Annual Meeting
As advertised, the Annual Meeting held following worship on January 25th had a full and far-reaching agenda. The call of Kristen was one of several significant decisions:
· the report of the nominating committee was accepted and Susan Nestor was elected as a Member at Large on the Church Council. There are still two spots open for Board of Christian Education. See Kristen.
· the proposed budget for 2009 was passed. Although a number of pledges and cash gifts have been received in recent weeks – thank you – it remains a budget with a projected deficit of several thousand dollars, even after cuts and a freezing of all staff salaries. The congregation approved using funds from the church endowment fund to cover the deficit, if needed. If income exceeds projections, any used endowment funds will be paid back and then the issue of staff compensation will be addressed by Trustees and Council.
· A report on the replacement of Pilgrim House was presented by the Building Design Committee, chaired by Dan Rasmus, and by Edwin Wilson, whose company, O’Malley, Wilson and Westfall, was selected as our project architect. Chris Dawson summarized the work since our last annual meeting, then Dan and Edwin led us through the proposed design. You can find the design in the Annual Report, and drawings will be available at the church. After a question and answer period, Harry Polley reviewed financial options for the project which has an estimated cost of roughly $1.6 million dollars. Following the presentation, four motions were unanimously approved:
· 1) to accept the basic design
· 2) to proceed with initial city approvals – design review and planning commission
· 3) to form a project finance committee which will produce a fund-raising and financing plan to be approved by the Trustees and Council and then be presented for congregational approval at an appropriate time.
· 4) for the Trustees, with approval of Council, to proceed with the removal of Pilgrim House at such a time as deemed appropriate.
The final item was the joyful and unanimous call of Kristen as our Associate Minister. Joyce Cox was thanked for her year of service as our moderator and then Lisa Dawson, moderator for 2009, adjourned the meeting.
