The Quarterly meeting

On Sunday we had our Quarterly meeting and discussed a few things that will impact our congregation in subtle ways over the next few years. After it was determined that we had a quorum, we approved the minutes of the Annual Meeting. Moderator Curt Brockway announced that any written reports would be posted on the bulletin board at church next week.

As we moved into old business Ray Deptulski, Property Committee Chairman, talked about the two furnaces at church. He shared the fact that both of them were on their way out. The furnace that supplies heat to the sanctuary is about fifty years old and not very efficient. The boiler that services the rest of the building, including Fellowship Hall, the Chapel and office area is about thirty years old but in even worse shape. He suggested that act proactively and replace both furnaces.

Ray is soliciting prices right now. He has even talked to the folks at Norwich Tech about doing the project as part of their training program. This would save us a good deal of money. He will come back to us with prices and a recommendation from the Property Committee and Board of Trustees at our next meeting. But first Ray proposed removing the asbestos on the pipes in the basement. This has to be done before we do any work. It is a health hazard and he has a bid to do the work.

We voted to approve the expenditure of $5200 to remove the asbestos. We also affirmed his efforts to get prices on replacing the heating system. If you have thoughts on whether we should go with oil or gas or anything else, talk to Ray or a member of the Property Committee about it.

Ray also mentioned the possibility of the school doing the work in the kitchen. Which brings me to the second big discussion. Last summer we made plans to renovate the kitchen. We had every intention of doing it over the winter months but then the economy went south. At the Annual meeting we decided to put it off to this summer but we had trouble bringing together a Capital Campaign Committee.

After a discussion we decided to investigate the costs of having the tech school do the work and also asked for volunteers to serve on the Capital Campaign Committee. This committee would develop the plan to raise the money for both of these projects. Volunteers included June Deptulski, Sue Ferguson, Amanda Duntz and Fred Green. So stay tuned for more news on all these things.

We also voted to approve the expenditure of $500 for the Appalachian Mission Trip from the Biennial Trip category in the budget. I told the group that I was not planning on attending the ABCUSA Biennial in Pasadena, California this summer for a few reasons. The motion was made and approved.

Finally, Mary Brockway asked for approval to hold a tag sale on the last Saturday of May. She said the Tag Sale would not be done as we have in the past. We would sell tables and allow members and friends of the church to price and bring in their stuff to sell. They would pay us $25 for the space and then keep whatever they made. We would sell for or have our own fundraising efforts as well. At the end of the day everyone would be responsible for their own clean up.

We adjourned the meeting at 12:50 p.m.

Cal