Cyndi keep us informed of situation.
• Cottage Road (1st floor) - the first floor has been rented as of December 15 as an Art Gallery. The Art Gallery owners signed a one year lease and paid the December and January rent of $1200 month. They requested that a new door be installed above the side door steps to prevent people who are using the basement to store rummage sale items from entering their first floor space. The A-Team agreed to do this.
• Cottage Road (2nd floor) - this lease is for $750 month. Cindy reports the tenant is happy.

Major Maintenance Fund: The fund was explained for the benefit of our guest.Major projects to all three properties in recent years were reviewed for Scott.

Signage: The House Committee is working on 2 new directional signs for the Narthex.

Insurance: After a discussion on our insurance policy,Cyndi agreed to scan the current policy and send a copy to the Team, including Scott, for review. Insurance is up for renewal in October. The Team agreed a review should be done by March/April.

Team Member Replacement: The A-Team needs two new members by June. Scott will inform us of his intentions and Guy will talk with his son-in-law. Chris suggested polling counting team for interest.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: Chair Peggy Murray sent Cindy a list of who is scheduled to count each week. Things are working well.

House: Chair Guy Gledhill. We are still in the waiting phase to see if there are any leaks from the steeple work before we consider painting the sanctuary.We have had one quote so far.
Guy reports that the east wall of Guptill Hall is damp. Many teams have worked on trying to solve this issue in the past. The House Committee is watching and brainstorming new causes and solutions.

Planned Giving: Ron put an article in the December Beacon.

NEW BUSINESS:
Cornerstone Fund: We were asked by Elsa to look into the option of recommending participation in the Cornerstone Fund to the congregation. After looking over the fund Ron advised that it would not be in our best interest to participate. Both Elsa and the
A-team strongly agreed.

Financial Review: Smith and Associates will have a report by the end of February.



Date of Next Meeting: Thursday February 3, 2011 at 7 p.m..

Meeting adjourned 8:06 p.m.

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of November 4, 2010
Recorder: Guy Gledhill

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


Call to Order: Jim called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Per the rotation schedule Guy will record this meeting and run the next meeting.

Minutes of the Admin. Team October 7, 2010 Meeting: Reviewed and accepted as written.

OLD BUSINESS:
Finance: Things are looking great, we may do OK for 2010; $27,284 was projected for a loss, and we do better as we near the end of year.

Tenant Update: Sawyer Road house - we are still dealing with a dog issue. Cindy will talk with Pam about what was discussed between Pam and the tenant. We are working on getting this tenant back to her full rent. We lowered last year due to a loss in job. We discussed the commercial space, corner house, first floor. We have a 1,000 sq. ft. and will put up a large sign outside. If we get no takers, we may list with a commercial broker. Top floor corner house doing great.

Planned Giving: Ron is still working on this and will place another article in the Beacon.

Committee Reports:
Counting: Chair, Peggy Murray is doing well.

House: Chair, Guy Gledhill.
• The house committee is working on pricing at this time for a system that will allow us to switch from oil to natural gas to heat our church anytime we wish. We would be able to switch back and forth.
• We had a discussion on the east wall of the Guptill Hall, moisture in the wall affecting the paint. We are continuing to watch and get ideas that will fix it once and for all.
• We are watching the steeple repair work and making sure that we fixed the leak before we get into paint the Sanctuary.
• We are also obtaining price for signage in the church to better direct people.

Insurance: We are still working on this item for review.


NEW BUSINESS:
New Budget: We went over the Admin. Team budget for 2011. We adjusted our Rental Property income as we still have the corner house 1st floor empty. We also adjusted our room rentals due to the Discovery Center situation. We did discuss rental increases for the two houses in future times. Our expenses were in line with an increase to utilities, price of oil. The budget was accepted as changed.

Choir: Discuss the need to replace chairs in the undercroft for choir practice; this will come out of Shirley’s budget. This year, the Eskimos are buying the first set.

Beacon: Discussed the need to get communication to the members. Talked about emailing the Beacon, but all do not read all emails sometimes. Mailings can be expensive. Placing some in the Narthex for members to pick up on Sundays. This will always be a continuing discussion.


Date of Next Meeting: Thursday December 2, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Meeting adjourned 8:16 p.m.

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of December 2, 2010
Recorder: Ron Bennett

Present: Ron Bennett, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills, Rod Redstone and Cyndi Alden (Business Manager).

Call to Order: Guy called the meeting to order at 7:07 pm. Ron agreed to record this meeting and run the next meeting in January.

Minutes of the Admin Team November 4, 2010 meeting: reviewed and accepted as written.

OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Financial results through November 30 were presented by Cyndi. The year is 92% complete. Revenues are at 90.3% of year’s budget. Decrease in revenues is due to reduced tenant rental income and reduced room rental income.

