Dennis Irwin called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 

Present:                      Father Bob Betz, Father Ron Gramza, Carol Anger, Tracey Borzick, Joe Dulka, Charles Frey, Gary Hamilton, Leslie Henry, Dennis Irwin, Jerry Kromraj, Rich Lussier, Sean Nuyda, Dave Spitzenberger and Tom Wisniewski

 Excused:                     Joe Amrhein and Joe Zolecki

 Guest:                         Alice Berezinski, Judy Kromraj, Gregory Meka and Marilyn Stewart

 Opening Prayer: Dennis presented the opening prayer.   

 Review of Agenda:

 Dennis reviewed the agenda and no additional topics were suggested.

A list of the weekend Masses was circulated to members with the request that they volunteer for a particular Mass to present the Council’s February announcements and then register new members immediately following. 

Open Forum (Guest and Visitor Comments

The four above-named guests introduced themselves and were welcomed to the council meeting. 

Approval of Minutes of December 2005 Meeting:

In the second last paragraph of page 2 of the minutes, at about the middle of the fourth last line, the following sentence should be inserted:  “It was also stated that it is not so much about the money but they believe they have no representation or voice, e.g., they lost all their Masses to other sites; that seems to be where the attitude issue lies.”  Thereafter continues the last sentence of the paragraph beginning with “Further discussion involved ….”

There being no other additions, corrections or deletions to the proposed minutes, upon motion duly made and seconded, the minutes of the meeting of December 15, 2005 were approved as amended.

Pastors’ Report:

            Father Ron said he had had communication with the archdiocese regarding criminal background checks of all volunteers who have contact with children in any capacity in the parish.  Up to this point the parish was not in complete compliance with the laws regarding those background checks that include possible charges of sexual abuse of a child.  Letters will be sent to the directors of various groups including the athletic associations regarding this issue.  Any individual presently working with children who objects to a criminal background check will be prohibited from continuing in that capacity.  The same rule relating to criminal background checks will also apply to new volunteers who may work with children.  Tony Stoecker has the appropriate form for completion and is presently obtaining the names of people involved.  If any further information is requested by the Council or others regarding this issue, Father Ron has the name of a lady from the archdiocese working in that field who is most familiar with those checks and can be contacted. 

            Father Ron also reported that Mark Peters, the parish consultant for the archdiocese, had called him and advised that a complaint had been submitted to the archdiocese from a woman, whose name is not on the parish roster, complaining that the people from the St. Adalbert’s site had not been given ample opportunity to express their opinions about going to one worship site.  In the original and subsequent telephone calls, Father Ron informed Mark that members of the council provide monthly announcements regarding current developments at all weekend Masses and are then available to talk with parishioners after Masses about any questions, that a town hall meeting was held at 16^th Avenue, that prior to the decision to have all weekend Masses at one site, extra council members were available after all the Masses for people who had comments or questions; that four members of the Council were originally from St. Adalbert’s.  In the final conversation with Mark, he (Mark) felt that the parish had provided sufficient opportunities for comments. 

            Comments from other council members included: (1) that numerous articles about the one united weekend worship site were printed in the bulletins; (2) that council members should remind parishioners that there will be considerable savings on utilities during heating and cooling seasons with the one united weekend worship site; (3) that the Marquette Avenue site was chosen because of its accessibility and its capacity; (4) that people said 16^th Avenue was the only site without a Christmas Eve Mass – they actually wanted a Midnight Mass which was only half full the last time a Midnight Mass was held there; (5) that the Christmas Eve and the 10:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Christmas Day Masses were very crowded and that some people were turned away – true or untrue.  The final statement was that the parish cannot focus on the past but must focus on the future for its unification and that, like the two school campuses being finally merged at one site, the one unified weekend worship site won’t be fully realized until July 1^st when that is accomplished. 

            Father Bob advised that in order to bring more unity to the staff, the pastors will begin meeting with the various departments individually so that every member may have input at the meetings and thus result in greater communication.

Committee Report Comments:

            Copies of the following minutes were made available to council members prior to this meeting:  Building & Grounds Committee of 12/13/05 and 1/10/06; Prayer & Worship Committee of 1/5/06; Parish Life Committee of 1/6/06; Christian Formation Committee – Family of 12/1/05 and 1/5/06.  Also received was a letter of 1/18/06 from Tony Stoecker, Director of Christian Formation, directed to the Parish Council regarding Family Ministry Response. 

            Building & Grounds Committee.  Tracey Borzick reported that Mike Groth attended the last committee meeting and will be at next month’s meeting.  She said there would be a parish “work day” on February 18^th at the Marquette Avenue church to get things in order and that an announcement will be inserted in the bulletin.  Some of the furniture which is stored at St. John’s School will be donated to institutions and a final inventory of items then compiled with some being  stored for the rummage sale in April.

            Dave Spitzenberger reported that Chuck Kendall and a number of others have been working on the organ at Marquette and hope to have it working by Easter.

