Summary of May 2022 Board Minutes
BZBI Board of Trustees Minutes for Blog
May 12, 2022 meeting, 7:00 pm
Community Engagement Committee report from Eileen Dwell:
- Reading Buddies. We currently have three reading buddy pairs, but are actively working to get more.
- Calling Community Members in Need. Our committee continues to make calls, on a rotating basis, to BZBI families who experience a death, illness, or birth. Contact the clergy or Lynne Balaban, if you know families who could benefit from these calls.
- Kiddish Committee. Shoshana Bannett continues to coordinate volunteers, though she could use a few more volunteers to help. Grab and Go sponsorship, which costs $100, has been very successful.
- BZBI Mahjong. Sara Shaiman continues to lead this initiative, which has been enjoyed by all and hopes to grow. Money collected each week is donated to the Kitchen Fund.
- Knitting. The Knitting club meets the last Monday of each month via zoom, and is still knitting hats and scarves for Project Home, which welcomes these items year-round. Low attendance suggests we may take a summer hiatus.
- Stocking Up. While the kitchen is being renovated, we get our food for families in need from a kosher caterer.
- Yesod Dinners. Though done for this calendar year, a Yesod event is planned monthly in the upcoming year’s calendar with a kickoff in On October 14 in the Sukkah to welcome new BZBI Members.
- Red Cross. A Red Cross Disaster Preparedness class for BZBI members is being considered after HH, when hopefully it can be conducted in person.
Building Committee Report from Akil Bowler: We have contracted Kershaw Co. to replace the boiler. We should have the boiler in September with a six-week window for delivery, so it should be installed before the end of the fall holiday season.
For the downstairs bathrooms we hired 332 Concepts as interior designer and the renovations will include, new lighting, wall tile refinishing, all new fixtures, new floor tile and new bathroom partitions. The work is planned for breaks in ECE schedules during the summer. The funding will come from a grant, which will also include new LED lighting throughout the Shul.
We have secured all the necessary contractors for Mr. Gregory’s Kitchen. We filed for an expedited Building Permit andshould have boots on ground by late June, or early July at the latest.
Israel Engagement report from Shel Bernick: Shel pointed out that his committee should be informed about all programs regarding Israel that are brought to the synagogue. He would love to have other Israel-engaged congregants to join him on the committee and was assured that the committee is included with some funding in next year’s budget.
Executive Director’s report from Lynne Balaban: She is working on next year’s calendar as well as the budget, and is making progress in both. If you want something scheduled on the calendar let her know. This is soon time for membership renewal, with basic membership information required. We will also be asking for activities and interests (for each adult member), which should help us fill committees. We hired Julia Pollack as a communications person to replace David Haas. She has a degree in public relations and will start June 6.
Finance committee report from Daniel Cohen: Our financial statements are reasonably stable, with some decrease in value, due to market volatility, but that will recover. We need to raise ~$30K to reach a balanced budget this year, which should be within our grasp.
Next year’s budget: Our expenses are up at least 10%, so we either need to increase our revenue stream or find some way to reduce our expenses. AG will need a 10% increase for our next budget (~$24K). Membership ideally should also increase by 10%, which are reasonable goals, especially with our new community engagement hire in place, but it will take lots of one on one engagement. Security has ballooned. Next year non-member ECE parents will be asked to contribute to the security expenses, as their children are the major beneficiary of that expense. We will also contact our security company to see if there is any way we can reduce our expenses, that would be acceptable to us, security-wise. We expect we will end up with some deficit spending, ~3-6%, which is deemed reasonable, especially with a healthy endowment.
Clergy Report from Rabbi Abe and Rabbi Abi. We secured the permit for Fitler Square gatherings and services. Rabbi Abi is a part of CC Kehila at University of the Arts. For Shavuot dinner will be at10pm! There are also services at BZBI led by Rabbi Stone.
Daily minyan: we are now 2 weeks into trying our hybrid services. We now have hybrid minyan services Sunday morning, Monday afternoon, Thursday morning and Friday evening. The clergy are working on contracts with our HH readers, and have started the process of getting permits for RH2.
What can kiddish look like with no kitchen? We want to up the game from grab and gab, or popsicles. We are working out how we can have more substantial food without a kitchen.
Governance Committee report by Jessica Simon: We are contacting many people for the new board, and encourage all congregants who are interested in getting more involved to contact Jessica(pollock.jessica@gmail.com), or Gregg Kanter (greggkanter@yahoo.com), the other co-Chair.
President’s report: The annual meeting this year is Wednesday, June 22.