Expenses are at 90.8% of year’s budget. Decrease in expenses is due to lower spending by each of the teams. The most significant item affecting the A Team is reduction in utilities (fuel oil) which is at 68.7% of the year’s budget at November 30. Because fuel oil for 2011 will probably be over budget due to significantly rising prices, a decision was made to completely fill the oil tanks at the end of 2010.

Tenant Update: Tenant at 509 Sawyer Street house is unlikely to be able to pay our previously suggested rent increase in January according to Cyndi.

A new tenant will be occupying the first floor commercial unit at 331 Cottage Road for an artist studio. Rent is $1,200 per month and could begin by mid-December 2010. No repairs will be required. Guy indicated that we will consider installing a programmable thermostat in the first floor unit.

Insurance Renewals: No discussion.

Team Member Replacement: Ron stated that Scott Stacey has indicated that he would like to become a member of the A team in June. He will attend the next meeting to get to know the members.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: No report. All appears to be going well.

House: Guy reported the following:
• The east wall of Guptill Hall is continuing to blister. It is being continually evaluated to determine if the wall is leaking. If it is leaking through porous concrete, outside excavation might be required to apply sealing.
• The steeple repairs of last summer appear to be successful in keeping water out.
• A suggestion was made to set the sanctuary thermostat lower by 2 degrees on Sunday mornings. Two team members indicated that the sanctuary was too hot the past few Sundays.

Planned Giving: Ron indicated that he is working on a fourth article to appear in an upcoming issue of the Beacon.

NEW BUSINESS:
There was discussion of an email from Elsa to Jim & Cyndi on November 16 concerning the Cornerstone Fund. It appears to be mutual fund tied in to the UCC that promises a rate of return on a five year investment of 4.5% vs. 3% for five year CD’s. To receive the extra1.5% return, an investor must designate a “give-back” gift of at least 10% to a UCC church. The fund’s securities are not insured by the FDIC or any other entity. The members of the A team were somewhat concerned about promoting this type of investment idea without more information. Ron agreed to discuss the Cornerstone Fund with Elsa.

Date of Next Meeting: Thursday January 6 at 7:00 p.m.

Meeting adjourned 7:51 p.m.

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of October 7, 2010

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

Call to Order: Jim called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.

Minutes of the Admin Team Sept. 9, 2010 meeting: reviewed and accepted as written.

OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Financial results through October 7 were reviewed. The year is 77% complete. Revenues stand at 72% of the year’s budget.

Expenses are about 79% of the year’s budget. Overall, actual income and expenses vs. the budget appear reasonable. The actual loss was $(57,244) vs. a budgeted loss of $(27,289). The financial report was unanimously accepted. Cyndi agreed to: (1) cutting off statements on the last day of the month and (2) quarterly summaries of major maintenance work item expenditures. A discussion regarding the audit cost vs. budget was held and it was determined that it was higher than budget due to Discovery Center inclusion and to a mistake on the budgeted amount. Cyndi will get the Discovery Center cost broken out by end of November.

Tenant Update: Cyndi contacted the tenant at 509 Sawyer Street house via e-mail to ask about increasing rent to $900/month on Jan 1 but did not receive a response. Cyndi will contact the tenant again and get a response. The committee discussed and agreed that there should be an annual inspection of the house. There is also the issue of the dog. Cyndi will contact Pam Howard about the status of the dog and will brief the committee at the next meeting. The downstairs commercial space at 331 Cottage Road is still vacant. Jim will contact Roxanne Cole regarding the property. In the next lease a clause will be inserted to have the lease automatically renew with a 3.5% increase unless 30 days notice is given.

Chancel Railing: This item is complete and will be removed from next month’s agenda.

Church Signage and Rummage Storage: Guy will contact Dave regarding the signage.

Church insurance renewals and possible agent review: Ron will contact Scott Stacy and see if Scott would like to attend the next administration meeting in order to discuss review of Church Insurance. We may also want Pension/Health reviewed as part of the process.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: We have a very responsive group of counters right now. We have established a process of scheduling on a quarterly basis that seems to be working well. We only had one "missed" Sunday over the summer and the ushers handled that by locking the plates up and it was taken care of on Monday. Generally counters only need to serve 5 times a year or so and they are doing a great job covering for each other if conflicts come up.

House: Maintenance on the balcony ceiling will be delayed until after the winter to ensure that there will not be any more leaks from the roof and steeple.

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

Fuel Oil Strategy: Guy reported that he could get fuel oil for .10 over rack price from Frederick Brothers. The administration team believes that we should continue to wait until the market stabilizes. We will review four vendors for fuel and maintenance, Frederick Brothers, Giroux, Webber and Dead River. The House committee will be asked to put fuel conversion onto their agenda.

Homecoming Sunday, Sept. 19: The council voted to change the day's events so there was no need for us to be present with a formal table display and sign-up.

A Team Member Replacements: Ron and Chris will be off the team next June and we have to provide for new replacement members. We have not yet come up with an overall replacement strategy.

