ST. JOSEPH PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES

                                                      APRIL 15, 2007               

Attending: John Benca, Charles Dolan, Maxine Guerrera, Pete Konnenkamp, Marty Ledenham, Monica Kucher Mueller, Todd Story, John Timmons, Terry Trotochaud, Hank Wright and Father David McGuinness.

Excused Absences: Rosemary Risse and Evelyn Tejada.

Peter opened the meeting with a prayer. The March meeting minutes were approved and the members proceeded to count the ballots for the annual Parish Council elections. The four nominees with the highest vote totals will be our new parish council members:

Frank Milward, Jose (Berti) Lopez, David Gomez and Edward Fechtel Jr.

Other nominees receiving votes, in the order of the number of votes, are:

Mary Mellein, Don Wendel, Richard Dunne, Tom Holmes and Jim Dejiacomo.

Pete will extend an invitation to the four new members to come to our May meeting.

Regarding the new property, Pete announced that we do have tax-exempt status. He said that the house on the property is assessed at $13,000. The question as to whether it would be more prudent to salvage it or demolish it has yet to be decided.

Father said that tomorrow the Vicar General from the archdiocese is to come to discuss with him our need to purchase the final 10 acres.

John Timmons motioned that the Parish Council go on record to recommend that we purchase the remaining 10 acres. The motion was seconded and voted on and was passed.

Father said the he is working on Standard Operating Procedures for St. Joseph’s. One concern is unaccountable keys to the church and school. Monica recommended the use of magnetic cards and will bring information to Father.

Max is eager to present the Welcoming packet to the parish council in order to get their input but is first waiting for Fathers’ approval. He will get the packet to her this week.

There was further discussion regarding the purpose and goals of the Parish Council beyond being an advisory board for the pastor with specific liaisons representing various parish committees. There was concern that with the yearly exit of council members there would be a loss of continuity with ongoing projects. It was determined that each council member would bring to next month’s meeting a list of accomplishments that have been made in the past year but more importantly a list of continuing future needs on which the council should focus. A prioritized list of committee liaisons was also requested. A Parish Council retreat during which specific goals and projects of the parish council would be identified and designated was suggested. The ultimate goal echoed was the unity of the Athens Catholic community.

Father closed the meeting with a prayer. Next month’s meeting will be May 6^th at 7:30.