Minutes from CST Board of Trustees Meeting

April 1, 2009

 

Present: Alice Audie-Figueroa, Tzvi Berkel, Edith Bernstein, Terry Finerman, CarolAnn Gutkowski, Beth Isola, Robin Lampert, Paul Lefkowitz, JoAnne Levy, Linda Lutz, Joyce May, Daniella Mechnikov, Eileen Nowikowski, Erica Peresman, Len Redmond, Barry Rubin, Harriet Silverman, Michelle Simpson, Rabbi Arnie, Rich Spitzer.

Guest: Mark Rich

(If you come in late after the attendance sheet has gone around please see CarolAnn at the end of the meeting to put your name on the sheet so you aren’t missed; thanks.)

 

NOTE: Normal meeting order changed; Daniella had to attend another meeting/rehearsal so items effecting her were moved forward on the agenda.

 

1.     Meeting called to order by Peresman at 7:10 p.m.

2.     Education Director Report.

·       Attendance at the Purim carnival was good and the teens did a great job.

·       Daniella co-chaired Pesach Productions at JCC-WB and CST had great attendance; this event took the place of Family Ed that week and teachers participated as well.

·       Lisa Sobel Siegman, Head of JEFF, met with Daniella who reports they are “on the same page.”

·       A family ed survey is being created on Survey Monkey.

·       Ed council met March 31 and went over the new online registration process for family ed for the fall. The new registrations will also serve as an update to our database.

·       End of year picnic—pavillion was already taken by another group so location TBD.

·       “Torah Camp” for youngsters in discussion; may begin with just a 1-day trial camp.

3.     Recommendation packages.

·       Family Camp. Request for $1500 to offset registration and programming costs for family camp. Moved by Audie-Figueroa, seconded by Lampert. Discussion: funds will be taken from the Frankel Special Programming Fund, but suggestion made to include this as a line-item in future budgets as this request is now an annual one. Does this activity have a sponsoring group? No. An annual committee is used to organize this. Unanimous approval; motion passed.

4.     Dvar Torah. Rabbi Arnie discussed Pesach and how we are engaged in eliminating the “largeness” that has come into our lives; as we search out and discard our chametz so can we search our and eliminate the excesses in our lives in order to simplify. Pesach can be seen as an internal as well as external “Spring cleaning.”

5.     Approval of Consent Agenda. Moved by Nowikowski, seconded by Simpson to approve with one correction: Rich Spitzer did not present the budget report at the last meeting due to the passing of his mother, not father. Unanimous approval with correction.

6.     Rabbi’s Report.

·       Seder rehearsals have gone very well. There will be a lot of wonderful music including 5 vocalists, 5 instruments and a special freedom song. Board members requested the Seder be videotaped.

·       Klezmer concert is coming up on April 25 and promises to be an amazing night. This activity is a family ed event, outreach tool to entire community as well as a fundraiser. Board members requested this event be videotaped as well. Joyce indicated a professional audio recording was already planned.

7.     President’s Report. Sent ahead in packet.

8.     Treasure’s Report. Budget to date and narrative sent ahead. Discussion on status of dues and tuition collection as we are very behind budget in these areas. There were about 42 families that have paid nothing to date this year. With the follow-up calls by JoAnne, this number is down to about 20, but many are paying less. Question raised on our policy regarding unpaid dues—answer was annual dues/tuition is “forgiven” if congregant can’t pay, but building fund and donor pledges (i.e. pledges to Torah Alive!) would be carried forward.

9.     Recommendation Packages (B).

·       Resolution for URJ Camps. Another URJ temple is sponsoring a resolution asking for URJ camps to develop significant programming for special needs children and is seeking support for the resolution. Moved by Nowikowski, seconded by Rubin. Discussion on the details of the resolution; concerns expressed about its vagueness and difficulty in mandating its follow-through, etc. Vote: 10 in favor, 2 opposed, 5 abstentions; motion passed.

10.  Discussion items.

·       Annual Budget. Dues for next year discussed. Could raise our standard 3% or go with

1 ½% in recognition of the bad economy; will also need to add an additional fundraiser either way.

·       Annual Meeting. Please attend and bring a dessert. Saturday, May 2 at 7:00 p.m. Eileen and Barry will host set-up, Paul will host clean-up.

·       Prospective Member Calls. Only 3 people have reported back to JoAnne—everyone who received a list of names to contact please report back to JoAnne.

·       Monthly Review of Open/Lock.

 

Meeting adjourned, 9:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

CarolAnn Barr-Gutkowski

Recording Secretary