Peter Young (chair), Mark Sisson, Laurie Ullman, Irene Stewart, Sherry Smith, Kimberely Debus, Suzette Reiss, Donya VanBuren, Bill Funke- Aiyoung Choi attended by phone Absent: Dan Durett

 

Kimberly read the opening words, “The Gates of Hope,” a poem by Victoria Safford.

We did not read and/or accept the minutes from the meeting of February 24.

Stacy Bishop, representative of NE Custom Modular, Inc. was asked by Peter to attend our meeting and gave a presentation, including an elevation drawing of the Church and Meeting Hall. The presentation included the following:

• She had contacted “young people” (her daughter is involved with her business) about ideas for our church. The people she contacted were excited about having another meeting space in the community.
• New York State now requires two sets of stair for each room above grade.
• Her company would offer items and services “at cost” to the Church.
• Finishing a basement to be habitable space would be “troublesome,” especially if there was a bathroom and/or kitchen (added cost, restrictions and permitting.) This does not preclude adding rooms as needed after completion, however.
• Her company would deal with all permitting.
• Her company uses local subcontractors.
• She presented to the Team an outline timeline:
• Contact a surveyor to establish a site plan for drainage, septic fields, etc.
• Contact DOT for curb cuts and right-of-ways
• Take completed exterior elevations to Zoning Board of Appeals and Historic Preservation Commission.
• Begin work, after addressing issues raised by ZBA and HPC.

Her company would install the building “75% complete,” leaving details like flooring, wall color, lighting, etc. to be done onsite. She also answered questions about solar panels (state and federal grants are being reinstituted, construction could be engineered to bear the weight of panels, panels must be included on any plans submitted to the town), windows, and a steeple (local contractor would construct onsite, upon approval of plans by Building Team, congregation, town entities.)

The Team thanked Stacy for her effort, time and advice.

Peter distributed the Southold Town Landmarks Preservation Commission Handbook. The Team was encouraged to peruse it.

There followed a discussion of the architectural competition. Each member of the Team was able to voice their opinions (Aiyoung had to withdraw from the meeting for a previous commitment.) Comments included the following, in no order:

• Our project is considered too small to attract widespread interest.
• It was noted that too much time has passed since the fire and to have a competition would only add more.
• We are under great restrictions as part of the Historic District of Southold
• Our budget is small enough that adding even a nominal architect’s fee could be onerous.
• Using ideas gathered from the congregation will satisfy the conceptual facet of a competition, especially when considering the restrictions mentioned above.
• While lamenting the loss of increased publicity that may be generated with the competition, opening the submission of ideas to the Southold community (by holding “Town Hall Meetings open to the public) as a whole may offset that loss, especially if we contact local media on a regular basis.
• Traditional construction, under supervision of an architect is extremely expensive.

It was therefore decided that an architectural competition, while enticing, is not a good fit for our situation. We will “submit, with high recommendation” the Board use NE Custom Modular, Inc.

We had a discussion of pipe organs. The name of the company offered was Foley-Baker, Inc. (foleybaker.com), which has an office in Mount Sinai. We have the name and contact information of a rep, Douglas McKeever, who can visit. We decided we would address the issue of whether or not to have a pipe organ at our next meeting, and then, invite Mr. McKeever if needed. It was noted that Foley-Baker sells new, used and transports organs from disbanded churches.

Laurie was tasked with contacting Kenneth Woychuk Land Surveying PLLC to initiate the site plan. His office number is 631-298-1688, and his cell is 631-664-3155.

Irene updated the Team on the trailer; the land has been cleared, but our insurance company and the trailer company are exchanging correspondences prior to installation.

Mark will give the Team update at the Fellowship Dinner, March 11. He will also give the update at the service March 6.

Our next meeting will be March 16 at 7, again at Peter and Susi’s house. Peter will again chair.