Minutes of the Board of Trustees
First Unitarian Society of Madison, Wi
Minutes
Board of Trustees
First Unitarian Society
Madison, Wisconsin
February 15, 2006
7:00 p.m.
Lower Meeting House
Present:
Officers:
Alan Knox, President
Pat Anderson, President-Elect
Tom Detmer, Secretary
At Large Trustees:
Barb Avery
Chris Glueck
Kathy Luker
John Mathis
Lorna Aaronson
Ministers:
Michael Schuler, Minister
Scott Prinster, Associate Minister
Staff:
Susan Koenig, Church Administrator
Jim Christensen, Facilities Project Coordinator
Leslie Ross, RE Coordinator
Observers:
Janet Stonecipher
CALL TO ORDER
After an
opening and chalice lighting by Barb Avery, Alan Knox called the meeting to
order at 7:00 p.m. and reviewed the agenda.
CONSENT ITEMS
Alan Knox proposed a modification of the language regarding the loan amount
in the capital campaign. A MOTION to approve the minutes from January
18, 2006 (Exhibit 1) was made by Chris Glueck and seconded by John Mathis. The
motion CARRIED.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Alan referred to the Treasurer’s Report (Exhibit 2). Chris noted that the salary figure was low and asked why. Susan explained the adjustments that have occurred that led to this adjustment. Salaries have only been expensed as they have actually occurred.
HARPSICHORD PROPOSAL
The Foundation Board wants the sense of the FUS Board to use funds for the harpsichord. The existing harpsichord will be stored and this use of funds for the new instrument that is available is a good use of funds. This is a beautiful instrument that we have an opportunity to obtain. The Worship Council recommends the use of the funds for this purpose.
A MOTION to approve the use of the funds was made by Lorna Aaronson and Barb Avery seconded it. The motion CARRIED.
COUNCIL CHAIRS MEETING
Alan introduced the topic of the function of the councils and the proposal to have the chairs of the councils meet. The idea is to discuss council chair leadership development and to have the flow of ideas go up as well as down. Basically the participants will discuss how to make the councils “engines of leadership development.” The discussion of “how” this is done is part of the goal. The desire to accomplish this has been there previously.
The plan is to have council leaders participate in the leadership retreat in May or June.
Alan mentioned that councils are a method of involvement in FUS leadership. We have made enormous progress and the Board must show leadership to keep things from fragmenting.
PARISH MEETING REFLECTIONS
The feedback has been extremely positive. Mike May moderated the meeting extremely well. Vince Micha did a great job.
Michael Schuler commented that there is a small group of members who have sat on the sidelines because they feel that this is a fait accompli and that the proposal has not been handled in the most democratic way.
We need to continue to try to make the process work as well as possible
to address people’s concerns and to make them feel part of the process
and not left out. Nevertheless in a democracy people need to speak
out to have a say and to take ownership of what is proposed. If people
sit on the sidelines they give up an opportunity to object to how things
are proceeding.
FEASIBILITY STUDY
A timetable for the feasibility study (Exhibit 4) was handed out. If anyone has questions they should let Alan or Susan know. The timetable is tight. The report should be done a month before the May 7 meeting so it is imperative that the initial feasibility study get done within about six weeks. Susan expressed grave concerns about the ability to accomplish what needs to be done in this timeframe. If the lead gifts quickly emerge, then there should not be a problem. But if they don’t emerge, then we will have little time to develop an alternative plan and to do the necessary value engineering so the parish can vote in May on precise plans.
BREAK 8:15-8:25
PARISH MEETING ON MAY 7
Planning and volunteers. Alan reflected on his experience in contacting people for the parish meeting. He thinks some people are already positioning themselves to back off involvement so they won’t have to contribute to the campaign.
We need to think about who are in the “middle group” of members who are participants but not as heavily involved as they might otherwise be. Some members are heavily involved. Others are not involved much at all. It is the middle group that we want to involve.
We should work on developing a list of volunteers and then, most importantly, follow up and give feedback to people and let them hear back about their volunteering.
There was extensive discussion on what is happening and not happening in engaging new members and in obtaining information from them about their interests. Alan pointed out we need to do the same thing with our existing members. This is an area that is happening only sporadically and we need to get it more organized and make sure it is happening.
Communications. Up to this time we have pulled together an ad hoc group to plan forums and parish meetings. Communications have been handled in an informal way. Should this be more formalized? The facilities development task force as a communications group has been good in getting more people involved. Susan Koenig commented that we need a communications function provided by the facilities group as a discreet function during the period when the facilities are a project. In addition we may want to have communications handled for external purposes to tell others outside FUS what our facilities are all about and to handle other “outside” communications.
We need to communicate to members to put the May 7 meeting on their calendar so other things do not pre-empt it on their calendars. Should there be forums ahead of time? What other pre-planning activities are needed? We want as few people as possible coming to the meeting who are not aware of what is going on.
Parish Meeting Logistics. Coordination of logistics is another issue. We had various volunteers for different activities for the last meeting. We just need an overall coordinator. Who might be a possibility for that? Barb Avery volunteered to handle this for the Parish Meeting on May 7, 2006.
Facilities Development Task Force. What will the new Facilities Development Task Force look like? What will the charter look like? (Exhibits 5 and 6). The intent is to figure out the goals of this group and what authority it has. Will it be able to handle on-going decisions as the building being constructed? This would be the empowered group. There should also be an on-site project manager. Any feedback on this should be sent to Susan. The coordinating committee will discuss it tomorrow and the steering committee will discuss it next week. It will come back for ratification to the Board next month.
Alan reminded everyone that the facilities coordinating committee is an umbrella group with various groups under it such as the facilities development task force and the preservations task force. The new committee will have the function of making immediate decisions as needed.
BUDGET PROCESS
Alan referred to Scott’s 10 Questions to Ask (Exhibit 7) and Alan’s reflections.
The budget process will require a second board meeting in April. The regular meeting is April 19. The second meeting would be on April 26 to solely discuss the budget.
ADJOURNMENT
A MOTION was made to adjourn. CARRIED. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Minutes by, Tom Detmer, First Unitarian Society Board Secretary
EXHIBITS
- Minutes from January 18, 2006
- Treasurer’s Report
- Harpsichord Funding Proposal
- Feasibility Study Timeline
- Proposed Facilities Development Task Force Charter
- Facilities Planning Decision Map
- Scott’s Ten Questions
