The regular monthly meeting of the Vestry of R. E. Lee Memorial Church was held Monday, March 15, 2009, at 5:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall of the church.

Present: The Rev. Tom Crittenden (chair), George Brooke(Senior Warden), Judy Glick (Junior Warden), Molly Brown, Jay Crawford, Susan Cross, Punky Dod, Mary Doyle, Timothy Gaylard, Elizabeth Harralson, Sarah Lanford, Julia Littlefield, John Milford, Dick Rathmell, Woody Sadler, Don Whittington, and Gail Dick, clerk.

Lesson and Eucharist: Dick Rathmell and Susan Cross read the gospel according to John 2:13-22. Time was given for reflection and discussion. Tom asked for any prayer requests and celebrated the Eucharist.

Old Business: Because the Property Committee chair, John Milford, had to depart the meeting early for a business trip, the published agenda was altered so that John could address the property items first:

• Status of Parish House South Wall Displacement: John reported that John Burleson has been regularly measuring the gap between the front entrance steps and the south wall of the Parish House. A graph of these measurements was presented to the Vestry and discussed. The graph showed that the gap increased slowly from 10/32” last September (when measurements began) to 7/16” in December, but has since steadily shrunk to 3/32” (March). From the data it appears that the expansion and contraction of the gap may be related to seasonal conditions. However, Tom said that more information was needed before any conclusions could be drawn. The good news is that the situation does not seem to be getting worse at present.
• Aulbach Inspection Report: Mr. John Aulbach has completed his property inspection of the church building and Parish House and has submitted a draft report to the Property Committee. A copy of the report has also been placed in the parish office. It is extremely detailed. John Milford presented a general overview of the conclusions and the Property Committee’s recommendations for necessary follow-up actions. He grouped them into four major categories:
  1. Electrical – These include ungrounded outlets, faulty breaker boxes, and questionable wiring and fuses, all of which pose a potential fire hazard. Correcting most of these problems will require the services of a licensed electrician. The wiring will necessarily need to be evaluated before any further action can be taken with respect to replacing the globes in the nave. The Property Committee was therefore tasked with obtaining at least two estimates from electrical contractors prior to the April Vestry meeting. The estimates will need to address correcting all of the electrical problems identified in the Aulbach Report and the capability of the church’s electrical system to safely handle additional lumens in the nave chandeliers. Further action on the globes was deferred pending the evaluation of these estimates.
  2. Safety – Chief among these were masonry issues, such as the poor state of the sidewalk in front of the Parish house and the deteriorating condition of the Church building front steps and patio. Several handrails are loose as well. The most immediate problem from a liability standpoint appears to be the Parish House sidewalk, which needs to be replaced and re-paved to a higher level commensurate with the Parish House steps. Apparently the original sidewalk was not laid to allow for sufficient drainage and this has contributed to its deterioration. John Friedrichs has just submitted an estimate of approximately $10,000 to accomplish this project, but the Property Committee has not had an opportunity to evaluate it yet. Several Vestry members expressed their opinion that this seemed like an inordinately high figure. Consequently, the Vestry tasked the Property Committee to seek other estimates for the sidewalk replacement project in addition to analyzing the Friedrichs’submission. This should be completed in time for the April Vestry meeting.
  3. Drainage and roofing – These problems primarily related to the leakage problems with the rubberized portion of the Parish House roof and in the church proper caused by eroded mortar between the stones. Both of these were discussed later as separate items in the meeting.
  4. Routine maintenance – These include such items as caulking and painting, most notably in the undercroft of the church.

·        Cadre Team: Merce Brooke has agreed to head up the Cadre Team. This group, which still has to be fully constituted, will eventually consist of up to seven volunteer parishioners who are knowledgeable and qualified in a variety of routine maintenance skills. The team will accomplish those actions which are beyond the sexton’s capability but do not require the services of a professional plumber, electrician, etc. Jerry Nay, who developed the concept, will be asked to formally organize the team. In addition to Merce, three parishioners have expressed interest in becoming members: Barton Dick, Bob Glick, and Bill Luton. Merce plans to put an article in the “Cross & Crown” explaining the concept and asking for additional volunteers. George asked John Milford to let him know when the Cadre Team is up and running. The objective is to be able to announce this at the 20 April Vestry meeting.

