Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church

CALL TO ORDER:
Chris Doozan, Moderator, called the Congregational Meeting of Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church to order at 12:22 p.m. in the main church meeting room. It was determined that a quorum was present. There were no changes to the agenda.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Mark Babcock moved to approve the previously distributed minutes of the June 5 and November 13, 2005 congregational meetings. Seconded by Julie Stitt. Motion passed.

ANNUAL REPORTS:
Annual reports were distributed prior to the beginning of the meeting.
Rev Riegel noted that her annual report made a reference to a sabbatical that she would be taking. The report said that it would be a four month sabbatical taken sometime during the time frame of January to June 2006; this should read 2007.
Bud Felton moved to accept the annual reports. Seconded by Linda Gobeski. Motion passed.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND GOVERNORS:
Bernard Gaulier moved to elect the slate of candidates set forth in the call to the meeting with the addition of Doug Weiss for Governor of Social Responsibility, whose name was inadvertently omitted from the call. Seconded by Mark Denney. Motion passed.

REPORT ON BUILDING EXPANSION PROJECT:
Tim Beckett gave the report on the building expansion project noting with regret that Beata Lamparski, who has done so much on the project, could not be there.
He noted that we have received all the appropriate approvals from the city of Southfield in November. He reviewed the process that the committee used to make a recommendation. The committee solicited six proposals, which it narrowed down to four. They asked additional questions and held interviews with four companies. They did follow up inquiries on two companies, then recommended one. The committee concluded that Bedzyk Bros Inc was the best choice for the construction manager. The Board concurred with the committee’s recommendation.

A set of proposals relating to the building expansion project was set forth in writing, with copies available prior to the meeting. (copy attached)
Beckett explained that the first proposal which relates to the overall budget for the project was slightly larger than had earlier been approved because the numbers came in slightly different for what we wanted done.
A question was asked as to whether the mortgage costs were based on a variable or fixed rate loan. The answer was that it was based on a fixed rate loan. A question was asked as to whether a 5% contingency was enough. Beckett noted that this 5% contingency was on top of another 5% contingency included in the Phase 2 project numbers.

Ted Hitchcock asked whether we will have money left over to operate the church. Beckett noted that we currently have about $18,000 to $20,000 annually from Lil’ Martians which is being set aside for the building project and that at a minimum we will need another $25,000 per year to make our mortgage payment. This can be done through increased pledges or increased members or a combination of both. We need both. UUA guidelines for loans require detailed growth plans. Without growth pledges need to increase by an overall amount of about 20%. Since some members would be unable to do this financially, others may need to increase more than 20%. This is not immediately necessary but within the next few years. These are stark numbers and the point is that there is a price to pay for the building project. One way to look at the issue is to stop relying on fundraising (such as the service auction and rummage sale) to operate the church. To be a healthy church we should be able to operate on pledges and other identified giving.

Beckett noted that capital pledges are not due until the end of next year, but we will need the money before then, so if people are in a position to pay ahead of time this would be helpful. We currently have collected about $280,000 of about $440,000 in pledges. The amount we are planning on has been discounted for what is anticipated may be uncollectable pledges.

Jim Gobeski said that Bedzyk has a good record of being on time and under budget.

Diana Kohler moved to adopt the resolutions set forth in writing relating to the adoption of an overall budget, authorization to seek financing and entering into a contract with Bedzyk Bros. Seconded by Ted Hitchcock. Motion passed unanimously.

Doug Whitehouse concluded with thanking Chris Doozan, who was serving at his last congregational meeting as moderator, for shepherding the congregation through the process that led us to this point. Beckett concurred, thanking Doozan for his leadership in the crucial planning of the building expansion.

Adjourned at 1:10 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Bachelder, Clerk