Regular Board of Directors Meeting of UUFM

Monday, November 11, 2013

6:00 PM

1. Opening of Meeting:

a. Chalice Lighting and Reading – Greg

b. Covenant Reading –Board

c. Quorum Determination: Yes, Members present: Nakota Ashtarte, Madeline Bishop, Brian DeMarco, Kathleen McKinney, Greg Valentine, Genevieve Woodward, Ken Moore.

d. Meeting Called to Order: 6:07pm

e. Choosing a Recorder for Board Meeting: Greg set up the recorder he had borrowed from his son and explained how it worked. Kathleen will transcribe the minutes from the recording. Madeline also took minutes. There was some discussion of various ways to do this. We agreed that the minutes need to be a summary. If this works, the board will purchase a similar recording device.

f. Approval of Agenda: Agenda was approved with no corrections.

2. October 14, 2013 Minutes: Minutes were approved.

3. Continuing Business Updates:

A. Treasurer’s Report: Copies of budget report for September and October were distributed and discussed along with the financial committee meeting. Nakota wanted to know what was spent from each category. There was some discussion on what that should look like since others agreed they would also like that detail.

The finance committee met the beginning of September. They discussed that the addition of Buffy as book keeper and the increase in rent had not been budgeted for. Surplus of $4,900 from last year will go into savings. We need to decide how those two increases will be covered.

Kathleen asked if the increases will cause us a problem or not? Could Jay figure out on a monthly basis where we are? Nakota said that she had figured out the impact that Buffy’s salary will have and that we will be OK. We should also be OK on the room rent but it needs to be revisited.

There was some discussion on the surplus. Jay said the bylaws state what needs to be done with a surplus. Brian said it is not addressed in the bylaws but is addressed in the Policy and Procedures manual. It says excess should go in a CD or money market. But there is a conflict since it also says it should be split between the reserve fund and building fund. Unless it is needed for immediate operations of the fellowship. There was some discussion and clarification of what operations are. Also there was discussion on dedicated funds versus operational funds.

The board voted to move the line item of $2,000 to book keeper.

Jay explained expenses for October. Nakota wants something that shows everything listed to help us see what has been spent and what we have left. That way we can see if we are over budget or under budget. Jay is going to talk to Buffy about it.

Brian wanted to know if the chairs of committees report to the treasurer. No, they do not. It would help if the board knew what was going on with the committee expenditures. Ken said that the checks that are issued would be a way of determining what has been spent by the committees. Nakota said she has been asking for this accounting for three months. Madeline asked if a committee goes over their budget do they get to borrow from others. Ken said that the Bylaws state that the board would need to approve changes. It is called non-routine but there is a bit of ambiguity on what would be non-routine. Some of this concern applied to the addition of the book keeper. There is also some ambiguity about whether we need just board approval or approval from the entire fellowship. We agreed unanimously that at this point the hiring of the book keeper should be an announcement at the fellowship business meeting.

B. Committee Reports

Cares & Concerns – Genevieve reported that Marcia will be chair for the next six months. Pam, Susie G., Susan Marrant, Marcia Blevins are on this committee. Otis W. will help with counseling.

Membership – Ken and Bernie are both co-chairs of membership. Ken, Bernie, Denise, are on this committee. They are responsible for greeters, for the setup of the information table, sponsoring program. Denise keeps the membership list current, UUA database of potential members. Committee members point visitors to the information table.

Senior Center Contact – Kathleen mentioned that she would be dropping off the rent check.

Worship – Greg mentioned other members are Joan K. + Suzanne Teller + Madeline Bishop.

· We should limit the worship service to 75 minutes.

· Discussion about how to get people to sit quietly during prelude.

· Madeline presented speakers scheduled through March.

· Our Holiday service and Potluck Schedule: Setup at 9:00, people arrive at 10:00 Serve hot food at 10:30 followed by musical program. White elephant gift exchange starts at 1:00. People bringing children’s gifts should label them. Kids exchange gifts should be separate. Cleanup time until at 1:30. (Jay will check to see if we have extra budget money to pay for extra time at the center.)

