Minutes
Board of Trustees
First Unitarian Society
Madison, Wisconsin
January 17, 2007
7:00
p.m.
Lower
Meeting House
Present:
Officers:
Pat Anderson, President
Laurie Joiner, President-Elect
Tom Detmer, Secretary
Sue Radtke, Treasurer
Alan Knox, Past President
Council Trustees:
Kathy Luker
John Mathis
Nancy Kosseff
Chris Glueck
Barb Avery
Ministers:
Michael Schuler, Minister
Kelly Crocker, Associate Minister
Scott Prinster, Associate Minister
Staff:
Susan Koenig, Church Administrator
Dave Weber, Construction Coordinator
Wendy Cooper, Social Justice Coordinator
Observers:
Visitors:
Sam Lawrence, Facilities Planning Committee
Doug Mitchell, Facilities Planning Committee
Janet Stonecipher, Music Committee Representative
CALL TO ORDER
After an
opening and chalice lighting by Sue Radtke, Pat Anderson
called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Both the minutes from November and December 2006 need to be approved. In the November minutes we should reflect that we will select and obtain an auditor after December 31, 2006. A MOTION to approve the November 15, 2006 minutes as corrected CARRIED.
In the December minutes we should show that Chris Glueck was absent. Also the minutes should clearly state that there will be staff and Board training March 30-31 to support our Journey Towards Wholeness efforts. A MOTION to approve the December 6, 2006 minutes as corrected CARRIED.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Sue Radtke reviewed the financial statements (handout) and explained where the funds are coming from to pay for the ministerial search and the risograph machine. Certain unallocated funds exist that have been in reserve and no one knows the origin or purpose of these funds. They are being appropriated for these purposes.
Sue and Susan Koenig explained the cash flow possibilities for finishing the capital campaign and when we will go into debt and start payback from the operating budget. The success of the campaign is measured not only in terms of the total amount raised but when we will receive it. If we raise more funds earlier then we have a positive impact on the total amount saved and the total amount ultimately needed for the facilities project.A MOTION to accept the financial report CARRIED.
SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
We need to authorize the President and the Treasurer to sign securities signature cards at certain brokerage firms. Susan can look into the question of whether there is a more streamlined way to handle all of these types of accounts in the future rather than have multiple accounts. Meanwhile we have certain securities that are held by brokerage firms where we do not have authority to execute transactions. A MOTION to approve the President and Treasurer to sign the securities authorization cards at the designated brokerage firms CARRIED.
MINISTERIAL SEARCH
Kathy passed around the “box” with the packet of materials for the search process. We have had a reasonable number of applications and we are going to bring in four candidates. We originally expected to bring in three but we have four that we want to talk with. The funds for bringing in these candidates will be paid for using the funds described earlier by Sue Radtke. A MOTION to approve $8130 for the search process CARRIED.
THE BOARD POSITIONS
The Nominating Committee has sent the Board a list of all the vacancies that they will be working to fill. (Handout) Tom will send the Board this list tomorrow. Board members are being asked to review this list and contact Paula Alt with any suggestions for possible candidates for these vacancies. Her telephone number is 276-8037 and her email is alt@meiresearch.org.
FACILITIES
Laurie Joiner said there are three topics that she wants to cover for the Facilities Task Force.
The first topic is Preservation and Michael May will summarize where the work on preservation stands. Michael said that the Committee is meeting about twice per month. The Committee has been meeting with John Freiberger. The first item needing attention is insulation which adds weight to the roof and may not help with heat leakage. It is not clear how much insulation should be added and how much energy savings we would gain. We are also working on lighting and wiring. The initial lighting experiment has not been conclusive. At this point we are thinking we may use the existing canisters but use different trim. Type of lights is being debated, again because of the uncertain energy savings. The canisters in lobby and loggia may have to be moved. The problem with moving them is that asbestos is an issue.
The second major area of concern is the ceiling. The original thinking was initially to use mesh with plaster on the ceiling. We are now leaning towards paint with texture. Nevertheless the hearth room may require texturing because of swirling design in the plaster that is inconsistent with the ceiling anywhere else.
The final area of concern is ventilation. We have looked at using an air exchanger. Again, we are not certain how much energy savings we gain by doing this. We are also examining radiant heating methods.
The Committee is looking at grants but being careful so as not to tie us to contingencies that we don’t want.
The Friends are waiting for a project to be identified as an item they could be connected with. This could involve rebuilding of the original piano but this remains to be determined and the Preservation Committee needs to coordinate that.
The possible cost of these initial preservation efforts is $119,000 in 2007. There is a grant from the Getty Foundation that could be up to $215,000. The Getty grant requires that teaching of architects be involved and we are exploring teaching with the architecture school in Milwaukee. We also have a possible Interior Dept grant but we don’t know all of the restrictions that they may impose.
Michael concluded that until he started working on this Committee he didn’t realize what obstacles are faced by it in trying to coordinate the work that needs to be done and in trying to make progress that is as rapid as we would like.
The second topic is the Capital Campaign. A report was handed out on Nancy Ragland’s behalf. As of today the total raised is $4,862,877 from 405 pledging units or 47% of the pledgers at the Society which is great. Originally it was expected that we would only get 28% participation. So 47% is fantastic. We still expect that Wave 5 and the beginning of construction will raise more money.
