Building and Grounds Minutes

December 11, 2012

Roger Sellers opened the meeting with a prayer at 7:10 p.m. Veteran committee members present were Jerry Grandle, Janet Loman, Roger Sellers, Eddie Armendariz, Dennis Thomas and Bruce Pearson. We were especially glad to welcome two new members, Steve Johnson and Ed Green. Rev. Norm Story also briefly attended the early part of our meeting.

ACTION ITEM FOR SESSION: Please make the following changes in the Building and Grounds (B&G) budget format for designated giving. Building and Grounds, Major Renovations and Repairs should be combined into one line item. Also, please delete line item 20501r, Custodian Gas, as B&F no longer provides a gas allowance for the handyman/custodian.

Old Business

None.

New Business

We reviewed a draft B&G Mission Statement which Jerry had provided. Bruce agreed to edit it, incorporating all changes, and to send it to Carl Connor for transmittal to the Session.

As previously discussed, B&G is considering recommending an annual salary increase of $1,500 to Mr. Marc Ortiz, handyman/custodian, early in 2013 -- providing that he continues performing satisfactorily. B&G therefore wishes to transfer $1,500 from our Maintenance and Repair budget (line item 20503) to the Administrative Committee for this purpose.

Prior to our meeting, Dennis sent each B&G member an e-mail in which he listed several ongoing maintenance issues which he had noticed -- e.g., mold in the kitchen, out-of-date fire extinguishers, a broken door stop in Watkins and a defective playground light sensor. B&G is taking appropriate actions.

We discussed the problem with the thermostats in Jones Hall. Jerry said we do not have the appropriate manuals for these thermostats. Steve said he would examine the thermostats and obtain the appropriate manuals on-line.

Ed mentioned that possible changes in the U.S. Federal tax code in 2013 could have a major adverse effect on donor giving. Donors may therefore wish to make contributions before the end of this year in order to take advantage of the current favorable allowances for charitable deductions which may end next year. Ed agreed to write a brief article for "Good News" about this topic.

We adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Bruce Pearson