ST. JOSEPH’S PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 10, 2006
Attending: John Benca, Pete Konenkamp, Marty Ledenham, Monica Kucher Mueller, Rosemary Risse, Todd Story, John Timmons, Terry Trotochaud, Evelyn Tejada, Hank Wright and Father McGuiness.
Excused absences: Max Guerrera and Charles Dolan.
Pete opened the meeting with a prayer.
Minutes from the August meeting were reviewed and approved.
Planning/Steering: John Timmons reported the Steering Committee meeting with Clarke County planning was cancelled. The Oconee County Planning Commission meeting is September 18th.
John reported as liaison to the steering committee that the steering committee had never had a vote to approve or disapprove of the options for growth/relocation. He added that the Capital Campaign and the Architectural Committee appeared to be the driving force for the plans. Pete posed that the goals of the Steering Committee have been met and that the function should now be changed to reflect the progress of the planning process. He proposed that a Building Committee be formed including several of the members of the Steering Committee as well as new members who have building expertise that meet Father’s approval. It was agreed that whatever plans are proposed should be approved finally by the members of the parish council. In the discussion of the function of the Parish Council, Father complimented the efforts of Max and the Welcoming Committee in their role of proactive parish development. Pete thanked Rosemary for writing an informative letter regarding the need for parishioners to contact their Oconee Commissioners. Monica suggested that Father approve a letter to go out to the St. Joseph school parents in the Wednesday envelopes to encourage participation at the Oconee County Planning meeting.
Architect: John Benca clarified the process of approval for the Clarke County land purchase. He said that in order to receive the Special Land Use Permit from the Athens-Clarke County Commission we must first have the approval of the Oconee County Commission for the building of a bridge that will bring traffic from our proposed property to the eastern edge of Oconee County (adjacent to Kohl’s). If this bridge is not approved, we will need a new traffic study. He also added that the Capital Campaign has received all the information needed to continue with the campaign schedule. The money that is raised by the campaign will directly determine the amount that the Archdiocese will loan. He said that Architectural Committee Chair Charles Porter has begun the design for the multipurpose building. The first stage of the campaign is focused on land procurement and clearing, underground utilities, building of the bridge and the gym.
Capital Campaign: Marty reported that the campaign is on schedule as planned. Pete added that Darren Moore, Guidance in Giving Campaign manager, invited all Parish Council members to attend as many of the receptions as possible.
Communications: Pete reviewed the FAQ’s that will serve to answer questions of fellow parishioners. These will assist the volunteers during the home visits to those who did not attend the planned receptions.
Maintenance: Father announced that Don Ragogna’s son has agreed to help in the rotation of some of the responsibilities of maintenance. There are alternating groups that are taking care of the grounds with the current coordination of Jim Brawley and Tom Rocks. Todd will continue to be our liaison.
Finance: Father reported that the committee is very active with good leadership including Tim Janke, a retired banker and three CPA’s. Pete suggested that we invite Tim to a Parish Council meeting to inform us of their activity.
Liturgy: Rosemary said that there will be announcements from the pulpit regarding the Elijah Cup. In discussion of liturgy, John Benca expressed concern about today’s announcement at mass of having no Life Teen meeting due to not having a leader. Father said that he has held several interviews for the position of Youth Religious Leader but all were unsatisfactory. John also expressed concern for the delegation of responsibilities of our deceased deacon, Bill Lakin. Irma Benca will be coordination visitation and Eucharistic Ministry to the Nursing Homes. There is a need for coordination of the ministry to the homebound.
Latinos: Evelyn said that they are planning a retreat in November. A charismatic priest with a healing ministry is scheduled to come from the 8th to the 22nd but the specifics are not yet planned. She said that they are interested in having new books and also discussing the need for a second Spanish mass… possibly 1:30 pm on Sunday. There are masses being celebrated every other Wednesday at the two trailer parks… Pinewoods North and South. She said that they have not been aware of the custom of the Elijah cup and agree that translations for mass announcements would be helpful. She said that there was no announcement for the Welcome reception in Spanish. She acknowledged that school parents could be a vital bridge of communication between the English and Spanish communities. Father reiterated that all tentative plans for the Latinos should be presented to him for approval.
School: Monica said that SACHS accreditation would take place Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Monica will be our liaison to the Advisory Board. Max will continue as the Welcome Committee liaison.
Welcoming: The Welcoming Reception was well attended with approximately 35 present. The tentative plan is to continue with quarterly receptions for newcomers. Representatives from the Knights of Columbus, Women’s Council, CRHP and Religious Education also attended. Hank said that he has reviewed the Who’s Who list and that it needs to be updated. Pete volunteered to update the website stating that Don Norris set up the website but it has not remained current.
Oconee Planning: Father said that there is work being done towards a solution for the bridge.
Life Chain: Rosemary said that the Life Chain will take place October 1st from 2-3pm. She announced that October is Respect Sanctity of Life Month.
Picnic: Marty said that Mary Beth Casso has been given all the plans/ job descriptions from last year’s picnic to assist with planning this years picnic that will be on October 15th at Sandy Creek Park. There will be a mass at the picnic to take the place of the noon mass at St. Joseph’s.
Hank announced that Monsignor Donovan is planning a Haunted House with the profits to go to the St. Joseph’s Building Fund.
Father solicited help for surveillance of the parking lot during UGA football games. Last week Jim Brawley policed the lot. The lot will not be available for parking fund raising due to the number of cars that will be parked belonging to the CRHP group. The women’s CRHP is full for this weekend. Father said that the parking lot during the 10am Sunday mass is regularly overfilled and requested suggestions such as having the RE teachers park off site. Father felt that we needed to write a thank you note to First Baptist Church for their help in accommodating our parking needs for Deacon Bill’s funeral.
Father closed the meeting with a prayer.
Pete announced next month’s meeting to be October 8th at 7:30.
Submitted by Marty Ledenham