NEW BUSINESS:
Web Site: There was a discussion at Eskimos that they might not be mentioned in the new web site. Jim contacted Chris Keiter after our meeting and he said that the Eskimos as well as other church groups are in the new web site and there will be contact info.

Date of Next Meeting: Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Meeting adjourned 8:23 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Rod Redstone

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

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of June 3, 2010
Recorder: Ron Bennett

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

Call to Order - Deb called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Ron agreed to record this meeting and run the next meeting in September.

Minutes of the Admin. Team May 6, 2010 Meeting - reviewed and accepted as written.

OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Financial results through June 3 were presented by Cyndi. The year is 42% complete. Revenues stand at 35% of year’s budget, but endowment support of $48,750 had not been requisitioned by Cyndi as of June 3. If it had been received, revenue would be at 45.5%. Most exciting revenue item is the per capita contributions which now stand at 153% of year’s budget.

Expenses are at 44.7% of year’s budget. This appears to be in line as 50% of employee annuity and insurance has been paid. Also, Mission has paid out over 50% of its budget and will reduce second half payments to meet budget.

Tenant Update: Tenant at 509 Sawyer Street house has agreed to now pay $800. per month (up from $700). She will be contacted before year end to hopefully increase rent to $900. A new tenant at 331 Cottage Road has moved in at a rent of $750.

Chancel Railing: An article was inserted in the most recent Beacon describing the railing and requesting additional contributions. No response to date.

Church Signage and Rummage Storage: Guy reported that these issues are in progress. Guy did note that there is available storage area in the basement at 331 Cottage Road that could be used for storing rummage items. Guy will contact the first floor tenant for approval.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: No report. Peggy Murray reported subsequent to the meeting that counting is all set through the summer.

House: Guy reported the following:
• The roof is complete. The total cost exceeded the amount reported last month by $9,000 due to extensive flashing required both at the steeple and at the chimney.
• Two birch trees at 331 Cottage Road will have to be removed as their roots are growing into the foundation.

Planned Giving: Ron’s third article appeared in the most recent Beacon. He will hopefully prepare a fourth article later this summer. Two individuals have indicated to him their intention to provide for the church in their wills.

Website Subcommittee: Guy announced that the web site design and implementation contract has been awarded by the committee.

NEW BUSINESS:
A church member who is an account executive at a local insurance agency has asked to review our property insurance. Ron agreed to contact the member to determine if he wants to be a volunteer consultant or become the church’s insurance agent. If he wants to volunteer his services, he will be invited to meet with the team. If he wants to be chosen as our agent, he will be asked to propose on our contracts next year, because annual policy renewals are due soon, and it would not be prudent to change agents on such short notice.

Date of Next Meeting: Thursday September 9, 2010 at 7 p.m.

Meeting adjourned 7:58 p.m.

Administrative Team

Meeting Minutes of May 6, 2010

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

The meeting was called to order by Meeting Chair, Jim Otis at 7:07 p.m. Deb Sandler was appointed Meeting Secretary and Chair for the next meeting.

The Minutes of the March 4, 2010 Meeting were reviewed and accepted. (We had no April meeting)

OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Cyndi presented a review of the finances through May 6, 2010. She reported that “the financial picture was looking good”. She pointed out that the Per Capita Contribution is surprising in that 130% of the budget has come in. She has gotten many positive comments from members about having added that contribution. It was also suggested that we might take advantage of the locked in fuel prices and fill up our oil tanks before the May 31st cut off date.

The first draft of the Financial Review from Smith & Associates is in. It includes the Holly Daze Bazaar and the Discovery Center. Jim and Ron will take a look at it, sign it and get it back to Cyndi by May 13th. Ron suggested that for next year it would be good to add comparative financials for the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow. The Review needs to be finalized and printed up by the Annual Meeting on May 23rd.

Tenant Review: 1.) 331 Cottage Road: The upstairs renovation has been completed. A female tenant rented it for $750. and moved in on May 1st. 2.) 509 Sawyer Street: The tenant has continued to pay $700. at a reduced rate for one year. A concern was raised that it might be time to get back to the $1000. rent that is on the lease. Cyndi was asked to propose to the tenant a phase back in of $100. every few months. (5/11/10: Cyndi reports that the tenant has agreed to start paying $800. in June while she continues to look for a new apartment or house to rent.)

Chancel Rail Proposal: The Administrative Team went to view the progress of work on the Chancel Rail during the meeting. We were very pleased with the results. Several Administrative Team members wrote checks of support on the spot. (5/11/10: The railings are completed. Dick and Barbara Merrill, who made the first request to have a railing built and gave a very generous pledge in support, have seen it and are thrilled with how it looks.) Ron agreed to write an article for the Beacon asking for further donations. The Council has approved the fund-raising for this project. We have $1300. pledged, the cost is $2400. Any cost not covered by pledges will come out of the Old North Church Memorial Fund, which is managed by Spiritual Life &Worship. Thank you, Eben, for a job well done.

