Minutes of the Governing Board of the UUFL

September 9, 2018

 

  1. Call to Order:

    The meeting was called to order at 9:07 a.m., Sunday, September 9, 2018 by Huey Mitchell, President. Other Board Members present were Carol West, Vice President, Sandra McNeely, Secretary, Madonna Huacuja and Tina Rushing, Members-at-Large. Absent from the Board Meeting was  Marolen Mitchell, Treasurer. Tom Mitchell, Member-at-Large, tendered his resignation from the Board and all his responsibilities of the Board and UUFL effective September 9, 2018. A quorum of the Governing Board was established.

 

  1. Board Covenant:

    The Board Covenant was recited by all Members of the Governing Board.

 

III.    Non-Board Members wishing to address the Board, on non-agenda items.

    There were no non-Board members present at the time meeting was called to order. Barbara Cavin joined the meeting later but did not address non-agenda items.

 

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  1. Acceptance of Consent Agenda: (all reports submitted to the Board prior to meeting).
  1. Minutes of previous meeting on August 12, 2018 as submitted by Sandra.
  2. Worship Committee Report as submitted by Carol  via email prior to the meeting. There was discussion of speaker’s fees and the cost of lodging for long distance speakers. Carol will meet with her committee after studying past fees for speakers and the attendance records for each speaker. She will also speak with Tom Stovall of Tyler UU with regard to fees and lodging. This will be further discussed at the next Board meeting when Carol will submit her findings and her committee’s recommendations.
  3. Building & Grounds Report as submitted by Madonna. Another meeting of the Committee is to be held soon but no date has been established. Madonna stated the sign had been capped where there was a small gap at the top. She has purchased ink and will purchase additional paper of a better quality once the current supply has been used. Madonna will also redo the list of speakers, lay leaders etc due to the resignation of Tom. Referring to the List of Keys, Madonna will explain to Steve Hutson that having a key will include the responsibility of Opening and Closing. Furthermore, she will retrieve any keys from people no longer needing them.
  4. PR Committee Report as submitted by Tina. Tina stated that the Website and the Facebook page are being viewed by many. She will seek a backup for these media and issue a password. Tina had submitted several “sayings” to the Board prior to the meeting via email. All Members liked all the ones submitted in addition to one suggested by Marolen. The Board left the rotation and its duration up to Tina’s committee and she will report back to the Board their suggestions.
  5. Report on Status of Weekly Friday night activities. There was no report and Greg Marshall was absent. Huey will contact Greg.
  6. Financial Report. Due to health concerns, Marolen has been unable to submit a report.
  7. Interfaith Council update. There was no update due to Tom’s resignation.

 

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  1.   RE proposal update. There was no update due to Marolen’s absence.

A motion to approve the reports “a through d” as listed above and as presented was made by Madonna and seconded by Tina. The motion passed unanimously.

  1.   Review Monthly mail and discuss, as necessary. Sandra received a bill for the advertisement which she passed on to Tina. Other mail was a calendar which she passed on to Carol for use by her Committee. No other mail of consequence was received by Sandra.
  2. Discuss and take necessary action on July 1, Open Meeting.

    Sandra referred everyone to a report she emailed to Board Members summarizing the results of the survey of the Open Meeting of July 1 and her conclusions as to the great work that has been accomplished in the top ranking categories. Volunteers are still needed and the Board is reaching out to the Members and Friends for their involvement.

VII.    Discuss and take necessary action on Tom’s request for funding.

This item was dropped from the agenda due to Tom’s resignation.

VIII.    Discuss possibility of instituting pledge cards. Board.

    A motion was made by Madonna and seconded by Tina that no pledge cards be instituted. There were 4 in favor of the motion and 1 opposed. Motion passed.

  1. Discuss possibility of Board membership term limits. Board.

    Huey presented information about term limits for Board members from NTUUC as to what other UU fellowships and churches do in this regard. After discussion by Board Members, a motion was made by Sandra and seconded by Tina that the term of office of Board Member officers be increased from one year as currently stated in the Bylaws to two years and that any office may be held for three terms. Motion passed. Huey requested Sandra write a draft revising this section of the Bylaws and submit to the Board for approval.

