CMM 2023-05-07

Minutes of Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting of

the Religious Society of Friends

Fifth Month 7^th, 2023

Thirteen Friends gathered for meeting for worship to attend to business, in person and by Zoom. We opened with a brief period of quiet Worship.

Minutes of Fourth month 2023 were approved as posted on the website with a dots and commas change and a more substantive change to the wording of our acceptance of Kathi’s resignation from the meeting.  Friends were easy with the minutes with those corrections.

05.01  Property Committee is endorsing the Memorandum of Understanding with the Day Care Center that hopes to use our facility.  A full plan for accoustic panels for the worship room will be provided to Finance Committee in the future.  A full report is attached.

05.02  The Preschool Program subcommittee has submitted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Deb Follansbee, the owner of the Preschool, who hopes to use our facility in the autumn.  We approve this document and authorize the clerk to sign.  A copy of the MOU is attached.

05.03  Operations Statement: Our treasurer reported that we have one month to go on our budget and we have already come in with almost all of our income.

05.04  Finance Committee reports that it is waiting to present our new budget as we’re anticipating entering into a lease agreement that may be generating as much as $3-7K.  Finance requests that the meeting approves a continuing resolution to continue with the current budget until the new budget is approved.  Friends approve this resolution.

05.05  PSECC shared a financial report on the Assylum Seekers Support Fund from the past months and told us about a few people in need of funds.  As the committee is small, assistance from the meeting for fundraising and other activities will be needed in the future.  A written report is attached.

05.06  Nominating Committee offered a slate of nominees for the 2023-2024 year.  Friends approve these nominations.

05.07  Pandemic Response Team (PRT): We appreciate the long, difficult work of the Pandemic Response Team and the presiding clerk suggests that it’s time to release these Friends from this work and find a new way forward with the meeting taking responsibility for creating guidelines.  We will operate under our current guidelines until we discern otherwise.  We release these Friends from their service with heartfelt gratitude.

05.08  COVID Discernment: We entered into worship with the invitation to share what is on our hearts regarding Covid.  We are concerned with the division it has caused in our meeting and our wider community.  We have some very strong feelings about protecting ourselves and our meeting and we also have a sense that the rest of the world is opening up much more regarding Covid precautions.

Creating an oasis of safety has value and may be useful to some people, but is it time to ask people who are medically vulnerable to worship via zoom so that others may worship without masks?  Is it time to remove the blanket restrictions?  We hear appreciation for the PRT’s work and the tremendous responsibility they took on.

There is not unity among us regarding the vaccination mandate; some feel it’s important however we wonder if it is an unwelcoming stance as it has excluded people, particularly young children who were not able to receive vaccinations.

We feel pride and gratitude in the care our meeting has taken during the pandemic – the situation has changed and is it time for us to change?  Many venues have discontinued their masking mandates.  Are we focusing too much on the fear that we have around Covid?  We hear that some Friends are more comfortable with masking than a vaccination mandate. What can public health mean in a faith community?

Several Friends have mentioned the sadness they feel about the issues brought about by Covid.  We hear gratitude for the ability to join with the community via Zoom.  We hope to begin discerning way forward at our next meeting.

After a brief time of quiet worship, Meeting adjourned, purposing to meet again on the Second Sunday of the Sixth Month of 2023.

NB. The Income & Expenses Sheet was created with two decimal points, which were removed for readability, the cents being unimportant to the overall understanding.  This can have the effect of throwing off any given sum by a dollar due to compounded rounding.  —  Prepared by Greg Heath and Chris Haigh.

Property Committee Report to Business Meeting – Fifth Month 2023

- Jennifer Smith

Peace, Social & Earthcare Concerns Committee Report

Peace Social and Earth Care Concerns met via Zoom on May 3, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.

- Respectfully submitted by Anne Saunders on behalf of PSECC on May 4, 2023

Memo of Understanding

Between

Concord Friends Meeting (the Meeting) and

Deb Follansbee (the Program)

5/7/2023

We enter into this Memo of Understanding (MOU) prior to agreeing to a formal lease so that the parties can have reasonable assurances regarding mutual intentions.

