In last month’s newsletter I shared exciting news about three Council-approved motions: two involving potential new revenue opportunities and a third creating an advisory group to make recommendations on our fiscal stewardship and to help secure UCG’s financial sustainability.  Updates on these initiatives were provided at our recent Winter Congregational Meeting on January 30th.  For anyone that was not able to join the meeting, here are the updates that were shared with our church community.

Constellation Charter School Committee

Constellation Charter School is a newly approved public charter school under auspices of the Alachua County School Board. There are several families involved with the school who are UCG members. In November the school approached UCG with an interest in leasing space in the renovated education building, kitchen area and playgrounds. They also requested occasional use of the West Wing and Reimer Hall. The school would be sharing the campus Monday thru Friday during daytime hours. Any school related meetings on nights and weekends would be offsite. The parking requirements would be approximately 10 spaces in the east lot for their staff. The UCG staff had initial conversations to gather details on the request. Council Exec on December 1st and Board of Business on December 9th reviewed the request, weighing potential benefits and issues, and sent their approval to move forward to Church Council. On December 15th Council approved the formation of an ad hoc committee with representation of the UCG groups most impacted by a potential lease.

The Constellation Charter School Committee members are:

• Chairperson and Council-Member-at-Large : Beth Hinrichs
• Family Promise: Dawn Beachy
• Board of Children Youth and Families: Taylor Stein
• Board of Business: Bill Hoppe
• Congregational Representation with Charter School Expertise: Jenny Hill
• Staff, Facilities: Lisa Goldstein 
• Staff, Children’s Programs: Keri Trosper  
• Non-voting Ministerial Liaison: Talia Raymond
• Non-voting Moderator (Ex Officio): Donn Smith-Lopez

The objectives of the committee will be the oversight over all aspects and considerations of the contract negotiations with the school administration with input from any affected Boards, Committees and staff. The committee will review all options and will decide whether to give approval for pursuing a collaborative agreement between Constellation Charter School of Gainesville and UCG. Final approval of a rental space lease is subject to input from the congregation via listening sessions (or other effective methods of feedback), a majority vote of approval by the committee and consultation with Council Exec and Board of Business.

The term of the committee members will be until either the final execution of the contract or the final decision to forego a contract with the school. Council Exec is authorized to replace a member in case of a resignation. The committee chairperson will be a non-staff person who is elected from among the committee members by majority of the voting members. The chair is authorized to sign the collaborative agreement with the school after the pre-approval steps noted above are taken. Council Exec will provide on-going oversight of any post-contract execution issues and/or relationship management with the school administration along with input from any affected Boards, Committees and staff.

The committee’s progress-to-date includes:

• Meeting on January 4 th to get familiar with the committee’s mission, elect a chairperson (Beth Hinrichs) and agreement for a meeting schedule (weekly)
• Meeting on January 13th with Constellation Charter School board members Shelley Rogers and Sylvia Paluzzi to discuss first steps and concerns

The next steps in the near term are for the Constellation Board to gather information to answer the committee’s key questions around the proposed lease terms, proposed rental amount and any potential costs related to school board required facility modifications. There are many other pros and cons that need to be considered for the committee to make their decision. To that end the committee will be hosting informational listening sessions very soon to get congregational input and feedback after more concrete information is available.

Financial Sustainability and Stewardship Committee

The committee was created due to the economically stressful period affecting many churches. We are seeing a rising cost of health, property and liability insurance. Churches, including ours, have members with less available income for pledging due to inflation, rising cost of living, and flat wages. There was an identified need for creative and strategic reflection on how to fund the life and ministry of our beloved community by looking beyond the way UCG has “always done things in the past”. The committees will explore many important fiduciary questions such as (but not limited to):

• • Building and property maintenance
• • Development
• • Stewardship education
• • Outside funding sources
• • Necessity/timing of a capital campaign
• • Endowment use and growth
• • Human resources

The group will reflect on the church’s fiscal practices and budget process, collaborate and fact-find with Boards, Committees and staff and will make advisory recommendations to Council Exec and Church Council.

Council Exec on December 1st and Board of Business on December 9th reviewed and approved the concept of creating the committee and sent their approval to move forward to Church Council. On December 15th Council approved the formation of the ad hoc committee with representation from a diverse group of church members who have expertise or experience in areas such as (but not limited to):

• Fiduciary management
• Accounting and auditing
• Financial planning
• Non-profit leadership and budgeting
• Revenue development
• Grant writing
• Endowment investments and management
• Insurance policies
• Human resources (staffing, salary setting, benefits)

The committee members may have a professional background in these areas or may be known for their community and neighborhood engagement, current or recent service at UCG (e.g. endowment, finance, compensation, PPP committee) or expressed an interest in UCG’s “big-picture money” challenges and dreams.

The committee members were nominated by Council Exec and confirmed by Council to serve for a one year term. Members are still being contacted to confirm their ability to serve on the committee so the final roster will be published as soon as it is finalized. Council Exec is authorized to replace members due to a resignation. The committee chairperson will be a non-staff person who is elected from among its members by a majority of the voting committee members.

The deliverables for the committee will include periodic updates and reports of the work of the committee to Council Exec, Church Council or other Boards or Committees as requested. Any recommendations made by the committee will adhere to the UCG By-laws. Those not in alignment with the UCG By-laws would require a By-law change. All recommendations based on the committee’s analysis require a majority vote of approval by the committee, consultation with any affected Boards and Committees and Council Exec and final approval by Church Council.

Publix Parking Lease

We are close to finishing negotiations and signing a lease with Publix for the use of 35 parking spots in our east parking lot. Tentatively beginning this month, the associates at their University Village store will have access to the parking spots Monday through Saturday (except football game days) and Sunday after 1:00pm. Publix will pay UCG $3850 per month for the use, which if annualized, equals $46,200. Their associates will have identifying placards in their vehicles and Publix will pay for signage to designate the spots to be used. The initial lease will be for six months with the option to renew if we choose. There will also be a hold harmless clause as well as a termination clause with a 60 day notice.