 

Page 3 of 5, Minutes of September 9, 2018 Board Meeting.

  1. Discuss “Arts & Crafts Group” building usage. Carol (also Madonna requested use of Building. She will submit information in writing).

    A formal written request signed by Carol, Sandra and Kim Zimmerman (person who formed the group) was submitted for approval by the Board. A motion was made by Carol to approve the use of the building as stated in the request (which released the UUFL of liability). The motion was seconded by Tina and the motion passed unanimously. Barbara Cavin, who had joined the Board Meeting by this time, agreed to draft a “form” to be used for future use based on the submission of the Arts & Crafts Group request. She also volunteered to be responsible for the Policy & Procedures Manual.

  1. Discuss and select a NTUUC representative.

    Huey announced that Tracy Webster had agreed to serve in this capacity.

XII.    Discuss possibility of moving Board Meeting to 9:00 a.m. vs after service.

    Huey had contacted each Board Member via phone and each agreed that a 9:00 a.m. Board Meeting was preferable to conducting the meeting after the service.

XIII.    Discuss and establish 2019 Board Nominating Committee. Board.

    Carol on behalf of the Board volunteered and Barbara Cavin of the Members volunteered. Another non-Board member will be sought by Barbara.

XIV.    Discuss and begin 2019 Budget preparation for presentation to the Congregation at the ACBM meeting in November. Board

Huey suggested that each Board Member and all Chairs of Committees requiring a budget submit a proposed budget to him for presentation to the Finance Committee and it in turn to the Board for approval. Once approved by the Board, the Proposed Budget for 2019 will be presented to the Congregation for final approval in November, along with the revised Bylaws, and the slate of Officers and Board Members-at-Large.

 

Page 4 of 5, Minutes of September 9, 2019 Board Meeting

 

  1. East Texas Charter School to clean the UUFL. Madonna.

    Madonna suggested the high school student class of the East Texas Charter School be allowed to clean the Main Building and the RE Building as a class project. Madonna and the Teacher of the class will be present to supervise. A motion was made by Madonna and seconded by Carol that the class be allowed to clean the buildings under supervision. The vote was 2 yea and 2 nay with one undecided. Sandra agreed to vote yea if the motion were revised to give permission only until the next Board meeting of October 14, 2018. The vote was then 3 yea and 2 nay. Motion as revised carried. Madonna will report to the Board at the next meeting of the status of this endeavor.

XVI.    Recap & Sign all necessary documents.

All Board Members:    submit budget 2019 proposals to Huey by Sept.14th

Huey:        Contact Greg.

Carol:        Study the speaker list, fees paid, and attendance.

Talk w/Tom Stovall re speaker fees, gas allowance & lodging

Hold Committee Meeting re: above study & discussion w/Stovall.

Meet with Barbara and one other re: Nominating Committee

Marolen:    Present updated Financial reports

Present updated RE Program.

Report to Board re: East Texas Charter School project.

Sandra:    Prepare Minutes of meeting. Send copy of Aug approved min to Tina.

Draft Bylaw re revised term limit for Board Members.

Send Barbara a copy of the Policy & Procedures Manual as of todate.

Madonna:    Submit a revised list of lay leaders and open/close persons

Submit a form for building use. (see Barbara Cavin)

Tina:        Hold Committee mtg & decide on content/rotation of  sign “saying”.

Barbara:    Continue work as needed on P&P Manual.

Draft a form to be used when a request is made for building use.

Select another member for the Nominating Committee and present a slate of candidates to the Board.

XVII.    Motion to adjourn:

    A motion  was made by Madonna and seconded by Carol to adjourn meeting at 10:45 p.m. Motion carried and meeting was adjourned.

Page 5 of 5, Minutes of September 9, 2018, Board Meeting.