COUNCIL

COMMITTEE REPORTS for the April Meeting of Council

 

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

We are looking forward to working with the Accountant, Rebecca Briley, to finalize the 2020 fiscal year, which will be presented at the next Annual Congregational Meeting.

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Despite the “hit” to the economy in March 2020 due to COVID-19, with the Board’s prudent investment strategy and the economic recovery of the markets, the overall Trust Funds have recovered reasonably well. To help with the projected shortfalls in revenues to FSA from givings, the Trustees have recently approved a further adjustment to the balance between Fixed versus Equity portions of the funds. We expect this will further enhance returns on investments up from the current 10-year rolling average of approximately 4% to between 6 and 7 % per year on average. This information has been provided to the Finance Committee, which is developing a forward looking financial forecast for Council.

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The final installment of $25,000 was made to Camp Kee-Mo-Kee, and FSA received a letter of gratitude and thanks from Jill Hodgins, the Executive Director of the camp. A copy of this letter was sent to Council members with the other reports.

Discussions have been initiated between the Board and the Mission & Outreach Committee regarding a potential new contribution this year from investment income from the Trust Funds to support two community projects: the Wright Clinic, which will provide dental care for low income families, and Indwell, which provides housing for low income individuals.

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Due to the current lock down restrictions, we have modified our plans for Legacy Sunday, May 2nd, which will be a virtual service this year. During the service, the names of the individuals will be acknowledged for their legacies that were donated to the Trust in 2020. However, the recognition service for the families of donors has been postponed to September 26th, 2021.

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Also, due to COVID-19 we have modified our plans for acknowledging the inaugural members of the Proudfoot Society during Proudfoot month, the month of May.

Sequential recognitions of inaugural members are planned during the virtual services over the four Sundays of May; the 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th. We are delighted that Doug Proudfoot, the Great, Great Grandson (there could be another “Great” in there) of the Reverend William Proudfoot has agreed to participate in the kick-off of this month’s recognition of members.

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PROPERTY

• Balcony Chair Lift: Savaria has submitted a quote to install a chair lift on the east balcony stairs.$22 000.

• An exterior condensate drain pipe has been forcefully removed from the basement wall at the Atrium alcove. This was approximately 8' of iron pipe. Damage recorded on security camera. Will shorten and replace.

• MOWL has been given an east parking lot door key. Some previous electrical interruptions limited their access to the building via electronic lock on Atrium door.

• The property owner on Dufferin Street has made some repairs to their south fence which was falling toward our parking lot.

• Ants appeared in the MOWL Fireside Class A. Citron Pest Control resolved the issue.

 

Work in progress:

• Exterior Benches: 3 locations excavated and framed for pouring concrete by Mesa Construction.

• Sanctuary Stained Glass: Window removed for repairs by Sunrise Stained Glass.

• West Drywell Overflow: Ashworth approved. Work has not started yet.

• East Fence Replacement: Waiting for Simpsons Fence quote. Consider other contractors.

• West Roof Gutter Heat Cables: Waiting for London Electric to schedule.

• Tree Trimming: Davey Tree approved. Work has not started yet.

• MOWL Office Ceiling Tiles: Mesa Construction approved. Waiting for scheduling.

 

 

Status Update – Heating system and Energy Audit:

 

Discussions with 3 possible sources for Grant opportunities.  Mary Ann Hodge has alerted the Property Committee of these opportunities.  Follow up calls with each by George Jolink. 

 

United Church of Canada – Stephen Collette – Greening sacred Spaces.

• up to $20 000 available for energy retrofit projects designed to decrease consumption

• up to $10 000 additional available for projects which reduce carbon foot print

Requires an Energy Audit in order to be considered.  Focus is mostly on reducing energy loss/consumption in the building. 

 

Enbridge Incentives for savings of gas volume paid at $0.20/m3, including building control upgrades

Bonus incentives:  Limited Time Incentive for

·         High efficiency boilers (85-90% efficiency):  $0.30/m3

·         Condensing systems: $0.40/m3

To qualify, equipment must be ordered by June 30, 2021 and installed by Oct 31

Energy Audit required 

IESO – Save on Energy Program - the Electricity regulator announced in January new incentives.

