Anne Harvey, President, Board of Trustees president@westsideuuc.org
Dear Members and Friends, Thank you to everyone who attended the Congregational meeting on May 22. And, thanks to those members who used the proxy option. I would like to recap for all present and absent the outcome of the meeting. We all need to thank Terry Tyler, our finance chair, for providing a very clear proposed budget and providing clear answers to questions concerning budget items during the meeting. One proposed budget item that the Board thoughtfully considered was omitting UUA dues for fiscal year 2016-2017. The Board agreed that in order to present a proposed balanced budget to our members WUUC needed to forgo UUA dues for the 2016-2017 year. During the discussion of the proposed budget, a member asked if WUUC would be able to reinstate our UUA dues during this next fiscal year if we were financially able to contribute. Terry’s response was that would certainly be taken into consideration. Another question that requires clarification involves the replacing of our aging heating and air conditioning units. When these units fail, WUUC has a loan agreement with Home Federal Bank that WUUC will use to replace these units. After discussion, the proposed budget was accepted without any dissenting votes.
The next part of the meeting dealt with the proposal for WUUC to become sustainable by growing members to a pastoral-style church based on member feedback. This does require growing membership over the next few years. During a recent potluck Sunday, we were asked as we ate and conversed to consider the direction we wanted Westside to take. Overall, the answer was that members wanted our church to be multi-generational. Based on this feedback, the Board and the Committee on Ministry arrived with eight proposals. In the time allotted, these proposals were discussed. These proposals can be found in the Members' area on WUUC’s website, as part of the Congregational Meeting Agenda.
Best regards,
Anne