Children’s Religious Education – Genevieve is trying to get the list of members. They will not have another meeting until after Christmas. She talked to Nancy about how OWL is going. Evidently the kids are excited and being very mature about the program.

Adult Religious Education – Ken working toward the non-violent communication training. Ken mentioned the names of people on the committee. Fred Sly is scheduled for March 16^th sermon which will be a workshop. He may come for another workshop or perhaps they will use a workbook.

Long Term Facility – Nakota said there is nothing to report. No one is looking. No one is writing any grants. Madeline suggested Evergreen. Kathleen mentioned that by next summer we will probably have a big rent increase. First Christian Church was mentioned. Ken said that he and Eric spoke with them because it is not worth using due to cost of heating.

Social Action – Kathleen mentioned that Ken is selling books for the book study group sponsored by the social action committee. Two meetings are scheduled with perhaps another. Jan. 5^th, Feb 6^th (Sat.) The hope is that reading the book will help all of us to have a better idea of what it means to be UU. It will happen around when we do vision and mission. Patricia-Faye Marshall, Beth Dell and Kathleen McKinney attended an area-wide UU Social Action meeting held in Eugene on October 19. There is a subcommittee meeting to identify the most dangerous social injustice. The Social Action committee will have a breakfast meeting next Sunday. Kathleen asked Beth if she would send the members names to Barbara Valentine for our webpage. On February 16, the social action committee will be responsible for the church service and are hoping to have Nese Desel as speaker about homeless shelters in McMinnville during the winter.

C. Consensus Model

Brian looked at process. Ken is looking at substance. The way to present this would be through a business meeting. We would use the Consensus model to see if all of us can achieve consensus or not. We will need to revise the Bylaws. We would have to call for a special election. This model can be used for some decisions but not others. We need to monitor to see whether it is working or not and how well. A committee could be the consensus keepers. We will probably do this at the December 1^st service. Brian and Ken will be in charge.

D. Vision Committee

Madeline said they decided to have the fellowship build a vision and mission during the service. They want to use the same format that Kathy used during the presentation she did at a recent service since people were very engaged. Barbara Valentine, Nakota Ashtarte, Pam Bergen and Madeline Bishop will meet to plan this service on January 5th.

E. Employment Agreement – Nakota asked that some people help Brian with this. Brian wonders about what has happened to existing documents? Do we need a service agreement for all employees? Volunteers for a task team: Jay Teller, Kathleen McKinney, Brian DeMarco. We need copies of all documents related to hiring.

Madeline suggested that we eventually hire an administrator who can keep a handle on all of these volunteers and even assume some of the work and keep all of the documents together.

III. New Business: Illuminations will be the theme for the holiday party to make the celebration more a UU celebration. The theme is silver and purple. Barb Rousch and Denise Patton are organizing the potluck. Greg Valentine is in charge of the entertainment.

IV. Other Agenda Items

Board Retreat: Nakota felt that we got good information and it was an excellent way to begin speaking about things. She thanked Otis and Sara for providing such a beautiful setting. Otis did a fine job of prepping her and facilitating. She would like a note or letter written to them to thank them. Genevieve put all the food together so should get a special thanks. Nakota would like to offer the usual honorarium of $100. Jay has a template for a letter. Kathleen will do a letter when she gets the template and check from Jay. It was moved, seconded and voted on to give Otis the honorarium. Genevieve will send Kathleen the correct mailing address. Ken thought that the retreat was very good. It really gave him an insight into how different we all are.

4. Announcements: None

5. Date, Time and Place of next Board Meeting. Brian said it should be the second Monday of every month. Nakota will host the meeting. There will be an abbreviated board meeting and holiday party. Brian mentioned that mailing committee reports ahead of time would really cut down on time in the meeting. Nakota would like to have people talk about what we would like to have accomplished. She suggested that people bring food. Kathleen mentioned that she may not be here. She will be out of town. The next meeting will be December 9th.

Adjournment at 7:45 pm