·        Parish House Roof: Last week three area roofing companies sent representatives to inspect the rubberized portion of the leaky Parish House roof and to provide replacement/repair estimates. The first to visit (Wednesday, 11 March) was Marvin Anderson from Miller Roofing of Roanoke. George met with Mr Anderson and found him to be thorough. He asked questions, took measurements, spent about an hour inspecting the situation, and made good suggestions. He stated that the roof needed to be replaced. Miller has just finished replacing St. Patrick’s Church roof. The Miller estimate had been received by the time of the Vestry meeting and was $8570. The following morning Jim Seaman of Seaman & Sons from Natural Bridge looked at the roof. George and Judy discussed the situation with Me Seaman, but found him not to be as thorough as the Miller representative. He arrived late, asked few questions, offered no suggestions and stayed for only about 20 minutes. No Seaman estimate has yet been received. On Thursday afternoon George, Judy, and Tom met with Bill Reid from Largent Roofing in Harrisonburg. Mr Reid did a very thorough inspection, took extensive measurements, and asked many questions. He said that although there were some obvious drainage problems, with proper repair the current roof still has some life left. He also noted (the only representative to do so) that the lines from the new air conditioner condensers on the roof (installed last summer) into the building had been poorly sealed and needed to be redone with a “gooseneck” in order to prevent future leakage. (This probably can be done under the warranty.) Largent was highly recommended by VMI (they did the Third Barracks roof) and is currently working on the roof of Central United Methodist Church in Staunton. No Largent estimate had been received by the time of the Vestry meeting. Both Miller and Largent noted that the rubberized cover and drain on top of the elevator shaft had been improperly installed and needed to be replaced; they also noted that the leakage around the elevator shaft appears to have been cause by eroded sealant around the flashing which covers the bridge shaft connection and that they could fix that. The next step is for the Property Committee to evaluate all three roofing company estimates and to provide a recommendation to the Vestry at its 20 April meeting.

John Milford having concluded his report on Property, the order of business reverted back to the order of business in the published agenda.

Approval of February Minutes: Accepted as published.

Diocesan Council Report: This report was previously e-mailed to all Vestry members. Tom asked whether there were any comments and noted that copies had also been made available in the narthex to the congregation. Don Ellis was in charge of compiling this report and was commended for his efforts.

Summary of Outreach Funding: R.E. Lee Church grants outreach funding to designated organizations through three channels: the annual operating budget, the Gadsden Fund through the Gadsden Committee, and the Episcopal Church Women from the annual bazaar. A handout was disseminated to Vestry members which summarized this funding by source and recipient from 2005-2008. Tom noted that special offerings collected as a result of individual monthly appeals made by organizations at the 10:30 service were not reflected in the summary. This is because a systematic regular process for making such appeals was only instituted late last year. In the future Tom would like to see them included as a separate fourth channel in outreach summaries. Tom again mentioned that R. E. Lee Church gives a lot to outreach, and noted that it was more than most churches of its size. He also stated that what he would eventually hope achieve would be a situation in which all member giving to outreach would be reflected through the church. George advised the Vestry that based on a recommendation from the Outreach Committee, as Senior Warden he had signed and sent letters to each group receiving operating budget outreach funds this year telling them the amount they were to get.

Committee Reports:

• Pastoral Care Committee:  Judy, who chairs the committee, explained its purpose and method of operation. The committee tries to remain in touch with church members who have limited contact with the outside world due to lack of mobility or mental capacity. There are currently 14 people whom the committee is following. Several are at the Borden Center at Kendal while most of the others live at home. The main purpose of committee visits is to check on these members and to show that the parish cares about them. Seasonal treats are also delivered. Judy noted that for the committee to achieve its mission it was imperative that parishioners inform committee members of anyone they knew to have this type of need.
• Welcoming Committee: George reported that the Welcoming Committee (Judy Noell, chair) was in the process of finalizing the details of the spring newcomers’ orientation and reception. The plan is to conduct a newcomers’ orientation series between the services (beginning at 9:15) on each of the following Sundays: April 19 and 26 and May 10 and 17.  At each session there will be a presentation by either the rector or a key parish leader; in addition, a committee member will be responsible for refreshments for one session and will remain for the discussion at that session in order to answer any questions that attendees might have. The newcomers’ reception will be held on May 17^th after the 10:30 service in the Parish Hall. The Welcoming Committee had also recommended to the Vestry that photographs of “new members” (not all newcomers) be placed in the “Cross & Crown”. After some discussion the Vestry decided that individual photos would be too much, but that a single group picture, annotated with names at the bottom and placed in the monthly publication, was reasonable and would achieve the same purpose.
• Green Committee: Elizabeth noted that April 25^th is Earth Day, and that the next day is Rogation Sunday, at which Tom will be preaching on the Stewardship of God’s Creation. A “mug intake” will be celebrated that Sunday in which parishioners will be encouraged to donate their unused “orphan” mugs to the church. These mugs will subsequently be used to replace the usual paper cups for hot beverages, thereby contributing to the parish’s stated objective of “going green.” Rockbridge Recycling will also be holding an Earth Day Festival on 25 April. Elizabeth encouraged all to attend.
• Finance Committee: Bob Glidden, chair of the Finance Committee, had e-mailed the full budget report to Vestry members prior to the meeting.  Woody briefly reviewed the report and solicited questions. There were none. The abbreviated financial report was then passed out. This version of the monthly budget report will be made available to the congregation via attachment to the minutes but will not be uploaded to the website with those minutes. Copies will also be made available in the parish office. Woody noted that the report shows that we are currently about $10,000 ahead of our budget; however, this is misleading because a lot of parishioners choose to pay their entire annual pledge in one payment at the beginning of the year. He also reminded Vestry members that the report addresses only the operating budget and therefore does not include Gadsden or ECW monies. The Finance Committee will not meet next month.
• Property Committee: George provided an update on two additional pending Property Committee actions. The first was a status report on the energy audit of the church being conducted by a group of VMI cadets as part of their senior project. John Burleson is monitoring their work and has been very impressed by what he has seen. Their final report is due to their professor by the end of March. This will be followed by a power point presentation outlining their findings, which will be offered to the congregation as a whole on Wednesday, 22 April at 7:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall. George also reported on the status of the repointing of the church building. John Friedrichs has agreed to repoint the west side of the church this summer beginning in July. Repointing of the front and back of the church will have to be deferred because of the added costs incurred due to the specialized scaffolding that the repointing of these sides will require. The heights and peculiar angles involved preclude the use of a “cherry-picker” and mandate scaffolding that is OSHA-approved for safety. The only company in the region which has this type of scaffolding available (they also did the Third Barracks at VMI) is the Sunbelt Company in Roanoke. Sunbelt’s quote to John Friedrichs for the front and back scaffolding requirements (combined) is $40,000. To this will have to be added the $8000-$10,000 each for the repointing of these two sides.

