Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Raleigh

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Call to Order: Father Paul called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm, and led us in prayer.

Members Present: with Father Paul; Meg Economy, John Fakiris, Nik Kamilaris, Greg Delage, George Kapetanakis, Connie Kledaras, Frank Nixon, Frances Mathes, Joanna Biliouris, Harry Nicholos, Risa Poniros, Katerina Knezevic and Sophia Myers.

Members Absent: Toula Capetanos and George Pappas.

Father Paul opened the floor for nominations for officers. Nik Kamilaris nominated George Kapetanakis for President, seconded by Risa Poniros. George accepted the nomination. Meg Economy made a motion to close the nominations. George will serve as our new PC President, and he moved to take over chairing the meeting.

New President George Kapetanakis asked for nominations for our remaining officers. Risa nominated Dr. Connie Kledaras for Vice President, and he expressed his willingness to serve. The nomination was seconded by Greg Delage. Katerina Knezevic nominated Nik Kamilaris for Vice President, he expressed his willingness to serve, and the nomination was seconded by Harry Nicholos. Risa made motion to close nominations, seconded by Harry. The vote was made by secret ballot, with Connie Kledaras determined as receiving the majority of the votes. He will serve as Vice President.

A nomination was made by Connie for Harry Nicholos to serve as Secretary, he stated his willingness to serve, and the nomination was seconded by Katerina. Meg made a motion to close the nominations. Connie made the motion to accept Harry by acclamation, all present agreed.

Repeated nominations were made for Treasurer, with all those nominated declining. George offered to make a preliminary financial report with assistance in preparation by Don McEnteer and Rhonda Milcovich, and also shared that Don has offered to help the new PC treasurer to learn and come up to speed. Katerina made the motion that we ask Harry Nicholos to serve as Treasurer, and that Joanna Biliouris be nominated for Secretary. Joanna expressed her willingness to serve. The motion was seconded by Frances. George called for a vote on the amended motion, and all agreed. Harry Nicholos will serve as Treasurer and Joanna Biliouris will serve as Secretary.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the December 11, 2013 were reviewed with three changes noted: Spelling of Joanna Biliouris’ name was corrected, spelling of Katerina Knezevic’s name was corrected and the spelling of Harry Nicholos’ name was corrected. A motion to accept the minutes of the December 11, 2013 Parish Council Meeting with the above corrections noted was made by Connie and seconded by Nik. All approved, motion carried.

George Kapetanakis provided an overview of the treasurer’s report. The figures are not finalized for year end 2013 and the final year end treasurer’s report will be presented at the next meeting. It was noted that the church is in a favorable financial position and within budget for 2013. It was noted that there was $829,312.02 in miscellaneous which represented the Tooze estate. Sophia Myers suggested that we may want to create an account for inheritance funds. It was also suggested that the treasurer’s report be sent out in advance of future meeting so council members may review prior to the monthly meetings. Harry advised he will send the treasurer’s report in advance of future meetings whenever possible due to timing of the meetings.

There was discussion regarding the meeting schedule for future PC meetings. It was suggested that we may want to meet later in the month to allow for the Treasurer’s Report to be prepared and sent out prior to the meeting. Due to the General Assembly Meeting schedule for February 16th, the next PC meeting will be the second Wednesday in February on February 12th. Future meetings dates will be adjusted to accommodate Lenten Services and the need for more time to prepare the Treasurer’s report.

Parish Business:

a)  George Kapetanakis updated the PC on the status of the electrical inspection. The inspection was completed with several hazardous items noted in the report. Requests for proposals to make necessary repairs are being sent out immediately and are anticipated to be returned soon. Due to the seriousness of the electrical issues, Harry Nicholos made a motion to authorize the Executive Committee to review all proposals for repairs and select the most reasonable proposal. Frank Nixon seconded the motion. All approved, motion carried.

b)  Risa Poniros updated the PC on the status of the search for an organist. An advertisement for the position has been created to be posted in select areas. The salary information was left blank to allow for flexibility based on experience of the candidates. Risa, Meg and Elia will create a job description and begin the initial search for qualified candidates. Risa will update the PC in the next meeting on progress of the search and present the final job description.

