First Unitarian Church of St. Louis
Policy Board Meeting Summary
13 February 2023 via Zoom
We began our meeting with a presentation by Clint Cruise, our Facilities Cluster Chair. Clint recently published an Update on Building Projects in the E-News (02/10/2023).
Among a number of pressing maintenance issues, the most urgent is repairing or replacing our roof. Clint reported that the Facilities Committee has contacted five different roofing companies and received two bids. The Board was able to review the bid from Bartch Roofing Company. The Facilities Committee prefers them because they prepared a custom proposal based on a well-thought-out analysis of our building’s needs. In addition to Fred Baer of Bartch Roofing, they have consulted with Ron Unterreiner, the President of People of Construction, Inc., who has years of experience managing construction projects, and he agrees that the Bartch proposal is our best option.
Although the Committee is solidly behind the Bartch proposal, a member of the Facilities Committee is determined to look at repair options and has until March 03 to come up with a counter proposal. It is important to respect this deadline because bids can only be guaranteed for a limited period of time. In the meantime, the Facilities Committee cannot make a formal recommendation to the Board that we accept the bid. If we choose to do so, it will require us to take an amount of money from the endowment that will need to be approved by a congregational vote, preferably in late March.
Board members weighed in on whether our Board baked goods give-away during Fellowship on January 29 was a worthwhile event and what we might do to make it more successful. Suggestions included greater participation among Board members; using only one table as opposed to three in a u-shaped formation that served to wall us apart from the congregation; planning further in advance and establishing this as a regular, periodic event. On a positive note, we did engage with visitors and at least one said they were ready to sign the membership book afterwards!
The Board was reminded to submit their Canvass pledges early to help the Canvass Committee inspire the rest of the congregation to follow suit.
This month’s Board training topic was From “Me” to “We”: Healthy Communications. It was divided into the following sub-topics: 1) Speaking with One Voice; 2) Great Teams Make Great Boards; and 3) Keeping Meeting Minutes. Some important takeaways were:
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Board members should strive to speak with one voice even when there has been some disagreement among committee members when making a decision. In the context of upcoming difficult decisions regarding building maintenance and how we finance it, it is important that we support a group decision even if we did not individually vote in favor of it.
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Conflict need not be avoided at all costs and in fact if can lead to better and creative solutions. It is important (and perhaps something Unitarians are particularly good at) that we remain willing to have our assumptions challenged and to change our minds.
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It would be helpful to share the content of the third sub-topic with incoming secretaries in the future.
Norma Vogelweid remarked on the success of our recent auction and wants to express the Board’s gratitude to the Auction Committee co-chairs, Kathy Wilke and Emily Jaycox. She also attended the Welcoming Congregations Committee meeting on January 22 and noted that one participant expressed how pleased they were that a member of the Policy Board was present.
Steve reported that Lisa Ross of Towards Justice was requesting volunteers to assist making phone calls to members of the congregation as part of the process of discernment for the Active Hope Project. This entails calling and listening to how members view the church’s role regarding social justice and social action. Joel Hickman has already been assisting with this endeavor and generally enjoys it.
The next Policy Board meeting will be held Monday, March 13, at 6:30 pm via Zoom.
Respectfully submitted,
Alison Lamothe