UnitarianChurch Of Sharon
Board of Trustees Meeting
May 13, 2015
Present: Jessica Plumridge, Jim Robinson, Marcia Tranavitch, Tim Theiler, Paul Tuck, David Schoenfeld
Absent: Jim Mullin and Kathleen Guilday
Guests: Louise Marcoux, DRE, Chris Scheller(Ministerial Intern), Tom Kinraide and Brenda Wilbur(members of the Safe Congregation Committee)
Meeting called to order @ 7:25
A motion to amend the BOT Meeting minutes from the April 8, 2015 meeting to reflect that Jessica Plumridge was absent from that meeting was made and the minutes were corrected. Minutes were then approved as corrected.
Correspondence:A thank you note will be sent to Rory Mcgregor for all of his work with Stewardship, t-shirt sales, yard sale and clothing collection.
New Business:
1. Colleen Tuck representing the Personnel Committee gave us an overview of the changes in sick leave accumulation mandated by law that will be affecting our payroll processes. Employees will now accumulate 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked. This can be unpaid or paid according to the number of employees we have. It is unclear if some of our employees are indeed independent contractors or hourly employees. Colleen was going to seek advice concerning this from her daughter (a lawyer familiar with labor law). The payroll company will take care of the bookkeeping necessary to keep tabs on this. They will charge an extra $3 per pay period for this. We will then be moving forward with paying our employees for 2 week pay periods. Initially, this may create some hardship and confusion for some employees when this is started this July.
We need to know how many hours each employee works in a 2 week period to determine who is an hourly employee(one who makes <$420/wk) vs. a salaried employee.
Colleen said we needed to give Practical Payroll this info before 5/21.
2. Tom Kinraide presented a draft of the Policy for Safety and Civility to the Board.
One item discussed was should we have a lockdown procedure. Tom had a meeting with Lieutenant Brewer from the Sharon Police who felt that the likelihood of encountering a violent intruder was small. He stated that the idea of concentrating the children in one area was unwise. He felt that we should keep a record of any threatening remarks by anyone and report these to the police.
He further stated that there are usually some warning signs of trouble before it happens. Tom had consulted with a UU Congregation in Connecticut and they have been unable to come up with a suitable lockdown procedure. There was some discussion about having a panic button somewhere in the Church. Tom will consult with area temples about this.
Jessica noted that all the schools have a dedicated phone line to connect with the police.
On page 8 of the draft policy there is a paragraph stating that some thought that doing background checks on those parents or guardians who are present during children's choir practice would be excessive. It seems that about 60% of the parents have already been screened. The sense of the meeting was that all volunteers working/helping with children should be screened.
Page 3, item 4. Should we include safety policies from the Personnel Manual?
Brenda Wilbur felt we might list safety policies as bullet points. It was suggested that we put policy information into booklet form for the Congregation to read as a committee report at the annual meeting.
Old Business
1. No AIM II report this month.
2. In regards to the item from last month's meeting whereby some potential new members objected to the word "Church" in our name, Jim R reported that the committee chairs could not reach consensus regarding possibly changing our name.
New Business
1. A motion was made and unanimously approved that UU Sharon officially be a member of the newly named Five Point Cluster.
Jim R mentioned that some of the upcoming events for the cluster would include a summer picnic, a September meeting of interested members, and that some of the ministers will be trading pulpits in the near future.
2. Ken Olum had proposed replacing our current bike rack with a new one that you could lock your bike to. A motion was made and unanimously approved to accept Ken's offer. It was decide to let the B and G Committee decide what to do with the old bike rack.
3. Warrant for the Annual Meeting will be written by the President of the Board.
Treasurer's Report
Paul Tuck reported that we have received pledges totaling $252,861.
We anticipate that $260,000 will be needed for the upcoming fiscal year, so we are in good shape.
The budget has been modified to include an increase of $800 to account for the changes necessary for payroll services.
It was noted that any surpluses from year to year go into Capitol Reserve.
A motion was made and approved to accept the budget for 2015-2016 as written by the Finance Committee.
Minister's Report
Jim reported that we have 1 new prospective member and that is Pearl Schleinig.
A motion was made and approved to accept her as a new member.
Jim also reported that the Youth Group was donating the profits from the Pancake breakfast to the church.
Jim also presented a proposal that we get involved with assisting the Simple Gifts program which is a UU led volunteer organization running community programs in Bethnal Green in East London. Some of the programs include after school programs, teen groups, play groups, and English classes. The group is currently funded by grants and donations. Through Faithify (a UU crowdfunding program), they hope to raise more funds. They need a UU church in the United States to funnel the funds to them.
Jessica will consult with her husband about how this can be done and Jim Schulz will also be consulted.
Marcia brought up the question about funding the $75000 that would be needed to have the architects draw up plans and drawings for the AIM II project.
This will be discussed with the AIM II Committee.
The Board proposed having a motion at the Annual Meeting to spend $30,000 from Capitol Reserve and then have the remainder of $45,000 be raised by the congregation.
Two motions were made: 1. to spend $75000 for the architectural plans and drawings. This motion was approved by the Board.
2. A motion was offered to spend $30,000 from Capitol Reserve and then ask the Congregation to raise the remaining $45,000. This motion was also approved by the Board.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:17PM