Last Sunday, Dec 3, 2017, the Building Expansion Team (BET) held an informational town hall meeting. The purpose was to discuss the Financial Feasibility Study recently completed by Kay Crider, our UUA consultant, and to prepare for the Congregational Meeting on January 7, 2018. On January 7, we will be voting on whether or not to proceed with a capital campaign in the spring.

Rev. Kevin Lawson opened the meeting with a chalice lighting. Roz Clark acted as moderator, explaining the meeting itinerary and rules for discussion. Dennis Spurlin summarized the work completed so far by the BET, and a timeline of the efforts made in the past to expand our space (since 2006!). Carl Taylor gave a summary of the Feasibility Study. Copies of the timeline and the Feasibility Study were passed out to the members present, and the report is also available on the Beacon website at http://www.beaconuu.com/our-congregation/building-expansion/

In general, the BET was pleased with the results of the Feasibility Study. The study shows we should be able to raise $380,000 to $420,000, and a stretch campaign goal would be $450,000. These numbers were based on interviews with 30% of the pledging units from 2017-2018.

There were many very good, valid questions and concerns raised at the town hall, about the methodology of the interview process and formulas used by Kay Crider; concern about spending this much money and why we are doing this; what kind of changes could we make at this point to the design in order to reduce costs; bridging loan, mortgage, and how do we pay the contractor if we are starting construction in the summer; and the fear factor of whether we can afford this.

A detailed minutes of the meeting will be posted on the website soon, and a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) will also be posted. These will be under the same website at http://www.beaconuu.com/our-congregation/building-expansion/

If you have any questions about the building expansion, Financial Feasibility Study, or capital campaign, please contact a member of the BET. Also, be on the lookout for BET members wearing a special name tag that says “Ask me about building expansion.” They wlecome all comments and questions!

Thank you to all who were able to attend the townhall, and be sure to mark your calendars for the Congregational Meeting on Jan 7!