Additional Old Business

• Selection of New Diocesan Council Delegates: The diocese has suggested that four delegates and four alternates be appointed to council rather than three of each as the parish has sent in the past. A report of who has been selected to represent R.E. Lee Church at this year’s meetings of the Augusta Convocation and at next January’s Diocesan Council is due to Diocese not later than 31 March. After some discussion and deliberation the following slate of delegates and alternates was presented:

                  Delegates: George Brooke, Don Ellis, Sharon Massie, and Don Whittington

                  Alternates: Punky Dod, Judy Glick, Elizabeth Harralson, and Julia Littlefield

      Mary Doyle moved to accept this slate. Tim Gaylard seconded.

• Replacement of Chancel Lights: Tom reported that the chancel and center nave lights have been replaced and that two more fixtures have been added in the balcony.
• Installation of New Phone System: Several years ago the Vestry approved the installation of a new, more capable telephone system in the church facility. Two weeks ago this action was completed. There is now voice mail available for anyone who calls after hours. When a call is received, and no one is in the church office, the caller will have the option of leaving a voice mail for the person he/she is trying to reach. A notice stating this will be put in the “Cross & Crown”.
• Sign Update: Woody showed the Vestry a plywood mock-up of the proposed new church sign. The flawed lettering clearly illustrated the problems with the computer software which Andy Wolfe has been using to engrave the sign. Andy hopes to get that problem worked out by the end of the week. George said that Lee Sauder can make the staff to mount the sign for $850.

·         Columbarium Update: Dick had sent out a copy of the “Summarized Columbarium Policy of R.E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church” to Vestry members in advance of the meeting. Discussion of the document identified several unanswered questions. First, neither the issue of whether a person could reserve a specific niche nor whether a family could request to have their niches grouped together was addressed. On reserving a niche, Dick stated that the Columbarium Committee had felt that there was no need to include this; on family grouping, the committee had not considered the possibility and would have to look at it. In addition, the need for a formal written contract in return for payment to reserve a niche, whether or not the payment was refundable, the exact nature of the payment (donation or purchase price?) itself, and the means for establishing a controlled record of payments were not clearly spelled out. Dick was tasked with resolving these unanswered questions with the Columbarium Committee and reporting back to the Vestry at its 20 April meeting. Julia noted that people who were interested in cremation could join the Cremation Society of Virginia for a fee of $35. Members get reduced rates on cremation within the state.

·         Undercroft Project: Elizabeth reported on the activities of the ad hoc Undercroft Committee, which met twice in early March. The committee has identified a number of specific steps that need to be taken in order to make the space safe and usable for the short-term without a large capital investment. This short-term plan envisions hiring a professional to remove the iron rails in the floor and probably a locksmith to install locks on the doors to all utility areas. The remaining tasks could be done by parish volunteers over the summer. The total cost to have the undercroft ready and presentable for the fall using this approach is roughly estimated to be just under $5000. The committee rejected the two plans submitted to it for consideration by the Vestry as not worth the expense. A third plan, one proposed by VMDO in 2005 in preparation for the Capital Campaign was more favorably received, and has been sent to Tom Hart for an estimate and cost comparison with the other two plans. The VMDO plan envisions moving one of the furnace units and re-routing some of the ductwork, thereby affording more usable space. This could possibly be centerpiece of the Phase II capital campaign. Once Elizabeth has received the VMDO plan estimate from Tom Hart she will discuss it with the Undercroft committee and report to the Vestry.