Growth Group Request for Signage: Guy reported that the House Committee is working on it and will report back at our next meeting.

Annual Report: Eben graciously wrote and submitted the Annual Report.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: All appears to be working very smoothly thanks to Peggy Murray, Chair.

House: It has been a very busy two months:
• 331 Cottage Rd. - renovations are complete, several birch trees that are threatening the foundation have to be removed.
• Roof - we reviewed 5 separate bids for the roof and went with BD Heanssler for a cost of $43,867. 3 bids were higher and one lower. They will be reroofing everything but the Wright Pavilion with Woodscape Architectural Shingles. As of now, there will be two extra costs: replacing some rotten plywood and where the roof and steeple meet the last roofer cut off the flashing, so both flashing and plywood will have to be replaced there.
• Windows – the Undercroft and Guptill Hall windows have been replaced. This completes a 3 phase project…all windows in the church have been replaced now, except for those in the Sanctuary and Narthex.
• Steeple – due to excessive leaking during winter storms Tom researched where the potential leaks might be. After a great audio visual presentation we understood at least what the problem was and reviewed 3 contracts. We awarded the contract to Mid Maine Restoration. They will come sometime in the early summer, construct scaffolding, do a survey, give us an estimate and then the House Committee will vote on whether to do the repairs they recommend.
• Balcony Ceiling and Sanctuary Painting – After the Steeple has been repaired we will award a contract to have the balcony ceiling repaired and the ceiling and sanctuary repainted…fall ’10.
• Gardening – We hired out to have the gardens mulched and trimmed. We have awarded a contract to have the fencing along the southeast wall of the driveway repaired.

Planned Giving (PG): Ron will write a new article relating to planned giving for the Beacon in June.

Web Site Subcommittee (WSS): Guy reported that the committee is looking at 2 bidders with 2 excellent products. One is totally backed up online costing ~$500/yr to operate, the other is free but we will have to do all of the maintenance. Consensus for the A-Team support for the online backup.

NEW BUSINESS:
Check in with Council: Jim Otis will e-mail Chris expressing that Council Members are always welcome to join our A-Team meetings.

Building Safety: Due to loss of storage facilities the rummage sale furniture items have been overflowing in the hallways. The house committee will look into storage options and posting of areas.

Church Contact List and Composition of A-Team Members: We discussed the process by which new team members are to be chosen. Looks like it’s up to us to inspire new members. We have a new member for the Class of 2013: Rod Redstone. Chris Mills would like to step down so we are looking for a new member. The classes at this time are:
Class of 2011: Ron Bennett, Chris Mills
Class of 2012: Jim Otis, Deb Sandler
Class of 2013: Guy Gledhill, Rod Redstone

Deb said she will contact Elsa to remind her to add the Gardening Committee to the member interest survey.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:19 p.m.

The next A-Team meeting will be held on June 3, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by: Deb Sandler, Meeting Secretary

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

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of January 7, 2010

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

Call to Order - Guy called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Ron agreed to record this meeting and run the next meeting.

Minutes of the Admin. Team December 3, 2009 meeting - reviewed and accepted as written.

OLD BUSINESS:
Finance: 2009 ended with pledges received of $14,000 over budget. That more than offset the decline in rental income. In addition, all other budgeted expenses were down about $12,000. The result was that 2009 ended up at approximately a break even compared to an original budget deficit of $19,572. The team was grateful for all who helped make this a successful year.

Tenant Update: Sawyer Road house tenant has a new job at a lower income level than previously. She has requested to continue paying a reduced rent of $700. She currently is a tenant at will. Team agreed to continue rent at $700 for now. No action reported on improvements to second floor of corner building.

Planned Giving: Ron’s first article appeared in the first January Beacon. He will prepare a second article for February.

2010 Budget: Cyndi reported that as of now pledges are down from 2009. Team expense budgets have generally been held at 2009 level. The church budget meeting is scheduled for January 31.

Other Old Business: Jim reported that there appears to be confusion between the A Team and Council concerning the chancel railing proposal. Eben agreed to obtain a rough estimate to complete the project. It will be submitted to the Council, which could, if considered appropriate, include it as an item for the January 31 church meeting.

COMMITEE REPORTS:
Counting: No report. Counting appears to be fine.

House: Chair Guy Gledhill. No report.

Planned Giving: No report in addition to matters discussed in Old Business.

Website Subcommittee: Rod reported that RFP for Website design looks good. Guy is also a member of the subcommittee and concurred with Rod.

NEW BUSINESS: None.

Date of Next Meeting: Thursday February 4, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Meeting adjourned 7:49 p.m.


Respectfully submitted,

Ron Bennett

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of February 5, 2009

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

Call to Order – Jim called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Per the rotation schedule Guy will record this meeting and run next meeting. Eben Marsh will record the next meeting.

