Alan Gelb                                   Debra Kalmuss

Barbara Lax                               Brenda Gevertz

Avi Dresner

Steve Ostrow

Alice Swersey

Joel Merker

Jody Schoenfeld

Florence Mehl

Marilyn Cohen

Lydia Kukoff

 

Alice called the meeting to order at 11:35 AM. Janet was thanked for hosting the meeting, and Florence was welcomed back. Janet moved and Jody seconded that the March meeting minutes be adopted. This carried.

 

Alice requested that Board members use her cell phone number to reach her.

A thank you was extended from the Malden Bridge Community Center because we donated our old TV to that group.

 

A letter of congratulations was sent to Denise Barry of St. James who received the Jefferson Award for Public Service. We will be sending a $50. donation to the church in her honor.

 

Alice and Rachel Weismann submitted a grant to the Berkshire Taconic Foundation to help defray costs for the proposed handicapped access pathway.

 

The next Or weekend will be April 30-May 2. He will be joined by three rabbinic students. Friday at 6 we will have a Kabbalat Shabbat and a pot luck supper, on Saturday the Board will sponsor a Kiddush of bagels, cream cheese and lox after services, Saturday late afternoon will be a conversation with the students, hopefully at someone’s home. Sunday will be the workshop from last month that had to be cancelled. Marilyn will check on the availability of Anita for that Saturday afternoon. The rabbinic students will be hosted at Board members’ homes.

Brenda and Carl appreciate the support during Carl’s recent illness.

 

The Shavout Tikkun will be held on Wednesday, May 19. This will be confirmed at a later date.

 

Gloria is back from her travels and will be taking over the membership committee.

 

Alice will be asking support to hire the square dance group for our summer event.

 

Janet stated that she spoke with Marge Lewis regarding the library. This led to some discussion as to the function of our library. After a lengthy discussion it was decided that Lydia would see what we have once she returns from her trip. People like Carl and George who are interested in this venture will be asked for input, as will Marge. Suggestions for books will be sought, and perhaps there could be a summer book read, under the auspices of Adult Ed. Currently we are having a computer built to our specifications, which will be used in part for Adult Education.

 

Florence mentioned that some of the women from St. James would like to attend a service of ours. She wondered if it would be appropriate to invite them when Or is here. Alice will invite them.

 

Jody reviewed the bank balances and the deposits made. Everything is paid up to date. Jody provided names of those in 10 months arrears and the policy we will follow was reviewed—friendly reminders will go out in April and a more formal letter in May. There was some discussion on restrictive budgets. Steve moved that the $900 in the visiting scholar fund be used to pay Or. Avi seconded this and it carried. The money in the Torah fund can be used for the donation we make to procure a second Torah for the High Holidays.

 

1.    Pathway- We are in the process of procuring information regarding a handicapped access to the back of the property. This needs to go on the west side of the building for access to the tent for the high holidays. It will be constructed of white oak and it will have a handrail on the west side of the 5’ expanse, which will accommodate both wheel chairs and golf carts. This path can be added to in the future. The estimated cost is $10456, which will include the 150’ pathway and the handrail. Steve looked into using reconstituted materials. This would add about $2500 to the cost because this is produced in California, while the white oak is abundant here. The pathway cost is all inclusive, and is ADA compliant. Steve will ask for a written agreement indicating that this should last 20 years. The contractor can do this in May. Avi moved and Janet seconded that the $10456. be appropriated from our general funds for this project. This carried.

2.    New door- The door and frame in the main room is rotted. A wood door with a panic bar, and tempered glass will cost $1210, and one of fiberglass will cost $955. We have to check to see if we need a fire rated door—these prices do not reflect that. Barbara moved and Janet seconded that we do whatever it takes to replace the door with a fiberglass door. This was accepted.

3.    Driveway/parking lot- the committee looked into options to retrofit and clean up our existing parking area. Steve spoke only to George Grant, because he is the person who cares for the area. He came in with a cost of $4400, which seems reasonable and includes a great deal of stone, stone dust, and a fence on the west side similar to the one on the east side. There was some discussion as to Mr. Grant’s experience with putting in a driveway like this, and the committee was asked to go and inspect some that he has done in the past. The decision was made to postpone this decision. Lydia also will arrange to have Jerry O’Neill look at the project and come up with an estimate.

 

Steve also reported that the committee is also investigating the cost of putting in a back-up propane system with a generator in case of power outages in the winter. Ed Tobio is helping to gather this information and there should be a proposal for this at the next meeting.

 

There was a question as to whether it was officially OK to hold meetings on Saturday. We should try not to do this, but if necessary later in the afternoon would be preferable, and at a private home rather than the Synagogue would also be a good idea. Janet stated that we need a list of everything that has been planned. Jody will pull something together.

 

June 6 will be a plant sale starting at 10:00 AM at Shadowbrook Farm with a talk by a CL Fornaro at 10:30AM. This will raise some money. On July 31 we will hold our summer event at the Reiff/Rubin barn. It will start with pot luck dinners at members’ homes. The plan for a music program fell through be cause it was realized that we didn’t have the performers to pull it off, so the committee is working on a square/folk dance program with dessert (shortcake and champagne). There is a vendor (Paul Rosenberg along with two others) who are known for their square dance calling, but will supply any type of music we might want and who has a very good reputation. Although people wouldn’t be charged for this event, a contribution would be requested, which hopefully would cover our costs. Jody moved that we appropriate $800 to hire Mr. Rosenberg for this event. Steve seconded the motion and it carried. Barbara stated that she cannot continue to be chairperson of this committee. Florence was asked if she would take over the letter writing for the donations we receive. She agreed.

 

Avi reported that the next meeting will be held at his house on April 27. He’s speaking with Denise Barry to co-ordinate some programs with St. James. He will be meeting with the Hebrew school teachers in May to arrange for a visit into the school to discuss Tikkun Olam with the students. The goal is to have a monthly event. Mentoring was also brought up, which could be a wonderful program.

 

The committee was commended on the excellent newsletter that came out this past week. There was concern as to mailings of upcoming events being sent out to members of the community. We need a template to do this. There will be continued investigation of how to solve this.

 

Michael Madison is currently drafting an agreement.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 1:35PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Marilyn Cohen

 

 

 

 

 

To-Do List:

 

- Marilyn            Check with Anita as to whether she can clean on

May 1

 

- Alice        Invite the women from St. James to an Or service

 

- Lydia       Check out the library books and ask for input from Carl and George regarding the purchase of others.

 

-Jody         List of Synagogue events coming up

 

-Steve       Check about a warranty regarding the longevity of the white oak for the handicapped ramp