     ·         HVAC retrofits for rooftop units and ventilation fans

     ·         Up to $2,000 for lighting replacements (lights must be on for a                                minimum of 40hrs per week. 

     ·         Focus on optimizing building control systems (making them “smart”) by installing variable speed drives and reducing run times, smart thermostats etc

Requires an Energy Audit

 

Next steps:  Looking for a company to do a full energy audit at FSA

 

Mary Ann has also been exploring Geothermal technology.

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WORSHIP

Worship met to begin tentative planning for services going forward.

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Given the ever-changing restrictions of COVID-19, no date for return to in-person worship is yet possible—that date to be determined by a return to the Orange Zone.

Taped services will continue however without fail. 

The present AV team (Jim, Kathryn, Merran) will be augmented by 5 other trained volunteers to ensure that provision is made for holidays and other contingencies going forward.

Pulpit supply is being arranged with Rev. Ann Corbet, Rev. Karen Low, and Rev. Diane MacPherson to allow David some Sundays off. This will be decided month by month—presently Ann being booked for May 16th and 23 and June 6th and 20th.

The Youth will be included on Pentecost Sunday—being taped if we are not yet back to in-house worship.

A move to Proudfoot Hall will occur the last Sunday in June as per our summer practice.

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MEMBERSHIP & NURTURE

• Our Zoom Coffee and Conversation on Thursday mornings from 10-11 continues to welcome between 8 and 13 participants each week and has been described as excellent.  Many thanks to Jan Hendry for coordinating.

• Jo Ann Silcox and Heather Locking-Cusolito are meeting on Monday, April 19, 2021 to review pastoral care needs within the congregation.

• Archives, under the very capable leadership of Don Jones, and the committed membership of Pat Carter, David McKane, Regina Moorcroft,  Jim Silcox and Heather Vouvalidis continues to locate, record and preserve essential documents for the church.

• In June, 2020, a proposal for an award for acknowledging Time and Talent Award was brought forward to Council by Doug Jones. The responsibility was delegated to Membership and Nurture.  I was not able to attend that meeting but later reviewed the proposal with members of my committee, several of whom had the same concerns expressed at the Council table.  One person, for example, stated “I work for the church not because I expect recognition but because I love the church”. With that sentiment in mind, I assembled a small group consisting of Russ Gonder, the original proposer of the award, Deanne Pederson and Jo Ann Silcox from Membership and Nurture, and myself.  We developed a very brief survey to explore the reaction of the Congregation to this proposal. The question of distributing the survey has been on the back burner in hopes of returning to the Sanctuary but that no longer seems possible in the near future so we have decided to proceed with an electronic version of the survey.  Our thanks to Steve Elson for turning it into a Survey Monkey format. We would like discussion with Council about the timing of distribution of the survey, especially in light of May being Proudfoot Legacy month.  There is some suggestion that the two programmes might be confused with one another.

 

MUSIC

Terry Head Memorial Bench:

In discussion with the Property committee, it has been decided that the Terry Head Memorial bench will be the one facing the Organ sculpture on the east side of the church.  This involves just a change of the plaque.  The current plaque will be moved to the new bench on the south-east corner of the church, on the north side of the path and facing Queens Avenue. 

 

Eberhard Vocal Scholars:

Natalie Nelson and Camila Montefusco, the current Eberhard vocal scholars, will be graduating and departing from London at the end of April.  Natalie’s graduation recital is available online at https://youtu.be/SLglKV_TfCo   Camila’s recital is on Monday, April 26 and will be available sometime after that. 

 

Our two new Eberhard vocal scholars, Emma Battel – soprano and Ellita Gagner – mezzo soprano, will be singing, hopefully, with the Chamber Choir in May. 

 

Service Planning:

Please see the report from the Worship committee re planning for services going forward, which will be impacted by changes to the guidelines from the Public Health Unit.

 

Zimbelstern:

The zimbelstern, or “Toy” stop on the Casavant organ, was a gift from Camilla Wilson made during the time Paul Merritt was the Music Director.  The record of this gift has now been entered by Russ Gonder in the Memorials Book.