Minutes of the Admin. Team January 8, 2009 meeting - reviewed and accepted as written.

OLD BUSINESS:
Finance - Budget was O.K.; we discussed that some items like rental, taxes and some expenses were not paid yet for January. Budget shows a 26,200 deficit, but it is less; Quick Books shows more as some funds come in from different places. The budget passed on 1/25/09. We discussed the Capitol Need Expenditures; Ron asked for a list of items spent and Cyndi will supply.

Tenant Update - We have one of the three rental’s payment in - the other two have been late before but seem to get in within the month; will continue to monitor.

Room Rentals for Non-Profit – Talked about the note from the Council on the charging for the rooms that non-profits use. We generally do not like to charge these groups, but we discussed many options. We discussed the option that we could ask them to donate, or we could set up a room rental fee program. We discussed the use of the church, lights, heat, cleaning. We talked about the groups that have rental agreements with us, school, yoga, driving. They all have an agreement, and we will discuss those when they expire. We did decide that the sanctuary would have a $110 fee for events that charge a fee to get in and non-members of the church. For the rest we decided that we were providing the rooms for the community, which is what a church is for. Also we noted that many of these groups provide food for the pantry, so they are donating.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting – Chair Brian Wallace has this well in hand.

House – Chair Guy Gledhill - nothing to report at this time.

Planned Giving – Chairs Ron and Chris reported that they had nothing to report.

NEW BUSINESS:
Spreadsheet of New Member Interest – Went over the spreadsheet of members that had signed up for working on committees. Members of the committees will contact.

Date of Next Meeting – Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.

Meeting adjourned 8:08 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Guy Gledhill

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of December 3, 2009

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

Call to Order: Chris called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. Per the rotation schedule Guy will record this meeting and run the next meeting.

Minutes of the Admin Team November 5, 2009 meeting: Reviewed and accepted as written.

Old Business:
Finance: Things are looking great, we may do O.K. for ‘09 - $19, 000 was projected for a loss, we may cut that to $16,000. We have been asked to watch what we spend very carefully. 2010 Budget was done for us last meeting.

Tenant Update: Sawyer road house still struggling; dog is gone; corner top floor vacant and bottom floor doing great.

Planned Giving: Ron is still working on the article to go into the Beacon in January.

Committee Reports:
Counting: Chair Peggy is working on getting people to sign up via email for a long term commitment.

House: Chair Guy Gledhill. Yard work has been done. We had the yard clipped and cleaned for winter, and we had an alarm in the middle of the night - a circuit breaker tripped.

Planned Giving: Chairs Ron and Chris reported above.

Independent Accounting: Pricing came in at 4,785 to 4,975, with an hourly rate for other investigation at 50 to 150. Holiday Bazaar and Discovery Center to be added in the future.

New Business:
New Web Site: Rod went over the meeting that the web site committee had; 400 already committed to get a RFP put together. Dana putting the survey together, and we have a few sites that are of interest to us.

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

Meeting adjourned 7:49 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Guy Gledhill

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of November 5, 2009

Present: Cyndi Alden, Ron Bennett, Chris Mills, Jim Otis, Deb Sandler, and Eben Marsh.
Excused: Guy Gledhill. Special Guest: Rod Redstone.

The meeting was called to order by the Meeting Chair, Eben Marsh, at 7:00 p.m. Chris Mills was appointed as meeting secretary. Rod Redstone was welcomed. Rod is attending as he’d expressed interest in joining the A-Team.

The minutes of the October 1, 2009 meeting were reviewed. Correction: Removal of ‘s from “related coverage’s” was approved.

OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Cyndi provided a review of our financial statements and budget. Rentals are about $10,000 less due to tenant vacancies.

Segregated Funds Support 5045: This is used to support budget deficit and comes from different teams.

Audit Status: Cyndi will get cost estimate on inclusion of Bazaar and Discovery Center in annual audit.

Tennant Review:
• 329 Cottage: Dotty is gone from upstairs rental. The new downstairs tenant’s secure control system is doing fine.
• 509 Sawyer Bungalow: The tenant has gotten rid of pet and is keeping up with the rent.

Council Financial Concerns: Jim conveyed issues to Council on addressing financial control concerns. Council has not responded to date. Eben suggested attaching Jim’s letter to these minutes.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: No report.

House:
• Deb reports that contractor B.D. Hensler looked at Dotty’s apartment. They estimated a full renovation to cost $85,000. A light remodel would run $27,000. Deb said the House Committee will get 2 more proposals. There was much discussion by the A-Team on the logic of a full renovation when comparing to payback. The A-Team agreed that an investment of $15,000-$25,000 would make sense. The House Committee will research what the C.N.A. will cover.