·         Placing of “Episcopal Church Welcomes You” Signs: Elizabeth reported that she contacted the City of Lexington regarding the possible placement of ‘The Episcopal Church Welcomes You” signs at the city limits and was told that very stringent quality restrictions apply. Churches are not allowed to place individual signs at the entrance to the city. She also asked the county about placement and was told to check with VDOT. Despite these obstacles, during her inquiries Elizabeth found out that Helen Pierson, a member of one of the local garden clubs, is re-furbishing the large community service sign on North Lee Highway across the road from Tractor Supply. It may be possible to add the Episcopal sign to that larger sign. Elizabeth promised to report back to the Vestry when she has a more definitive answer.

New Business

• Purchase of New Pew Cushions: Judy has done extensive research to determine the need and various cost options for purchasing new pew cushions for the chancel and/or nave and/or hallway and/or balcony. Costs were compared from prices provided by two of the most reputable companies, C.M. Almy (more expensive) and Church Supply. Measurements were taken using directions received from Almy. Both companies have different fabric qualities available. Considering that only three cushions in the chancel are currently in need of replacement, the cost of three to match those currently on would be $346.92. Replacement cushions for the nave ranged in cost from $6,098.80 - $7,008.56 (Almy) to $4,843.66 (Church Supply) depending on the quality of the fabric used. The cost for new cushions on the bridge pews range from $534.75 -$673.32, and for the balcony range from $1,459.06 - $2,111.20. Julia suggested that the Memorial Gifts Fund might be available to purchase some of these cushions. She will check with the Memorial Gifts Committee and report back to the Vestry. Mary presented a dissenting position, stating that she would like to do away with the cushions altogether because they were unsanitary and largely unnecessary. This view was discussed but did not elicit much support from other Vestry members.
• Replacement of Church Front Patio and Front Steps:  George reported that this is an additional project (actually two separate projects that should be done together) which needs to be accomplished not only for esthetic but also for safety/liability reasons. Although most of the flagstones on the patio are still serviceable, the base on which they lie was poorly set for adequate drainage. As a result, the mortar around many of these stones is now chipping away. The result is not only unsightly but also creates a tripping hazard. John Friedrichs has been consulted and has said that the entire patio should come up and a new base built. Most of the flagstones could be re-used. An alternative would be to return to a grass patio. In any case the side steps from the patio down to the driveway would have to be replaced because they are eroding and collapsing. In conjunction, the front steps to the church are crumbling, once again because of poor drainage considerations at the time they were originally installed. This overall project can be deferred for the short term, and will necessarily have to be, pending the repointing (with scaffolding) of the church front, but it cannot be postponed indefinitely.
• Need for a Multi-Year Property Development Plan: George noted that the plethora of larger scale high cost property problems with which R.E. Lee Church is now confronted necessitates the development of a long-range plan to get them accomplished. Cost and the necessary sequencing of some of these projects also mandate that their completion be prioritized and phased over several years. With Vestry approval, the Property Committee was tasked with developing a rough multi-year property development plan which would allow for the completion of all of these pending projects, and presenting the plan at the 20 April Vestry meeting.

Comments by the Wardens:

            Junior Warden: Judy had no further comments.

Senior Warden: George mentioned 1) that the Boy Scouts have been painting the scout room. Elizabeth has the curtains which are ready to be hung in the scout room as soon as painting is complete. New locks have been installed on the door and it will remain locked when not in use. Gerry Locher has agreed to put a window in the door. 2) The diocese has begun to send its monthly checks, through which it helps to fund our Canterbury Club campus ministry. This year the parish is receiving $779/month (or $9350 for the year). This amounts to $650 less than we had hoped for. 3) The “brass brigade” needs to get the brass shined before the beginning of Holy Week. George will talk to Mo Littlefield, who took charge of the effort last Christmas. 4) George plans to get the bench in the courtyard taken down and repainted. The dedication plaque is missing. Because the original memorial book cannot be located, George will have to contact the Gilliam family to find out whether they want to have a new plaque mounted and if so, what the preferred wording should be.

Comments by the Rector: Tom had no further comments.

Judy closed the meeting with prayer.

The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.

The next meeting will be 5:00 p.m. Monday, 20 April 2009 in the Parish Hall.

Respectfully submitted

Gail Dick, Clerk