1. Parameters.  The Program will be an outdoor preschool that will use the building as its base and the surrounding property as its primary place of activity.  Activities will be largely environmental/experiential explorations.  Enrollment is planned for ages 2- to 6-years old with a limit of twelve children.  They will keep to a school year schedule with the possibility of a summer day camp experience of up to 4 weeks.  The Program hopes to attract children of educators and others on a school calendar schedule.  Drop off in the AM is planned for 7:30 a.m. and pickup will be by 4:30 p.m.
2. Lease Period.  The initial lease period will be for one program year; that is to say, from the start of school in the fall through the summer day camp. Both parties would like to have a longer lease, perhaps three years, once the program proves viable and both parties are interested in continuing the relationship.
3. Building Usage by the Program.  The building will be used for nap times and lunch and some indoor activities, especially during periods of inclement weather.  The children will be outside a lot, even when weather conditions are not ideal.  The spaces leased are the Fellowship Room, the bathrooms, and the east hall.  The kitchen may be used, but there will only be food prepared as an activity. Cooking and baking will be gluten free.  Children will bring their own meals.  We expect there will be a Shaker type peg board for hanging coats and hats on the east wall of the east hall.  Above it we expect to place a bulletin board for parent communications and other purposes.  All such modifications to the building will be made to the specifications set by the property committee or a childcare liaison committee and perhaps with their participation.  Payment for such modifications shall be the responsibility of the Program.
4. Building Usage by the Meeting.  The Meeting has no expectation of using the Fellowship Room during active Program times.  Specifically, if the Meeting wishes to have evening programs during the week, it would hold them in a classroom or in the Meeting Room.  Monday through Friday the Program will leave program supplies and furnishings out for use in the Fellowship Room, storing them away on Friday.  The Program understands that there may be people using the Meeting Room during times the Program is active. Intrusions on the Program for bathroom, kitchen, or mechanical room access will be as infrequent and unobtrusive as possible.
5. Storage.  The Meeting will clear out space underneath the library books behind four of the cabinet doors for use by the program.  Storage (for sleeping mats, tables, and chairs for eating and activities) needs to be worked out so that the Fellowship Room space is not significantly impinged upon on Sundays.  A variety of storage solutions are under consideration.
6. Outdoors – Woodland and Playground.  Some modifications to the natural landscape such as the cutting of trees, clearing of brush, creation of paths and activity areas, plantings (native species only) are anticipated, but such modifications will be made in consultation with and the approval of either the Property Committee or the Liaison Committee.  Each party will bring any safety concerns regarding the playground equipment or other outdoor areas to the attention of the other party as soon as they arise.
7. Shared Use of the Land.  The Meeting notes that in consideration of its prior land acknowledgement to Indigenous people, it has agreed as follows:  “In the spirit of stewardship and shared use as practiced by Indigenous people, we commit to a mutually agreed upon, shared stewardship of the land and celebration of the Creator of the land. We invite the original stewards of this land – the Abenaki People – to join us in its care, use and celebration.”  The Program agrees with this statement and will be accommodating to the ways in which this shared use may evolve.
8. Signage.  The parties will make a plan for appropriate signage.  The Property Committee may defer to the entire Meeting for conceptual approval.  The Program will bear signage expenses.
9. Dog.  Deb has a 7-year-old black lab named Oakley who is child-friendly and will come with her from time to time.  If at some point a person who is highly allergic to dog dander comes to Meeting and has difficulty as a result, we will have to reconsider welcoming a dog in the classrooms and fellowship space.  The Meeting’s need in this regard will have to take precedence.
10. Cleaning.  Daily the Program will, before departing, clean the bathrooms, vacuum the hall carpet, sweep the floors it used, and spot clean the floors.  As needed the Fellowship Room floor will be mopped with the Meeting’s standard dry mop procedure.  Supplies will be approved by the Meeting aiming for the least toxic available.  The Program shall bear the cost of such supplies.
11. Trash and Recycling.  The Program will maintain neat and secured solid waste bins outside to the east of the east front door on the stones there.  The Program will recycle to the extent possible.  The Program will be responsible for the conduct and cost of trash and recycling removal by Saturday each week.
12. License.  The program will be licensed by the State of NH, and operation within those parameters and requirements is a condition of the Meeting.
13. Insurance.  The Program will maintain liability insurance limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 aggregate.  The Meeting will be named as an “also insured” on the policy.
14. Rental Amount.  Since the school will be new, there will be a new Program clientele.  Immediate full enrollment cannot be assumed even though there is a great need for such programs.  Since there must always be two adults with the Program regardless of the size of the enrollment, there will be fixed costs that could affect the Program’s ability to fund the rent the Meeting may wish to charge.  We have agreed that if there is a full enrollment (twelve children) then the rent will be $700.00 per month of operation for the first year.  This may be adjusted if the Program’s annual payment to the Town of Canterbury is substantially more or less than the amount now assumed by the Program’s budget. If the initial enrollment is for only five or fewer children, the rent will be $350.00 per month.  If enrollment falls in-between, the monthly rent will be calculated on a pro rata basis more specifically detailed in the lease.
    
    The Meeting’s intention regarding rent increases in a future multiyear lease is to keep such increases to no more than a factor for inflation.  In consideration of the possibility of unforeseen expenses as a result of the Program’s activity, the Meeting will want to consider those in negotiating the base rent in the new lease after year one.
15. Liaison Committee.  The Meeting will explore creating a liaison committee of at least three members of the Meeting who will address issues as they come up so that channels of communication are open and quick conflict resolution can be encouraged.

CONCORD MONTHLY MEETING OF FRIENDS

LEADERSHIP ROLES AND COMMITTEE SERVICE 2023 – 2024

EO = Ex Officio; IC = Initial Convener