• Tom now has the ability to control thermostat settings from home. This will be useful for rooms where meetings are to be held. Also, if someone adjusts the controls in a room, it will revert to the old setting in 2 hours.

• Tom is to follow through on cleaning clutter from hallway. This was brought to our attention from a fire department inspection.

• The House Committee wants to move maintenance budget back to $17,000.

Planned Giving: Ron did up report that will go into the Beacon. A-Team discussed and gave input on making changes before submitting to the Beacon. Deb suggested directing people to the website to read. Ron will rework and present to A-Team next month.

Financial Review Committee: Nothing new to report.

NEW BUSINESS:
Web Site: Jim gave a review on this matter to bring Rod up to date. A-Team agreed that Council needs to create a vision for website. Until this happens, the A-Team is on hold with this. Jim read e-mail history of communication. The last e-mail was received on October 23 from Dana Wiggins, Chris Keiter and John McCall.

RFP: Council wants A-Team to administer RFP. Rod will consider helping out with this.

Chancel Rail: A-Team will communicate with Council to review rail plans in preparation to bring to congregation.

Budget: Discussed 2010 A-Team budget request.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:12 p.m.

Next Meeting: December 3 at 7:00 p.m.

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2009

Present: Cyndi Alden, Ron Bennett, Guy Gledhill, Jim Otis, Eben Marsh, Jim Otis, Deb Sandler. Absent: Chris Mills.

The meeting was called to order by our presiding pro tem Chair Deb Sandler at 7:00 p.m. EDLST. Eben Marsh was appointed Meeting Secretary.

The Minutes of the September 17, 2009 Meeting were approved without change.

Old Business:
Financial Statements and Budget
1. The Financial Statements were reviewed and discussed. Monthly rental revenue was a discussion point as we were in a changeover of tenants. Cyndi expressed that the Budget and budgeted revenues were in line with projections. It was noted that the Church had contracted its heating oil cost at $1.94. Accolades were pronounced.
2. Council Financial Concerns: Jim has drafted a report of his meeting with the Church auditor in which several recommendations were suggested for their consideration. To date, he has not received a response from the Council / Auditor.

Tenant Review
1. Tenant Updates: There was a discussion of various changes and improvements that could be made to make additional rental units at 329 Cottage Road to make the downstairs a commercial rental space, and the upstairs into residential space. Some clean up suggestions were made for 509 Sawyer following the long term tenant there leaving this month.
2. The Church rental properties are rented in Craig’s List and a lawn sign will be posted.

Rummage Sale Update
1. It was reported that $4500.00 was taken in.

Committee Reports:
House Committee
1. Guy reported that work will be done at the 329 Cottage Road rental. There is no Gardening Committee. There was a discussion on the issue of the Sanctuary fire alarm. There will be a House Committee meeting later this fall.
2. All in all, lots of improvements have made, and the Church is felt to be in generally good condition.

Planned Giving
1. There was no report to make. The committee felt that it should not be pro-active at this time due to the state of the economy.

Financial Review
1. There should be a contingency plan in the event there are no counters present on any given Sunday.
2. Peggy Murray appeared and gave our committee a very comprehensive and reassuring report of the organization and activity of the Counting Committee.
3. Detailed discussion was held on the following matters:
• Program financial guidelines.
• The budget.
• Whether there needs to be a Management Letter.
• Council concerns.
• Setting up a financial accounting system that would be used by each Church committee / group.
• Awaiting the Council’s response to Jim’s letter.

New Business:
1. Web Site Redesign – John has raised the matter of updating the Church Website. Following a discussion, it Jim will ask John to ask the Council to approve spending some amount of money to authorize the A Team select a consultant and proceed with this project. Jim will compose an email to John outlining an approach to toward getting this started.

2. Chris to ask Rod Redstone about his interest to join the A Team.

The Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

The next A Team meeting will be November 5, 2009.

Respectfully composed and submitted by Eben Marsh, meeting secretary.

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of April 2, 2009

Present: Ron Bennett, Deb Sandler, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills, Jim Otis, Cyndi Alden, Eben Marsh
Guest: Nancy MacLean, special guest from the Council.

The meeting was called to order by the Meeting Chair Deb Sandler at 7:05 p.m.

Chris Mills was appointed Meeting Secretary and Chair for the next meeting.

The minutes of the March 5, 2009 meeting were reviewed and approved with the corrected spelling of Stephen Popp’s name.

OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Cyndi lead a review of our financial statements .Everything looks on course with the 1st quarter behind us. The scholarship interest account was negative due to disbursements after an initial approval of a dollar amount.

Tenant review: Stephen Popp moved out on April 1, according to Cyndi. There was discussion on pursuing rent still owed by Popp. It was decided by the team to put it behind us. Guy will do a walkthrough of the property on 4/3. Any damages will be deducted from security deposit, as will back rent. Cyndi will send a final billing to Popp.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: Brian Wallace reports that he is all set for counters for Palm Sunday & Easter. He will be selecting a new chair for the next year.