The Campaign will take a low profile during the Annual Campaign.
The third item is transition planning. Wendy Cooper is working on allocation of space and how to maintain community next year. This is a complex task and the calendar is full without getting into other use and functional issues. There is a hierarchy of priorities that has been created by Wendy and her committee (handout). Unanimity was reached on priorities after much discussion but the ultimate users may not agree on where they have been placed and time is needed to allow various users to find alternative space.
Off site activities will be used to build community and to teach how to work better in a peaceful thoughtful way. We think we have many ways to handle our small space needs. The challenge will be to find medium to large space. There will be a stakeholders meeting after the forum on the 28th in order to address this issue as early as possible.
BREAK
FACILITIES PLANS UPDATE
Sam Lawrence reviewed a three page plan with updates (handout). Page one is primarily landscaping. There are two rain gardens. The parking lot will have gravel area allowing water infiltration. All three of these pages contain value engineering changes.
Page two shows more detail on the lower interior. There are larger dining spaces for groups in classrooms D-12 to D-14 and the Crossing. The fireplace in the library is gone for value engineering. The kitchen will only be roughed in for value engineering. The solar chimneys are gone because there is no environmental payback. This also helps with value engineering. Shades have been added to the east auditorium windows to protect from disruptive light. The electrochromatic glass was extremely expensive and justification for purchasing it when it is necessary only a few months of the year is minimal. An acoustic shell is being added in the southwest corner by the future organ pipe area. The floor will be strengthened for a future organ and duct work will be added for it. The important point is that it could accommodate an organ in the future. The cry room has limited viewing. Can it be fixed? There was significant discussion of alternatives and the importance of this space. Some Board members pointed out that we should not trivialize the need to invite parents with small children and babies into our services and if they cannot see then we are not as welcoming. It was pointed out that parent may also watch and hear the service from the hall outside the glass wall in the back of the auditorium. The problem with the cry room is that the post that is a problem is a support post and cannot be moved.
Page three is the entry level and the balcony. There are about 80-100 seats in balcony. The upper niches in the upper Crossing hallway are eliminated for cost reasons and to eliminate space that is unlikely to be used to a significant degree. This also opens up the ceiling in the lower Crossing that had previously had a fairly low ceiling level.
Sam reviewed the October resolution about the facility and pointed out that we are obligated to keep the parish informed of our progress and changes we make.. We have had three forums so far with one upcoming on January 28th. We believe we have given ample opportunity to members to be informed and to ask questions. We are now transitioning from design development to construction implementation. We agreed to take the plans back to the parish for a vote if there was a major change in the plans requiring a vote.
Dave Weber gave an update on the Shorewood Hills plan commission meeting. They want a three year agreement for long term parking commitment that we obtain offsite. The Veteran’s Hospital has given us a two year letter. We think we can get an extension to three years. We need to agree to have our trash pickup on same day as the trash pickup on Cornell Court. This should be no problem.
The plans have been sent to Jim Sewell and to the Frank Lloyd Wright experts to get their sign-off on these final plans.
Sustainability. There are some significant environmental sustainability aspects to the facility. The drainage, the roof, the lighting efficiency, high insulation aspects to building including the glass, recycled materials, dual flush toilets, reuse of materials from the prior structure, environmentally safe paints and materials, an efficient HVAC, plus a plan to raise the thresholds for temperatures and humidity beyond those that are the recommended normal temperatures and humidity’s for structures, are some of the techniques that are going to be used.
Budget. Sam reviewed the current versus the October 2006 budget figures (handout) showing how we got savings and new costs with an adjusted new total figure. There was significant discussion about the various increases and decreases and how and why they were made. Suggestions for additional adjustments were made and in some cases it was explained why they could not be accommodated.
The Board addressed the question of the environmental changes, most notably the geothermal wells and the LEED certification. It was explained and the Board finally agreed that the geothermal wells are expensive and their environmental payback is extremely long using known technology. Given how tight our budget is we cannot justify making an expenditure for this item.
However, the issue of LEED certification was more unclear. This item has a potential of saving the Society $150,000. However, it also represents credibility and a benchmark showing that we have in fact met our environmental goals. The Board finally concluded that we should reinsert this item into the capital budget and possibly try to reduce the expense of obtaining the LEED certification.
A MOTION was made to endorse the move to the construction documentation stage for our facilities project, to accept the increase in cost for the project budget, and to direct that the LEED certification should remain in the budget. The motion CARRIED. The Board unanimously agreed that the project does not include a major change requiring a vote by the parish or to take any of the items just approved back to the parish.
ADJOURNMENT
A MOTION to adjourn CARRIED. The meeting adjourned at 10:20 p.m.
Minutes by, Tom Detmer, First Unitarian Society Board Secretary
EXHIBITS
- Financial Statements
- Open Board And Committee Positions
- Transitional Space Plans
- Revised Building Plans
- Revised Capital Budget
Note that the prior minutes are available on the FUS Website at www.fusmadison.org
and were not provided as handouts at the meeting although they are referred
to in the minutes.
