Meeting for Worship with the Attention to Business

8th Month, the 14th of 2005

Present: Bill Reynolds, Janine Bruton, Jere Licciardello, Craig Davoulas, Chuck Jones (clerk), Florence Tucker, Jim Bowman, Ellen Askonas, Elise Askonas

Meeting opened with a period of worship followed by a reading from Plain Living by Catherine Whitmire, p. 31.

“In every situation seek to be aware of the presence of God, praying that spiritual energies in yourself and in others may be released for the furtherance of God’s community. Canadian Yearly Meeting, 1969.

Clerk’s Comments: The clerk, Chuck Jones, reminded Friends to try to stay on the topic and to be mindful of the Spirit.

Property Oversight: The clerk of Property Oversight, Craig Davoulas, reported that the outdoor lighting had been fixed in the outside lamppost. Also a light and fan had been installed in the dining room.

He noted that Becky Ingle had taken the lead in Property Oversight and that effort was really appreciated.

Craig said that with respect to resident matters, Jim Bowman could speak more to that subject. Jim said that as of Aug 14th, the rent had not been received. It’s due by the first of the month. He indicated that we had not gotten any rent since the last resident, but that he thought that some rent had been received in the form of “sweat equity,” i.e. painting of the resident’s room. Jim thought Becky had talked to the resident the week before about paying the rent. One Friend suggested we leave him a note today, and Craig agreed to do so (Craig told the clerk later in meeting that he had done this).

Also, he noticed on the telephone bill that five “phone returns” had taken place at 90 cents each, and that a conference call had been made as well. These extras came to a total of $6.48. Since long distance is paid for by the resident, he wasn’t sure that we needed to pay for extras like conference calls and phone returns, but no one in meeting knew whether these had been discussed with the resident. It was not specified in the renter’s agreement.

One Friend suggested we call his parents since he is only 19 years old, but Friends did not unite with this. Another Friend suggested that we refer the issue back to Property Oversight. Craig asked that if it was evident that we were not going to get the rent, whether they should go forward and give notice to the resident that he should find another place to live. Friends approved.

One Friend suggested that we look into the relationship between off-campus living and UTC. Jim, who works for UTC, agreed that the Friend had a point and said he could look into whether there were already set agreements or protocols in place. Another Friend suggested that in the future, we only consider graduate students who tend to be more serious. No decision was made about this.

The Property Oversight minutes were approved.

Treasury Report: Jim Bowman, the treasurer, reported on our finances. Meeting approved the attached report understanding that the Property’s $950 line item should have been $900.50. The attached report should stand corrected. Jim reported that the water bill was high as a result of the broken garden water line and that that had been turned off.

AM South Bank had sent a letter indicating that commercial accounts less than $10,000 will get a $20 fee per month. Previously we had given the treasurer permission to look into other banks, He will do that especially in light of the bank’s letter.

Ministry Oversight: Meeting approved Ministry Oversight’s report as it is attached.

In summary, the committee discussed the issue of the newsletter items being password protected and felt that it was a good idea. It was also agreed to change the password to username “gfox” and password “gfox” in order to make it simpler to remember. In addition, paper copies will be printed for Friends to pick up at the meetinghouse as well as to be sent out to Friends who prefer hard copies. A letter is being drafted to send to Friends on the mailing directory to determine if they want a hard copy or to be included in the mailing directory.

The deadline for submissions to the newsletter will be the 20th of the month and the website will be updated by the last First Day of the month. It will be available in hard copy by that same First Day.

A suggestion was made to create a web link to “newsletter submissions.” Another suggestion was made to do backups of all newsletter items. Jim assured the meeting that he was already doing backups. Another suggestion was put forward that a yearly CD could be made of all newsletters to be used as reference as well as another form of backup.

The Ministry Oversight committee also has produced a list of upcoming 2nd Hour Discussion topics for the next 2 months. They also approved a text to be added to the back of the Welcome note that we give newcomers.

Those present at the close of meeting: Bill Reynolds, Janine Bruton, Jere Licciardello, Chuck Jones, Florence Tucker, and Jim Bowman.

Meeting closed with a period of worship