In Sean Nuyda’s absence, Dan Lentz called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.

Present: Father Bob Betz, Father Ron Gramza, Carol Anger, Ken D’Alessandro, Joseph Dulka, Chuck Frey, Leslie Henry, Dennis Irwin, Noreen M. Klopp, Jerry Kromraj, Dan Lentz, Rich Lussier, Dave Spitzenberger, and Tom Wisniewski

Excused/Absent: Sean Nuyda (Excused) and Don Slomski (Absent)

Guests: Alice Berezinski, Judy Kromraj, and Dawn Smith

Opening Prayer: Father Ron presented the opening prayer.

Welcome/Review Agenda:

After reviewing the agenda, Leslie Henry suggested discussion of the parish web site be added to the agenda, and Chuck Frey suggested that discussion of facility usage be added to the agenda.

Dan welcomed the above guests to the meeting after which each introduced herself to the Council. During the open forum, Alice Berezinski mentioned that some greeters at Mass were distributing bulletins instead of greeting people arriving for the Mass. It was suggested that Alice contact Nancy Schmitt of the Prayer & Worship Committee with her concern.

Under Human Concerns, page 2, fourth line, the sentence "a committee member’s suggestion" is changed to read "committee members were asked to forward the money to a different area in Guatemala for its immediate use and then transferred back to our sister parish when it is ready to begin work; this was rejected by the committee as an inappropriate action." Upon motion duly made and seconded, the minutes of the meeting of May 20, 2004, as amended, were approved.

Father Ron reported that because of the confusion with the three different groups referred to as building and grounds committees (the Parish Council’s Building & Grounds Committee, the building and grounds committee of the school task force, and a building and grounds group of the long term planning committee) and because there is no real coordination of the three, Fred Bartkowski has agreed to be the delegate of the pastors for all building and grounds concerns and has agreed to attend meetings to familiarize himself with those concerns.

Father Ron further stated that two representatives of our sister parish in Guatemala, Father Sebastian and a layperson, will be visiting South Milwaukee. Father Sebastian will be here for the FunFest and will be speaking at the Masses. The layperson who is familiar with the water project will be speaking at the Masses the following weekend.

Father Ron also said he is in the process of moving from the rectory to his condo. The Sisters from the Order of St. Francis of Assisi on Lake Drive are interested in renting the house. Details of the rental and the exact move-in date have not been finalized as yet.

Father Bob reported on the planning issue and said at this time there are no clear facts or figures regarding the four sites. A parishioner suggested a study by professionals to determine these facts and figures, as well as the condition and salability of facilities. With this information at hand and different options presented, definite decisions could be made regarding the planning. The long term planning committee is involved with a survey at this time. After the survey is completed, the next step would be consulting with a person with the above expertise or hiring some firm to provide us with the information necessary to make definite decisions. Tom Wisniewski added that there have already been talks about the possibility of getting a firm to look at the long term planning. The objective, of course, is what is our goal and where do we intend to go from here.

Administration. The minutes of the Building & Grounds Committee were made available prior to the date of the meeting.

Tom reported that the Finance Committee looked at the current year’s expenditures and said the parish is running true to budget, meaning there is a $200,000+ deficit. They have requested that Chris Fleming provide a spreadsheet for the last two months’ expenses to make sure there is no excessive spending. It was also decided in committee that all purchase orders, which already include the parish’s tax-exempt status, must be used. The committee also suggested that rather than each site making purchases for its particular facility, one person should be responsible for making purchases for all four sites, thereby receiving a better discount. Again, two people from the committee suggested that everyone reduce spending by ten percent, which is believed to be doable, in order to achieve a non-deficit budget for next year.

Human Concerns. Copies of this committee’s minutes were made available prior to the date of the meeting. In addition, Jerry Kromraj indicated that the St. Vincent de Paul Society has twelve members, has already chosen its officers, and all referrals are received from the society’s central office. The Human Concerns Committee will not conduct any meetings during the months of July and August.

Parish Life. Copies of this committee’s minutes were made available prior to the date of the meeting.

Christian Formation. Noreen Klopp indicated there is nothing further to report.

School Board. Dave Spitzenberger reported that he had attended the meeting of the task force core group which includes educational, finance, facilities and marketing sections. They had evaluated the four models from the educational standpoint only, listing the pros and cons, and their next step is to pass those final results to the other three sections for each of their further evaluations. Carol said she also attended a school committee meeting and some of the comments she heard were that they were upset with the four models which the pastors gave them, they don’t want to accept what the council says, they want a new school, or they want to keep the two sites as they now exist. After discussing the foregoing, the council determined that the school groups need more focus and requested that copies of all letters of direction which were previously sent to the school board by the Council be gathered and discussed at the next council meeting.

Selection Process of School Board. Up to this point the school board members were appointed by the principals and pastors. Rather than trying to change the method of selecting school board members, the consensus of the Council was to suggest that the present members continue on the board for the 2004-05 school year and that the School Board develop a plan for selecting its members for the 2005-06 school year.

Long-Term Planning. Leslie Henry provided a copy of a Long Range Planning report from Northern Door County which she had received on a recent trip there and commented that they are experiencing the same issues that we had.

Coordinate Building Usage. This topic regarding the groups referred to as building and grounds committees and the new coordinator, Fred Bartkowski, was discussed above.

Parish Council Vice Chairperson Position. No volunteers were heard, Noreen Klopp was nominated for the Vice Chair position, she agreed to consider same, and she was properly discerned as Parish Council Vice Chairperson.

Web Site. Leslie has agreed to further develop the parish web site, divinemercysm.org, and has already requested information from the various committees as to their descriptions, purposes and ministries, for inclusion on the web site. In order to be more accessible to the parishioners, she also requested permission to include council members’ names, pictures and e-mail addresses, and also a synopsis of or the minutes of the last council meeting, though the minutes would be specifically described as "unapproved at this time." She will follow through on this project.

Policy on Building/Facility Usage for Non-Parish Sponsored Events. A copy of the parish policy for these events and the facilities usage policy was distributed. This matter was tabled for next month.

Divine Mercy Portrait Project: Dawn Smith of the Home & School Association stated that as result of a survey conducted in the spring, a favored fundraiser is a parish portrait directory. Busson Portrait Directory has already provided the association with the type of services it provides and its prices. This project may not necessarily be realized this year. The Council suggested that quotes from other companies be obtained for comparison. The Council agreed that the concept of the project is good, but no contracts should be entered into before again consulting with the Council. The Home & School Association will continue its work on this project.

Council and Committee Summer Schedule: Some of the committees will not be meeting during the months of July and August. After discussion it was decided that the Council should continue its meetings in July and August, particularly in view of the school issues, but with an abbreviated agenda. It was also agreed that the monthly council announcements prepared by Sean should be read by the lectors at Mass rather than by individual council members.

Council Members and Officers – 2005: A committee has been named to develop a plan for the selection of council members and officers in 2005; this will include methods to determine which present members will and will not remain on the Council, and how new members will be elected. Dennis Irwin and Rich Lussier volunteered to be on that committee.

Other News, Notes or Announcements:

Alice Berezinski asked if there would be signup sheets for volunteers to work at the FunFest as there had been last year. Volunteers will certainly be welcome; further information on this question will appear in the bulletin.

Joe Dulka said he recently toured the remodeled South Milwaukee High School. He mentioned some of its amenities and suggested others also tour the building if possible.

Closing Prayer: Father Ron presented the closing prayer.

Council Meeting Schedule: The next regular council meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 15^th, at 6:30 p.m. at Divine Mercy Office Building.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:22 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Marcy Gramza, Recording Secretary

July 2, 2004