Minutes – Board Meeting

February 20, 2020

Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

BUUF

6200 Garrett St, Garden City, Idaho 83714

Present:

Board Members: Tom von Alten, Sandy Cruise, Elaine Daly, Rachel Murphy, Elizabeth Pirie, Cathy Sherman, Scott Smith, Harriet Shaklee, Sue Stadler

Also Attending (on behalf of the ESTF):

Cathy Carmen, Bill Reid

Action	Number	Decision	Notes
Board Action	20200220-1	Accept Consent Agenda with amendment to Minutes as proposed by Tom von Alten	Moved: Harriet Second: Sandy Pass 9 Yes, No 0, Abstentions 0 Voice vote

Presentations to the Board

501(c)3 Letter – Tom von Alten

• Tom researched whether the UUA could get a blanket exemption for all UU Fellowships. His communication with them indicated that they did not want to since UUA would have to have approval authority for all congregations.
• The current process to get a letter must be done online; the requesting party sets up an account. There is a $600 fee. The data that must be provided includes 5 years of financial statements and a list of donors.
• Churches are not required to have a letter to utilize non-profit status, however, certain organizations and businesses we work with may require a letter before acknowledging our not-for-profit status.
• The benefits of having a letter included possibly getting non-profit discounts for goods and services easier and, as was discover during the Asylee project, getting bonds. 
• Issues such as those noted above are infrequent and work arounds were found.
• Who would do the work required to get the letter is something to consider.  Volunteer and/or staff time would most likely be used so the availability of such time needs to be assessed.
• Tom did not recommend one way or the other (getting a letter or not). He handles most of the finances and does not see any urgency, however, it would be a good idea in the long run.
• The Board blessed moving forward with obtaining the letter but did not set a time frame to get this done. 

Engaging Space Task Force (represented by Cathy Carmen, Bill Reid, Cathy Sherman, and Sandy Cruise)  – Final Report

Main points:

• The task force recommended that the next step(s) would be to form three possible new task forces addressing: Coffee Room Formation, Sanctuary Enhancement, and the Douglas property. The final report includes a list of people that volunteered to be involved. 
• There is not enough interest at this time in spending the money needed for a new sanctuary.
• At a minimum, electrical upgrades are needed whether or not any other work is done and should be budgeted for in the near future.
• If the conversion of the Fahs room into a gathering/coffee space is acted on, a new space for RE offices and storage will be needed. The task force believed that existing underused space could be used. The RE director vacancy and how that is ultimately filled impacts any changes.
• Funding for any projects and the impact to the budget was a consideration. It was not felt that a special money raising campaign is appropriate for the size of budget probably needed (capital campaigns are not usually done for less than $250,000).

Discussion Items

• ESTF Final Report

Which project(s) and how to fund projects are the main decisions needed.

The Board decided to present the congregation with a plan to move forward on two projects: Conversion of the North lobby and Fahs room into a gathering/coffee space and Enhancement of the Sanctuary. The Board believes these can best be accomplished by calling a new “Space Management Project Team” to develop plans and begin implementing those projects.

Using Reserve funds or getting a line of credit seems the most feasible way to finance work for the amount estimated to be needed. The Board decided to present the congregation with a plan to earmark $50,000 for initial work during FYE 2021. Tom will talk to the Finance Committee for their input on whether the funds should come from Reserves or a line of credit.

The Board intends to hold an open informational session about these proposals before presenting them to the congregation at the Annual Meeting.

• 2020/2021 Board member nominations – Vice President and 2 At-large members

Five members were suggested and will be given to the nominating committee.

• Bylaws – Updating to reflect current/best practices

The Board discussion calling a task force to update the Bylaws to reflect best practices that have developed since the last review.

Target completion by the end of the next fiscal year.