c)  Nik Kamilaris updated the PC on plans for a Parish Council Workshop to orient members on financial matters involving the church’s bank accounts, protocols for services, overview of insurance coverage, etc. He is targeting a half day session on a Saturday in January/ February along with presentations on various topics in upcoming PC meetings. Nik will send proposed dates to PC members.

d)  Father Paul advised that the Department of Transportation has provided options for the new building. These options will be presented by the Capital Campaign Committee at the next General Assembly Meeting on February 16, 2014. PC members advised they would like to review the options and prepare a recommendation for the General Assembly Meeting. This will be handled in the next PC meeting scheduled for February 12, 2014.

e)  Nik Kamilaris advised he updated the Sunday Collection form to include information on the number of checks copies, number of checks deposited and the name of the person preparing the form. It was requested that checks be categorized by type of contribution prior to copying.

f)  Father Paul volunteered to be the contact for Tyco Alarm Company for security events. It was noted that all current parish council members should be listed with Tyco for alarm events. George Kapetanakis requested Connie Kledaras coordinate this with Kelly.

Father Paul gave an update on upcoming events. Our first Lenten lecture will be March 5th. Robert Krantz has offered to sponsor a premiere for his new movie in the 4th quarter with 50% of the proceeds would benefit the church. All were in favor of this event.

Father Paul requested a volunteer to lead the effort to coordinate the Talent Show and Dinner on February 23rd. John Fakiris advised he will ask AHEPA to support this effort.

Old Business:

a)  Frances updated the council on efforts to coordinate CPR training for all PC members. Frances and Risa are working on this and will provide an update in the next PC meeting. It was noted that there is a need for a stretcher and wheelchair for medical emergencies. Frances will explore options for this.

b)  Sophia provided an update on behalf of Toula regarding the upcoming Dance on February 1st. All parish council members are requested to attend and assist with set up, clean up and monitoring the front table.

c)  Nik provided an update on upgrading the sound system. He has received proposals but will need to coordinate this upgrade with the electrical repairs scheduled to be completed in response to the electrical report.

d)  Risa suggested team building events for the PC to get to know each other. All were in favor of her suggesting future events.

New Business:

a)  George Kapetanakis advised that Jim Klemes and Kevin Stavredes have requested to have a shredding event and donation collection for St. John’s Ministry in February. This would be a fundraising event for the GOYANs. All agreed to allow this event with the understanding that funds collected would go the church and not directly to GOYA.

b)  George Kapetanakis requested that a PC member be assigned as a liaison to each church ministry to support their efforts and report to the PC periodically. Nik Kamilaris volunteered to coordinate this effort.

c)  George Kapetanakis requested that Connie Kledaras handle scheduling ambassadors and send reminders to ambassadors when they are to serve.

d)  George Kapetanakis advised that the sidewalk from the church to the side parking lot, the steps to the side parking lot and areas near the front parking are in need of repair and are unsafe. Chris Pappas obtained two quotes for the repairs and would like to proceed to engage a contractor to complete the repairs. Meg Economy made a motion to allow George to coordinate the repairs. Nik seconded the motion. All approved, motion carried.

e)  George Kapetanakis advised that our draft of new Bylaws were not approved by His Eminence. George requested volunteers to amend the Bylaws based on His Eminence’s feedback. Meg and Frances agreed to work with George to amend the Bylaws.

f)  George Kapetanakis advised that the septic tank for the French Drive property needed to pumped. This will cost $300.

g)  George Kapetanakis noted that there is discoloration of the walls in the sanctuary. He would like to obtain quotes to clean the discoloration. The PC agreed to obtain quotes for cleaning.

h)  Harry Nicholos recommended developing a budget/plan for spending on upgrades to ensure we have them prioritized and budgeted.

i)  John Fakiris requested that copier codes be created for each ministry so we can track copier usage. The PC agreed and John will coordinate this effort with Kelly.

Motion to adjourn the meeting was made at 9:20 pm by Meg.

Father Paul led us in closing prayer.

Next Parish Council Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 12, 2014.

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