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Minutes of Parish Council Meeting Dennis Irwin called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Present: Father Bob Betz, Father Ron Gramza, Joe Amrhein, Tracey Borzick, Joe Dulka, Dennis Irwin, Dean Kick, Jerry Kromraj, Rich Lussier, Sean Nuyda, Steve Raflik, Dave Spitzenberger and Joe Zolecki
Excused: Gary Hamilton
A short memorial for the recently deceased council member, Chuck Frey, was conducted by Dennis. Members of the Council offered their tributes regarding Chuck.
Guests: Judy Kromraj and Elaine Tessmer
Opening Prayer: Rich Lussier distributed copies of the Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit to all council members who then read it aloud.
Open Forum/Guest & Visitor Comments:
Sean Nuyda stated that Elaine Tessmer, one of the guests, is one of nominees for the parish council. There were no other comments.
Review of Agenda:
Dennis reviewed the agenda for this meeting, and no questions followed.
Approval of Minutes of the March 2007 Meeting:
There being no additions, corrections or deletions to the proposed minutes, upon motion duly made and seconded, the minutes of the meeting of March 15, 2007, were approved as prepared.
At this time Joe Dulka commented that no notice of this council meeting was contained in the weekend bulletin.
Pastors’ Reports:
Father Bob reported that about 70 young people would be confirmed by the archbishop on Sunday, April 29th. He also talked about the wonderful celebrations for the Triduum and the many great comments heard following each of them; many thanks were extended to Chris Sepersky and members of all the ministries involved. Regarding the pastoral transition, he noted that there is at least one unnamed priest interested in being assigned to our parish. Father Ron indicated he had been in contact with the Priests Placement Board today and was informed that by next week the new appointments would be made; no information would be released until the official letter is received from the archbishop, and that is when the parishioners will be notified.
Father Ron further reported that about 116 children would be receiving First Communion the weekend of May 5th and 6th at all four Masses and an extra Mass at 1:30 p.m. on May 6th. Also, Julie Fleming originally succeeded Chris Fleming as parish financial director but then found she was not comfortable with the position; Patti Bollis has now been hired to fill that position and will begin work on Monday, April 30th.
Contemplative Break:
The question of the week appearing in the bulletin was: “What memorable moments have happened at meals with your family? Was Christ there?” Rich conducted a discussion regarding how simple things in your life bring others together.
Committee Reports and Comments: Copies of minutes of the following committees were made available to council members prior to this meeting: Building & Grounds Committee dated 4/10/07; Life Long Formation Committee (formerly known as Christian Formation Committee – Family) dated 4/12/07; Parish Life Committee of 4/2/07; and School Committee of 4/17/07. Also received was the Spring 2007 edition of the periodical entitled Salt of the Earth. [Recorded out of order.] Tracey Borzick of the Building & Grounds Committee reminded everyone that cleaning would be done at the church this Saturday in preparation for the First Communion. All cleaning supplies are supplied by Cathy Wendt. [Recorded out of order.] Chris Kujawa reported that everything is going very well with the School Committee. Enrollment for next year is about the same as the present number but they expect more students to enroll. One teacher has been notified that her contract will not be renewed; not all grades have a sufficient number of students for two classrooms. Chris also said the surveys are about ready to go out and results will be published. [Recorded out of order.] Joe Amrhein on behalf of the Human Concerns Committee stated that Sharing Sunday for the month of May will benefit the Pregnancy Help Center of Milwaukee and the O’Meara Life Resources. In June the collection will be for Fr. Gene’s Help Center. There will also be a collection on May 19th for the young people going on missions. A coffee sale and an ice cream social are also planned in coming months. [Recorded out of order.] Jerry Kromraj on behalf of the Parish Life Committee was unable to give a report at this time. [Recorded out of order.] Tracey volunteered to serve as the Council representative for the Transition Committee. NEW BUSINESS:
Parish Budget. Joe Dulka of the Finance Committee was asked to “walk through” the proposed budget for 2007-08. He began by saying that the main thing of that budget is the last figure on the last page, which is $29,846 in the black, and he believes that that can be accomplished. Some figures mentioned were about the reduced income from total contributions (p.1) and the reduction in tuition and program fees (p. 1) and the reasons therefor; investment income has been reduced because of a reduction in rates of interest (p. 2); salaries for the day school have decreased because there will be one less teacher (p. 2); total salaries and benefits have increased due to shifting of jobs in administration and hiring of the pastoral administrator (p. 3); there was some talk among the council members about the Fun Fest expenses (P. 6). Joe said expenses of Building & Grounds Committee are pretty well set (P. 6), but a big expense is for insurance (P. 7). He also said expenses are fairly stable, “not moving anywhere,” and people are really holding the line with their budget. The archdiocesan assessment fluctuates and is determined by how much it must pay out as it is self-funded. Again, Joe said the net operating income would be $29,846; last year the amount was $23,387; he believes that amount can be achieved this year. After a motion was made and seconded to accept the proposed budget, another council member suggested that the budget be reviewed at home by the members; after further discussion it was determined that all council members are to review the proposed budget at home and it will be up for approval at the next meeting.
