Annual Report of the Buildings and Grounds committee
April 2009 - April 2010
Tom Short, Richard Angel, Jane Huhn, David Huhn – co-convener, Paul Motz-Storey (consultant). We have also been joined by Veronica Emig. Currently we lack a second co-convener which makes things more difficult, but not impossible. The committee as a whole has been wonderful about supplying expertise, help and guidance.
The role of the Building and Grounds Committee is to maintain the Meetinghouse and its grounds to provide a safe and pleasant environment for Meeting worship and activities. The Committee works to address identified needs and problems. There is a sheet on the bulletin board in the kitchen where people can post tasks that need B&G attention.
Most of the work of the committee is is done on the monthly workday, usually the first Saturday of each month. We work from 9 AM to noon, with a potluck for fellowship at noon. E-mail reminders are sent out each month to identify work to be done so people can come prepared with tools and materials. We invite people who are not formally on the committee to come join us to see what we are about and to contribute to our efforts. Paul Motz-Storey serves as a technical consultant to the committee.
In the last year, the Meeting has created an ad hoc committee to investigate short term and long term needs for possible changes in meeting space, with William Alsup as convener; the needs to be addressed include accessibility and potential growth. The ad hoc committee met with B&G in December; also John Lodenkamper serves on both committees. The ad hoc committee has referred two tasks to B&G for more immediate implementation: installing an extra railing on the staircase and looking into a sound system to improve the acoustics in the meeting room. The railing was installed in November. We have received one proposal for a sound system so far and are continuing our investigation. No decision will be made until after the ad hoc committee finishes gathering more guidance from the meeting which they plan to do soon.
The Building and Grounds Committee has had a busy and productive year. Major accomplishments include: Painting the basement landing, stairs and bathroom, new flooring in the basement bathroom, installing new carpet in the basement and upstairs, painting the big room upstairs, massive trimming of trees and bushes, adding the railing on the stairs and pouring new squares of concrete in the front sidewalk. Some minor accomplishments include replacing the vacuum, fixing the kitchen stove, clearing out and putting shelves in the pantry, putting a remnant carpet in the cloakroom off the library, striping the stairs for safety, raking leaves and replacing some burnt-out light fixtures in the meeting room.
Works-in-progress include painting the ground floor bathroom, the ongoing investigation of a possible sound system, looking into possibly switching to more environmentally friendly lawn care and installing a tube skylight to improve lighting in the large room upstairs. We hope to complete these tasks in the coming months. Our plans for the next year include painting the middle room upstairs and replacing some additional old and weary fluorescent light fixtures. We will, of course, continue with necessary maintenance and repairs.
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