CMM 2023-07-09

Minutes of Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting of

the Religious Society of Friends

Seventh Month 9^th, 2023

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

07.01  Presiding Clerk Appointment:  Richard Kleinschmidt, Clerk of Ministry and Counsel Committee and a former Presiding Clerk, presided initially.  Because Presiding Clerk Heidi Babb resigned abruptly due to her need to move for a new opportunity, Nominating Committee recommended naming Elizabeth Meyer as the Presiding Clerk for the next three months while they work to discern a longer-term replacement.  Friends approved this nomination. Friends accepted the resignation of Heidi Babb with great regret and appreciation for all she has done for our Meeting.  We wish her much happiness in her new job.  We hope she will be able to visit with us from time to time and that she finds a strong spiritual community where she is now located.

Elizabeth Meyer then assumed the Presiding Clerk’s position, and Friends settled into quiet Worship.  Minutes of Sixth month 2023 were approved as posted on our website.

07.02  COVID Policy Change:  Ministry and Counsel Committee recommended the Meeting try an experiment through the end of the summer (so up through the September Business Meeting when this change could be revisited) to make masks optional during worship or at other times where our current COVID policy still requires masking.  Friends approved this, feeling that this was a reasonable step in light of the current low circulation of this virus.  Other aspects of the policy remain in force.  Friends are asked to notify Juliet C if they have tested positive for COVID and could have exposed others in our Meeting.  Juliet will send out communication to all, promptly, in that event.

07.03  Operations Statement:  Finance Committee reported on the first month of our new fiscal year. Total income for the month of June was $1,620.  Total expense for the period was $719 for an increase in our funds of $901.  They also reported that we have about $36,000 available in cash on hand.  Full financial report is attached.  Friends were encouraged to hold any questions about the report since we need to focus first on an urgent matter.

07.04  Childcare Planning Committee:  Because of the urgency to discern whether we can rent space for an outdoor childcare program, we addressed a new proposal before any discussion around other new items of business.  This proposal would replace what was approved last month as new information made it clear that it would not be feasible to do a satisfactory safety isolation of the wood pellet boiler without spending much more than was expected last month.  Given that reality, a new proposal was developed by the ad hoc Childcare Planning Committee with input from Property and Finance Committees.  The three committees recommended that the best path forward is a full replacement of the wood pellet combustion system with a heat pump system. The associated expenses are of two types.  We first addressed the needed changes to bring the building up to fire code for the additional use and for events that we hold that draw more than 49 people to our building.

Meeting approved the joint recommendations of the Childcare Planning Committee, the Property Committee, and the Finance Committee to bring our building up to fire code as a place of assembly and a childcare facility.  Friends agreed that we should do this for fire safety reasons as well as the desire to meet the fire codes.  The Childcare Planning Committee is authorized to spend up to $15,000 for the needed upgrades.  This does not include replacement of the existing pellet boiler with a non-combustion heating system which would then bring us into fire code compliance.

07.05  Heating System Replacement:  The three committees also recommended that Meeting proceed with a ground source (that is, geothermal) heat pump system.  In the long term, this ground source heat pump system has advantages over using a somewhat cheaper air-to-water heat pump in costs of operation and maximum efficiency for a replacement system.  The current estimate for installation of a geothermal heat pump heating system is $53,000 but a federal subsidy of $16,740 would come back to the Meeting in 2024, lowering the actual cost to $39,060.  With a 10% cushion for unexpected expenses, the totals would be up to $58,300 with a federal subsidy of $17,490 for a total of no more than $40,810.

The Finance Committee recommended using $20,000 of the Meeting’s Replacement Reserve Fund noting that the boiler replacement cost was anticipated to be $20,000.  It is anticipated that the wood pellets in our bin could be sold for $500.  It is possible we can get some money for the used pellet bin, burner, and other parts of that system, but that is too uncertain to be calculated into the planning.  The installation of a ground source heat pump will only be possible to do with short-term loans until the federal subsidy is received and fundraising concluded.  Then we expect to need other, longer-term loans of five to ten years to repay the short-term lenders and complete the financing of the project.  Pledges for the necessary short-term loans have been made.  So that there will be no conflict of interest, the terms for these loans will be negotiated for the Meeting by Chris H and Jonah S-M, who are members of Finance Committee not pledging to loan funds for the project.  Detailed information on the costs of the project will be provided as it is developed.  It is hoped that the cost will be less than the approved maximum.

If the approved high-range of estimated cost ($58,300) turns out not to be adequate, the committees recommend that we use an air-to-water heat pump that would cost several thousand dollars less and would still be a major improvement but would cost more to operate.  Friends approved giving the Finance and Childcare Planning Committees authority to spend up to the sum of $58,300 for completion of the project and gave the clerk the authority to sign necessary contracts.  Friends are aware that approximately $44,000 might be needed in short-term loans as we only have about $31,000 available in cash on hand.

07.06  Fundraising Committee:  At the request of the Childcare Planning Committee, we established an ad hoc Fundraising Committee to help defray the costs and reduce the need for loans.  David W and Ruth H have volunteered and are approved to begin the process of raising at least $20,000.  Others will be added as needed.

07.07  Youth Religious Education:  A report from YRE was received and is attached. Items in that report can be addressed at a future Meeting for worship with attention to business.

After some quiet reflection, Friends adjourned, purposing to meet again on the second First Day of August.

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.

Fire Code Compliance & Heating System Cost Estimates

Youth Religious Education Committee Report

to July 2023 Business Meeting

1. Yard sale money:  We took in $2500 from the May Yard sale but we only have committed $900 per year to Kenya Rising.  We recommend to Meeting that we send an extra $350 ($1250 total) for 2023 and keep the other $1250 for 2024.  We will see if the Meeting wants to decide (in January perhaps) whether to do an annual yard sale; if so, we might designate those 2024 proceeds could go toward another perhaps more local project this coming year.
2. Summer Childcare started July 2.  The committee hopes those cleared to do child care sign up on a Google document.  Only 2 people are needed each Sunday.
3. Canterbury Fair:  The YRE committee decided to offer sock puppets again.  We will also handle signups for not only our art project helpers but those volunteering under the ‘adult’ tent, handing our ice water and info on Quakers.
4. Our next meeting is July 25 at Noon.