Feb. 25, 2020 Minutes

In Attendance:  Chair Savannah Jewell, Kenny Jones, Frank Cederquist, Eric Danz, Allegra Smith, Claudia Alenduff, Steven Flowers, Lisa Nielsen, Susie Riley, Pastor Amber Traeger and Pastor Tracey Leslie.
Savannah opened in prayer.

Previous Month’s Minutes: No questions or comments were raised, Claudia moved to approve the previous minutes, Kenny seconded → board approved

Visitations (Amber):
●She has sent cards to every shut-in, has visited with folks
●Gloria and she have planned out “Friendly Visitors” meetings to discuss current system. Training workshop she and friendly visitors are going to attend for training;
 
Living Stones (Amber):
● Next meeting:  Living Stones will decide board positions and bylaws revisions
●Amber will meet with landscapers this next week
 
Youth and Children Ministry Update (Melissa):
●Update on the 167 - at the end of the school year the cooperative youth group will disband; there will be a mission trip in the summer for highschoolers
●Number of kids tonight at Fat Tuesday dinner: 9
 
Security Update (Savannah):
●Security update from Chris: Chris went to a training at Jasper County on church security, he learned a lot
●Chris will meet with Frank and Pastor Tracey regarding potential security improvements for Trinity
●Security changes to go to the governing board will be discussed in April
●If you have a security concern when Chris isn’t here, call LPD and/or tell other board members; if Chris is here, feel free to tell him - he’s great at helping officers who come here.
 
Interfacing between Board Members and the Congregation (Tracey):
●If a church member has a concern, question, or idea, they need to bring that to one of us on the board to present it to the rest of the board.
●Church members can sit in on meetings but they can’t present directly to the board.
●We can direct people who have specific questions to the appropriate board member to talk to.
 
Church Guidebook (Tracey):
●We used to have a church guidebook that was printed free of charge but now that company is not able to do that.
●Melissa found some alternatives to help us stay connected, and the solution was suggested for various online systems; the planning center would be not a good option because it would be restricted to staff; the online directory would only be available to those with a password to access and you can upload your own photo
●Either online Church directory and instant church directory are the way to go; Savannah and Eric suggested going with whichever one has a better app; Claudia liked instant church directory; Susie asked about printing options - we could print a few copies for the half a dozen people who don’t use computers
●Tracey recommended that we try the instant church directory 30 day trial to see how it goes; the board will be the first ones to try it out in the coming month.
 
Bills to be Paid from the Building Endowment Fund (Frank):
Presentation of bills as a package for bills from building endowment fund:
            -CPP filter Corp. for HVAC: $318.72
            -Link Management - Property Management: $672.00 regular service, plus $550.00 for project work to upkeep the building monitoring system
            -Advanced Tech for alarm and maintenance: $164.00
            -Midwest Transit inspected the lift (reimbursement to Frank of $137.80)
            Frank moved that we pay those from building endowment and Eric seconded → board approved.
 
Bills to be paid from other funds (Frank):
Snow removal from two times in the past month - paid from parking lot fund ($300 and $150)
Brick fund will cover the Link Management bill for lintel work
 
Basement update (Frank): The basement door work got pushed back to the second week of March due to lintel work but we should have it done by April.
 
Bus transportation - Need for a new Bus (Frank):
●The bus has become essential for approximately 10 people each Sunday.
●Our bus is 20+ years old, without a working lift or air conditioning
●Frank has begun looking for a 15 passenger or less without CDL requirements, less than 10 years old, automatic, etc.
●Frank contacted 4 different bus companies, and it would come to $40-50,000 if from 2014; new would cost $60,000; financing would be an issue.
●Frank and Tracey have talked to the conference and the district and they do not have funds for that; the community organizations do not have funds for churches;
●Looking for grants or funds that we currently have that may be used
●Could ask the congregation to contribute, such as Easter offering; could take some apportionment funds that go towards the conference and put that towards the bus;
●(Savannah) - do we need a bus or a large passenger van with a lift? Frank says the insurance may be difficult since companies typically do not want to insure that type of vehicle, he will check with the insurance companies. Tracey says preschools have shifted from vans to busses so there may be a good reason for it.
●(Susie) The current bus has two wheelchair spaces but there is growing need for more wheelchair spaces on the bus. Also, money has rolled over from the program endowment but the funds may not be available for the bus and the money from apportionments comes to ~$15-20,000.
●For years Christ Church used our church van without a fee, although they provided gas and general maintenance but didn’t contribute.
●Not many churches have the level of economic diversity that we have so we are positioned in a good spot to help people who need transportation.
●Grace church does have a church van that they do not currently use on Sunday mornings, so there may be an option for renting that bus but it wouldn’t be a good long term answer. Kenny recommended if we do that we ask for a lease and then save up for a bus;
Actions Agreed upon: Lisa will look at potential grants, including those that others find; Tracey will speak with Ryan regarding the possibility of taking a small amount from the endowments to help contribute to the bus; Frank will look into certified pre-owned buses; Tracey will investigate donation avenues, fundraising ideas from communications volunteer
 
(Savannah) Easter offering designated for bus fund: Savannah motioned; Allegra seconded → Board Approved
 
Finances (Eric):
●Income over 8%
●Expenses are low, but big donor gave in February
 
 
Next meeting: March 24th at 6:30 pm
 
Closing in prayer: Tracey
 
Addendum: On Feb. 27-28 an email vote was taken to approve Kenny Jones and Allegra Smith to be Trinity's lay delegates to the annual conference for 2020.