Buildings and Grounds Committee
The Buildings and Grounds Committee of the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca is a standing committee, empowered by the President of the Board and reporting to the Board. According to the Bylaws it "shall be responsible for the care, preservation, and protection of all real property of the Society." As a committee it also recognizes the positive effects to the congregation of an attractive and well-cared for environment, and that working together to achieve that goal can build fellowship and help us to "unite as a caring community."
Meetings and Membership
The Buildings and Grounds Committee currently meets the first Sunday of each month at 12:15 in Room 122, or as needed. Members include:
Mary Kirkpatrick (chair), Jim Skaley (Treasurer and liaison to Finance Committee), John Gaines, John Barradas, Don Barber, Aaron O'Donnell, David Salomon, Linda Loomis, Dick Ecklund, Jessica Evans, Norman Culver, Marie McRae, Scott Grover, Harry Dutton (liaison to the Board), Christian Nielsen (liaison to the Green Sanctuary Committee), and ex officio members Sandy Soule (Sexton) and Mark Pedersen (Congregational Administrator.)
The Buildings and Grounds Committee invites members and friends of the church to participate in various maintenance projects, for example painting classrooms, installing energy-conservation measures, and relaying brickwork along our sidewalks. New members are also welcome in the Committee, and can choose if they want to be active and attend meetings, or to be on a list of "B&G Helpers" to be called on as needed. The only requirement is a desire to see our buildings be an attractive and safe environment and last well into the future. For more detail about how the committee works, click here for our "Guide To Operations".
The Buildings and Grounds Committee works in coordination with the Green Sanctuary Committee to reduce our energy costs. Recently we converted our exit signs and lighting in the Annex rented space to higher-efficiency fixtures, we installed storm windows to the clerestory windows, and will soon complete insulating the steeple floor (above the sanctuary ceiling.)
The Buildings and Grounds Committee works in coordination with the Finance Committee to plan projects involving major expenditures such as engineering studies of the steeple and some structural repair to the trusses. (For more detail about that click here for the '07-'08 annual report.) Currently we are coordinating with the Capital Campaign Committee and the Board of Trustees to prioritize future expenses such as reshingling the roof and steeple, and we are studying solar power as a possibility.
For the 2008-2009 annual report click here
Contact Mary Kirkpatrick (chair) with any ideas, requests, or offers of help: <mkirk7@earthlink.net>, 607-273-5256