House: Guy reports all is well. Prudy Wiggins will get work party together for church grounds; much of work will be spreading mulch. Found and repaired minor water leaks. Major leak in community room; it appears to have come in around window during major storm. Guy discussed awarding “heating control” bid to Maine Controls which is a division of Mechanical Services. There were three bids. Maine controls won with a bid of$16,680. We will be able to implement this control system on our current computer system. The other bids would have required purchase of a separate computer. The church should save $4500 per year, which would be a 4-5year payback. With this system the heat can be controlled from home. We also are looking into dual burners for boiler for cost savings. 3rd floor windows will be done this fall. Oil bid recently locked in at $1.94.9

Planned Giving: no report

NEW BUSINESS:
Nancy MacLean from the Council met with us to see how we were doing with the new paradigm of church governance. The A-team reported, it took the 1st year to smooth out, but all agreed, things were running fine with no problems to report.

Nancy raised a concern of Council & church members of accounting of monies raised by subgroups that do not flow through the budget, i.e. - Eskimos, rummage sale, etc. Nancy stated there is no serious concern, other than having a full accounting of monies raised in the church. Discussion centered on these groups being a footnote in the annual budget. Cyndi will check with auditor on this issue.

Nancy also wanted feedback on the idea of a business referral bulletin board, which would consist of church members who could provide a service to members of the church. Although the A-team saw benefits to this, it was agreed it could also make for complications. It was agreed by the A-team to keep referrals the old fashioned way, word of mouth.

Ron & Jim will attend Council meeting on 4/16.

Jim will be contact person for A-team for next year.

Nominations: Jim & Deb were nominated to 3 year terms on the A-team.

Next meeting: May 7, 2009

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.


Respectfully submitted by: Chris Mills, Meeting Secretary

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

Administrative Team

Meeting Minutes of June 4, 2009

Present: Ron Bennett, Jim Otis, Deb Sandler and Guy Gledhill.
Absent: Eben Marsh, Chris Mills and Cyndi Alden.

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

The minutes of the May 8, 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.

Tenant review: We are behind 6 months ($7,200) at 329 Cottage due to tenant turnover. Tenant at 509 Sawyer is current, but rent has been reduced to $700.

Guy reported that new tenant at 329 Cottage (Secure Control Systems) should be in by July 1. The rent will be $1,200 with a one year renewable lease. There will be unit fix-up required consisting of painting and floor work. Guy is currently dealing with South Portland Board of Zoning Appeals, and hopes to resolve tenant use approval soon.

Council Finance Concerns: In response to Council request, agreement was reached that a meeting with the independent accountants will be scheduled for this summer. Lori-Anne Wilson of Smith & Associates will be asked to meet with Jim, Ron & Cyndi to review last year’s financial statement review. At the meeting a protocol for the review should be established, with the understanding that the accountants will be reporting to representatives of the Administrative Team in the future.

It was also agreed that we should begin evaluating the internal control systems and procedures at the Church. Ron was requested to explore Church member CPA’s who might be able to conduct an internal control review without charge.

Groups within the Church whose activities are not currently included in the financial statements were discussed and will also be discussed at the meeting with Smith & Associates. One major group, The Discovery Center, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Church, was highlighted. Cyndi was requested to gather a file of historical records of the Church’s connection with The Discovery Center.

Growth Group: Jim will provide descriptions of all Administrative Team sub-groups for submission to the Growth Group.

Committee Reports:
House: Guy reported that the food pantry will be redone. Carpet will be removed and linoleum will be added. It will also be painted and have new shelves. Windows for the top floor have been ordered. Computerized thermostats have been installed throughout the Church.

Counting: Brian Wallace the following report:

The current plan is for me to schedule through the Labor Day weekend, to try to increase the number of counting teams, and to phase out of this function around the end of the summer. Then, depending on further discussions, either Peggy or Rick will take over the scheduling and training at that time for the remainder of the 2009-2010 church year. Beyond that, we anticipate the other person will be able to be the counting committee chair for the 2010-2011 church year.

We hope this arrangement will allow the counting process to continue smoothly over the next two years.

Brian

Planned Giving: Ron & Chris will meet this summer to prepare a poster and insert for September Beacon.

New Business:
Homecoming Sunday: Deb agreed to coordinate the Administrative Team’s involvement at Homecoming Sunday on September 13.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m.
The next Administrative Team meeting will be held on September 10, 2009.

Respectfully submitted by: Ron Bennett, Meeting Secretary

Administrative Team

Meeting Minutes of May 8, 2009

Present: Ron Bennett, Eben Marsh (excused early), Deb Sandler, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills, Jim Otis and Cyndi Alden.

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

The minutes of the April 2, 2009 meeting were reviewed and accepted.

