From the Executive Operations Director – 9/27

REALM – UCE Membership Database

Tom Carlton has volunteered many hours dedicated to transferring data and working with Melanie Kitchner to get us closer to our REALM launch. Tom has been working with our Staff Accountant Vickie Doebele to refine reports from Quickbooks to REALM so that our financial reporting and transfers to REALM are in good shape before launch. Adam Gough and Jessica Meis have been working with Melanie to learn reporting of membership information. Next week all administrative staff will begin watching training videos to familiarize ourselves well enough to assist members as we move toward launch. This database will allow members to enter their own personal data, make changes, make pledges and payments and communicate with other groups within UCE, among other features. It has taken much longer than we hoped, but each day efforts continue to make this system work for UCE and provide valuable tracking information. Thank you for your patience. Thank you Tom Carlton and Melanie Kitchner for continuing to devote your time and energy to pulling all of the puzzle pieces together.

Website Insights and Improvements

Staff has been working with the Ministerial Search Committee and others to take a close look at the website to determine where refinements can be made to improve navigation and to make the site more robust. Adam Gough, Congregational Life Assistant and Jessica Meis, Communications Coordinator have begun to make changes based on a spreadsheet Jeanne Kerl assembled and we have been adding to over a period of months. Jessica has reached out to a group of leaders in the church who will serve on a task force to review the Membership Section of the website, providing observations and feedback on how drop downs and features can best reflect the information for congregants and guests who use the site.

Parking Lot

Capital Campaign “Projects Team Leaders” Ann Peterson and Greg Grabowski have been working over the past many months on research and planning of the parking lot & sewers project. We have met with the City Manager of Kenilworth who has had extensive experience with permeable surfaces. Currently Greg and Ann are working with several civil engineers to get RFQs to determine who they will hire to provide in-depth analysis on best methods for upgrading our parking lot. Once the civil engineers do their analysis of the lot and provide best recommendations, whether it is non-permeable or permeable, a town hall meeting will be held. Congregation members will have an opportunity to see the outcome of the studies. The parking lot and sewer work is planned for mid-July through August 2020.

The parking lot, as you know, has been deteriorating rapidly over the past two years. Dick Whitaker, Mike Skilton and I did research two years ago on the sewers and repaving.  Funding was not available to do the extensive work required, so this project was proposed to the capital campaign committee as a priority for funding. It is now a priority project.

Over the past several years repairs have been done on the sewers and five years ago we added gravel and repaved. Patching of the indentations was not a feasible option. It would have been a waste of a few thousand dollars that we felt could not be justified if an overall plan was to be part of the capital campaign.

I had a qualified professional plumbing company come out to review the sewers and do some camera work while they were doing the annual rodding of the sewers. It was their opinion that there is no immediate safety threat to driving over these settling areas and thought the timing of the work next summer would be an acceptable time frame.

Last winter we attempted to block off the icy patches by using brightly colored cones to prevent people from parking where they would slip if ice was on the lot. That did not work well as people parked over the cones. This year we will block off a portion at the south end so that those using the lot cannot park in spaces where there is risk of falling due to frozen water in indented sections.

Kitchen Upgrade – Another important Capital Campaign project is the kitchen upgrade. So many issues exist in our current kitchen. While Endowment has provided funding for new stoves and refrigerators, much needs to be done to upgrade storage, sinks, dishwashers, and other key elements to make this a better functioning and safe environment for UCE and others who use it. Carol Nielsen is the project lead on this work. She and I have been carefully planning together to ensure that the work can be done in a time frame that has minimum impact on rentals at UCE. Since the parking lot will be done between mid-July through August next year we are requesting that the scheduling of the kitchen work be done soon so that the demolition and construction can take place during January and early February to avoid impact on rentals. More information will follow as this project unfolds.

All Capital Campaign projects are being closely planned and monitored by the new Capital Campaign Implementation Committee headed by Janelle Brittain. John LaPlante, Vickie Doebele, Carol Nielsen, CJ Presto, and I serve on this newly appointed Committee to help the CC Leadership Team and Board navigate through the complex funding, scheduling and implementation of so many terrific projects.

Sanctuary Lighting – Once a year, light bulbs in the sanctuary are changed. Very soon I will be renting a scissor lift and we will again do the arduous task of replacing the bulbs 25 feet above the floor. We use LED dimmable bulbs in the track system. The project completion date will be scheduled prior to the Serendipity Auction in November.

Lobby Ceiling – Following a waiting period post roof installation to ensure the roof repairs are holding I proceeded with the planned ceiling repair. As you know, there were large areas where water seeped (or flowed in at times) causing damage. The remaining work to be done is replacement of tiles in the lobby. This is a Buildings and Grounds budgeted item.

As part of the Capital Campaign, the remaining upgrades will be done to the lobby. The volunteer project leader is Buildings and Grounds member Johna VanDyke who is working collaboratively with Ann, Greg, and I to accomplish a freshening of our lobby space. This will include new floor tiles for the lobby, wing hallway, bathrooms, office and Room 3.

 

Please call me or email me at srobinson@ucevanston.org with questions you may have or if you just want to talk about Buildings and Grounds projects you are curious about.

Sandra Robinson, Executive Operations Director