ASC Reopening Task Force – Notes from Meeting June 12, 2020

TO DO’s: posted at the top so they are visible

All: mark calendars for next meeting, 4:00 Friday 19th

George: Set up Google Group email for the task force.

Test out the new email to send Shayna’s email with “ASC MOC UP” attachment to whole list of Task Force members. Not everybody got it.

Use church email list to distribute Task Force mission statement to membership, in advance of Sunday’s Annual Meeting

Karen: be prepared to say a few words at Annual Meeting about the Task Force

Ed:       give Karen a slot on the already busy Annual Meeting Agenda

Attendees: Rev. Shayna Appel, Ed Burke, George Carvill, Peter Gibbons, Jamie Gibson, Leslie Kinney, Steve Squires, Karen Tyler

This was only our second meeting, and we are very much still in the process of getting organized. George had volunteered an Agenda for today, with points as follows

1 – Identify a convener or facilitator or plan for a rotation of facilitators

Karen and Steve have volunteered as co-conveners. Steve will take minutes.

2 – Consider what we want to say (or have read) at the annual meeting on Sunday. (Maybe we designate someone to draft something and circulate by e-mail or Google Docs)

George submitted a very good proposal, and Ed added a few lines assuring the reader that the Board is prepared to take input and take appropriate actions without necessarily waiting for the next scheduled Board meeting.  This document was quickly adopted.  George will use the church email list to distribute it to the membership prior to Sunday’s Annual Meeting, and Karen will get a few minutes at Annual Meeting to talk to the membership directly.

 3 – Consider communications options: Group e-mail list or Google Group or just trying to remember everyone and sometimes leaving someone out?

George will set up a google group email list. We expect to make fairly regular communications to the membership, the web site and weekly e-news being convenient venues.

We agreed to keep Task Force meetings open in the same sense that most church committees are open. Interested parties are free to join through the link on the Calendar section of the church website. But we will not be issuing general invitations, nor will there be agendas posted in advance. We will encourage people to communicate to the Task Force through the church office, offering a single email address where Beverly can then forward stuff to the entire Task Force.

 4 – Schedule next meeting(s)

4 PM Friday the 19^th (next week)

 5 – Develop a work plan

This part will be addressed more next week, but there were a few points mentioned

A lot of what we do will be about implementing recommendations from the State of Vermont, the UUA, and other authorities. All of which involve the nitty gritty of making it work for our building and all the people who use it.

Shayna suggests we give ourselves deadlines for decisions, and for regular updates. This will be a long process, requiring repeated re-evaluation and correction. Deadlines provide an incentive to actually make decisions on a timely basis, which can then be communicated to the membership. Even if that decision is to stay the course.