Old Business:

• Financial Statements and Budget: Cyndi lead a review of our financial statements and budget for the period January 1 through May 7 , 2009 (35% of the year). There was a $(10,942) loss for this period (42%) vs. a budgeted loss of $(26,290) 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.
• Tenant review: 1.) 331 Cottage Road: Steve Popp/Old Crow has moved out. Cyndi sent him a final statement for unpaid rent of $3,600 and we kept his security deposit of $1,200 for repairs. Regarding this space, Guy Gledhill has a potential commercial tenant to take the entire space. Since the use of the building is residential, we have to get an OK from the S.P. Board of Zoning Appeals each time we change tenants. Guy will handle the appeal process with the City and also will try to get a deposit from the tenant to reserve the space. Guy will also work with Cyndi on due diligence to be sure the new tenant is qualified. 2.) 509 Sawyer Street: Our residential tenant has told us that her job is being terminated in the near future, so we authorized Cyndi to discuss and negotiate a lower temporary rental amount.
• Room Rental Agreement: Cyndi has updated this agreement to include the language suggested by John McCall which (nicely) asks non-profits to consider a donation for the use of the space to defray heating and maintenance expenses.
  

Committee Reports:

• Counting: No formal report from Brian Wallace, but the system appears to be working fine and the Counting Committee is doing a great job.
• House: House Committee member Guy said they didn’t meet this past month since there wasn’t much on their agenda. Tom now has the ability to monitor and control any church thermostats from his home, which will save on fuel. They are working on the radiant floor heating system effectiveness in the sanctuary. They are also checking into a dual burner for both fuel oil and natural gas. Guy also said that we are going ahead with putting new windows in the third floor of the office wing. The cost is the same as the original bid price from the previous year.
• Planned Giving: Ron and Chris discussed having a Planned Giving poster at the A Team table on Homecoming Sunday. They also anticipate putting an article in the first September Beacon. The focus will be on educating members.

New Business:

• Council Finance Concerns: Ron and Jim attended the Council meeting on April 16 and discussed various concerns of the Council regarding church finances. The Council would like the A Team to review the financial processes, systems and controls of church programs and to provide any recommendations that don’t increase costs, including whether less material programs (i.e. Eskimos) should be included. Ron and Jim will spearhead this mission on behalf of the A Team over the course of this year. We discussed the fact that the Discovery Center and the Holly Daze bazaar should be included and that the A Team should review the initial draft of the financial statements. We would also want to revise and expand the A Team’s purposes beyond the procurement of the annual audit. Cyndi will also be contacting our CPA firm (Laurie Ann Wilson) to obtain feedback on pertinent issues.
• Annual Report: We made some minor editorial changes and Guy will finalize.
• Growth Group: We reviewed Dave Allen’s email regarding this new program, and we felt that it could be very helpful in increasing church attendance and membership. Jim will be in contact with Dave to learn more about the program and specific steps that we need to take.
• Green Action Group: We reviewed the various emails from Barbara Merrill, Tom Conlon and Elsa concerning recycling and a request to put up a “Clean Air Zone” sign in the parking lot. We had some concerns about the sign and Jim will email Elsa, Barbara and Tom.
  

The meeting was adjourned at 8:34 p.m.

The next AT meeting: Thursday, June 4, 2009 (last meeting until September)

Respectfully submitted by: Jim Otis, Meeting Secretary

Administrative Team

Meeting Minutes of March 5, 2009

Present: Ron Bennett, Eben Marsh, Deb Sandler, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills and Cyndi Alden.

The meeting was called to order by the Acting Chair Guy Gledhill at 7:05 p.m.

The minutes of the February 5, 2009 meeting were reviewed and accepted.

Old Business:
Cyndi lead a review of our financial statements.

Cyndi reported that Old Crow Gallery is behind two months in rent payments. Also, the tenant occupying the Bungalow has lost her job, and may need to vacate. Stephan Popp visited our meeting to explain why he is behind in his payments.

The Committee voted unanimously to terminate our lease with Steve Popp, et al. Cyndi will compose a suitable letter to Potts advising him of our action and that he is to vacate the property by April 1, 2009.

Cyndi will also contact the occupant of the Bungalow to work out new terms that will be suitable to both parties until June, 2009, when the Committee will revisit that lease to determine the lease terms beyond June.

Committee Reports:
Counting – Cyndi provided a new stamp which will expedite the Counting Committee’s endorsements of collection checks for Sunday deposits.

House – Guy presented an update of the activities of the House Committee. Please refer to HC Report attached.

Planned Giving – Ron reported that the PGC is continuing to discuss the details of its program. Ron also shared that the PGC felt that due to the current economy that this was not a good time to approach potential supporters.

New Business:
Heating Oil – The Team discussed the current level of fuel prices, and requested Cyndi to solicit companies for prices now rather than to wait until the fall season.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

Next Meeting: April 2, 2009

Respectfully submitted by: Eben Marsh, Acting Secretary