Further comments/queries/discussion included: Income figures are being watched very carefully; should parishioners be reminded of the amounts of their pledges and their contributions to date; the number of contributors may be decreasing but those who do contribute are increasing their donations; evangelization of the young must continue and if they believe strongly in the church, they will respond. The difference between a regular budget and a capital budget was discussed; the purchase of an item with a long life expectancy, e.g., a vehicle, is part of a capital improvement budget and must be approved by the Council. A monetary limit does not necessarily determine into which budget an item will be located.
APC Critical Planning Issues. This list of ten planning issues from the archdiocese was received prior to the meeting. Dennis made sure everyone understood each of the ten issues. He requested that all the members present the top three that our parish (we are a cluster of four) should continue to work on and the reasons for the selections. This information will be discussed at the May meeting and presented by Dennis at a district meeting in early June.
OLD BUSINESS:
Parish Council Nomination Committee & The Discernment Process. Sean Nuyda stated that nine nominations were received and, thus far, two of those nine individuals accepted and two additional persons must still be contacted. Dennis Irwin and Chris Kujawa, whose terms will expire the end of June 2007, have agreed to serve additional three-year terms; proper forms must be completed for their nominations. According to the bylaws, once the names of the nominees have been published, an additional ten days are allowed for acceptance of additional nominations. Sean will make an announcement to the parish during weekend Masses and suggests that other council members attempt to recruit more nominees for council. A tentative date of May 24th for the discernment to be facilitated by Mark Peters has been chosen. If there is a total of only four nominations for council, there will be no need for a discernment process; if additional nominations are received, those people accept the nominations and there are more than four nominees, then there will be a discernment process.
Many of the forms for nomination of a Trustee have been taken from the lobby of the church. Dave Spitzenberger, one of the present Trustees, will not seek another term because his family may be relocating to another city. He has served as Trustee for eight years and he does not believe it proper to run again for Trustee with the possibility of having to resign after the new term has begun.
Long Range Planning Committee Discussion. Dave reported that the committee put together a power point in preparation for the town hall meeting at the Christian Formation Center hall on 16th Avenue on May 10th. The object of the meeting will be to get some input from the parishioners. They will be brought up to speed as to the accomplishments of the parish since the merger. The slides will include all the activities done at each site. One of the sheets to be distributed at the meeting will be a type of survey. After viewing of the slides, the people will then break up into smaller groups, select a person to be their representative, and then discuss what they believe should be the next steps. The speaker for each group will then give a consensus of the opinions expressed. He then referred to the survey that was taken in church a few weeks earlier and stated about 1200 responses were received.
Meeting Recap. Dennis reminded everyone that the next meeting would include the finalization of the budget, the discussion of the three major issues our parish should continue to work on, the parish council nomination committee’s report, and feedback from the May 10th town hall meeting. The orientation for new and present parish council members will be held at St. Alphonsus Parish on May 7th at 7 p.m.
OTHER NEWS, NOTES, COMMENTS AND/OR ANNOUNCEMENTS:
A sign-up sheet for presentation of the monthly Council’s report to be given at all Masses in May was circulated before and during the meeting.
Rich advised that the date for the Fall Fest is October 21st, 2007.
Closing Prayer: The closing prayer was taken from the list of three things from the mission of St. Faustina and presented by Rich.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Marcy Gramza, Recording Secretary May 17, 2007 |
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