The May meeting of the Vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Elizabeth City Parish, was called to order by the Reverend Donna-Mae Siderius at 6:40 pm. Present were Bob Harper, Senior Warden, Bettyrene Pope, Junior Warden, Kay Olson, registrar, Jay Hogg, Dave Foster, Ruth Simmons, Kevin Van Sloten, Parkie Rice, Bill Rhode, John Chiasson, and Sukey Stephens and The Reverend Bob Gay. Also present Connie Heath, Treasurer, and Bill Boyer, Financial Secretary, William “Chippy” Martin, Jim Shoemaker, Allen Altschuler CPA, members of the Mary Williams Trust, and Eleanor Brown, attorney at law. Refreshments and the devotion were provided by Kay Olson.
Donna-Mae welcomed the guests to the Vestry meeting. Members of the Mary Williams Trust Board of Directors were present to answer questions the vestry had concerning the distribution of the funds of the Trust.
Before turning the meeting to the Mary Williams Trust, Jay Hogg made a motion to give seat and voice to all guests present. The motion was seconded and passed Action Taken: Jay Hogg made a motion to give seat and voice to all guests present. The motion was seconded and passed
Mr. Martin began the discussion and Vestry members were given United States Government documents pertaining to Private Foundation funds and a printed report of the yearly accounting of the Trust. Mr. Martin began with a history of how the trust was founded. Mr. Edward Williams passed away in 1980 and Mary Williams, his widow, established the Edward L. Williams and Mary B. Williams Trust “exclusively for the perpetual care and upkeep of the church sanctuary, parish house, cemetery walls, other outbuildings and other appurtenant buildings and structures which from time to time constitute improvements to the real property owned by Saint John’s Episcopal Church ……….. ” Estimated distribution of funds for the year 2010 is valued at $216,681.00 of which 68,610.84 has been spent to date. Mr. Shoemaker gave a report of the procedure for approval of expenditures by the Mary Williams Trust (a printed copy was handed out to each vestry member. The Trust managers made it clear that the board members would like to spend all the monies allowed in a one year period but restricted funds must be in line with the Internal Revenue Service requirements. Eleanor Brown will look into the trust guideline to find’ if there is a five (5) year time frame for expenditure of annual funds through charitable trusts. The question was asked if a restricted escrow account, that follows Mary Williams wishes, could be set up to have any left over yearly funds deposited into the account for future needs. The members of the Trust agreed that a separate account could be done. The church will be going into major renovations within the next year and the funds from the MWT would be used to help cover the expense of the renovation so that the church did not have to take out a bank loan that would place the burden of heavy interest payments on the church budget.
Kevin VanSloten told the Mary Williams Trust Board members that the vestry is very thankful for all the funding that has supported .work on behalf of St. John’s church.
Bob Harper made a motion for Eleanor Brown to look into setting up a separate “Brick & Mortar” fund to receive the yearly balance of funds not spent in a fiscal year from the·. Mary Williams Trust and to find out if there is a five (5) year clause for the nonexempt Charitable Trust treated as a Private Foundation through the federal government. The motion was seconded and passed. Action Taken: Bob Harper made a motion for Eleanor Brown to look into setting up a separate “Brick & Mortar” fund to receive the yearly balance of funds not spent in a fiscal year from the Mary Williams Trust and to find out if there is a five (5) year clause for the nonexempt Charitable Trust treated as a Private Foundation through the federal government. The motion was seconded and passed.
Rectors Report: The Reverend Siderius asked for a motion to go into executive session.
Bob Harper made the motion for vestry to go into executive session. The motion was seconded and passed. Action Taken: Bob Harper made the motion for vestry to go into executive session. The motion was seconded and passed.
Senior Warden’s Report: Bob Harper read a card from the Right Reverend Holly Hollerith thanking St. John’s for the pledge to the Southern Dioceses of Virginia. Another trip will be planned for the Senior Group of St. John’s.
Junior Warden’s Report: Bettyrene Pope reported Work on the Ladies bathroom is continuing. “No Light bulbs changed this month”.
Deacon’s Report: Bob and his wife Esther were “pleased that we were so welcoming to them and his ministry.”
2010 Report: Over 350 persons have reserved seats for the church service on July 11, 2010, and over 250 have made reservations for the dinner on July 10, 2010. Bishop “Cabbie” Tennis will be attending. Jay Hogg reported the Trolley will ready for us to use on July 10 And 11. The trolley does have a step into the vehicle. The cost of renting the trolley is $700.00 for Saturday night and $550.00 for Sunday.
Renovation Committee: A questionnaire was included in the May Epistle seeking a response from members of the congregation. A brick mason is coming to fix the brickwork in the round windows of the church building.
Dave Foster asked that the Emergency Disaster Plan be reviewed and kept in place for the upcoming hurricane season.
Minutes of the April meeting were approved as corrected.
The Treasurers report was approved as printed.
Tacky Lights: The mission tackey light was given to Donna-Mae by Ruth Simmons. The Dr. Chuck light was not given away this month.
Bob Gay closed the meeting with prayer.
Submitted by Kay Olson, Registrar