            Finance Committee.  Joe Dulka read from a TIME magazine article that stated households which heat with natural gas will spend 35% more this year than last year; he said he also learned that energy saving motors could be installed on furnaces.  With those thoughts in mind, he suggested that the Building & Grounds Committee check into this.  He also suggested that “cages” be installed on all thermostats so others cannot change them.  Joe said that the figures for the end of December resulted in an amount “in the black;” if the final figure ends “in the red” it will be minimal.  Joe gave specific figures for the weekly envelopes, total contributions and expenses, and ended by saying “we’re in the ballpark – we should make it.” 

            Rich Lussier, also of the Finance Committee, believes that the Building & Grounds Committee should possibly return to more preventive maintenance.  Another question for the Committee would be whether it has ever requested an energy audit from WE Energies and what are the recommendations.  Tracey will check with Jerry Horzewski regarding preventive maintenance programs, an energy audit, as well as “cages” or locks for thermostats.

            Joe also stated that the Finance Committee would present the budget to the Council on April 20^th.

NEW BUSINESS:

            Finance Committee Tuition Proposal.  A letter from the Finance Committee to the Council dated January 6, 2006 pertaining to the proposed tuition for the 2006-07 school year was received prior to this meeting, along with a copy of the comparisons of tuitions at Divine Mercy, St. Matthew’s, St. Roman’s, and St. Thomas Aquinas Academy.  Rich began reading from that letter that included a proposal of a 5% increase for one child, a 10% increase for two children, a 15% increase for three children, and an additional $200 for each additional child.  Additionally, it proposed to increase the weekly contribution to $15 from each family.  St. Matthew’s tuition is cheaper than Divine Mercy’s but they have an additional registration fee which does not offset the tuition, and their requested weekly contribution from each family is $20. 

Discussion followed.  There is a great discrepancy in the tuitions because prior to the parishes’ merger the amounts charged by the two schools were vastly different, and we are gradually trying to “catch up” to others.  There were other queries and responses about parents’ compliance with the expected weekly contributions; those who do not comply are reminded by letter and continue to be followed up; they are also reminded of their minimum number of service hours.  The family’s expected weekly contribution cannot, by law, be mandatory.  There is no guarantee of receiving the expected weekly contributions which are tax deductible; tuition is not tax deductible.  It was also stated that the parish is subsidizing each child by $2,000, and parishioners should be reminded of that fact.  We are losing about $30,000 because of families who do not make their expected weekly contribution.  It was also commented that the proposed increase of five percent for each child is not unreasonable; most parishes do not even offer a school for children. 

Following the discussion and analysis of the proposal, the Council by consensus agreed to accept the Finance Committee’s proposal for the tuition increase and the increase of the expected weekly contribution from each family for the 2006-07 school year, both as contained in the committee’s letter and outlined above.  The school will conduct an open house on January 29^th.  Father Bob will speak to Judy Kalinowski, the school principal, about including a copy of the proposal in the children’s packet for the parents to see. 

Responding to a further query, it was stated that if a family is in need of assistance for tuition, the parish can provide a reduced rate, depending on the individual circumstances.  Also, though the parish does not have a specific fund for tuition assistance, parishioners who wish to make donations for that type of assistance would be encouraged to do so.

             Parish Council Discernment Process.  Rich announced that the terms of the following four council members would expire at the end of June 2006:  Joe Amrhein (who is completing Don Slomski’s term), Carol Anger, Leslie Henry and Sean Nuyda.  If any of them wish to continue on the Council, they must reapply or be nominated and be rediscerned as any new parishioner.  Announcements will be inserted in the bulletin.  In addition, the trustee position presently held by Joe Dulka must also be filled.  It was suggested that the trustee’s position should be filled by someone with a finance background.  Minimum qualifications for these positions were pointed out.  Rich will be in possession of all the necessary forms for the discernment process.  Tom Wisniewski announced that although his term does not expire until 2007, he may not be able to continue serving on the Council because of a potential teaching commitment; in that event he would be required to submit a letter of resignation and his term would be filled following the rules of the archdiocese. 

 OLD BUSINESS:

             Parish Council Retreat.  Tracey Borzick provided written options as to date and retreat facilitators.  After discussion, the date selected was April 8^th from approximately          9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the St. Francis of Assisi Convent on Lake Drive; Byron Haaland was chosen to conduct the retreat.  Arrangements will be made to include the standard lunch. The total cost of the retreat will not exceed $966.00.

             Marquette Parking Lot Proposal.               Proposals have not as yet come in.  Because of Gary Hamilton’s work on the environmental study of the school building and his review of the report which Jerry Horzewski had previously received, a large amount of money is being saved.  Dave said there would be an inventory of the contents in the structure for the various groups and societies, and Jerry will be the contact person for removal of items or for other information.

OTHER NEWS, NOTES, COMMENTS AND/OR ANNOUNCEMENTS.

The next committee meetings will be held on February 2^nd at 6:30 p.m. at the 16^th Avenue site.  The next regular council meeting is scheduled for February 16^th at 6:30 p.m. at the parish office building.

Closing Prayer:  Dennis presented the closing prayer. 

 Adjournment:  The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Marcy Gramza, Recording Secretary

                                                                        February 12, 2006