Irene Stewart, Donya VanBuren, Bill Funke, Peter Young, Beth Peterson, Suzette Reiss, Laurie Ullman, Mark Sisson, Sherry Smith, Xavier Amador

Meeting called to order at 7:04pm.

Opening words from Frank Forrest Church were read by Irene.

Minutes were tabled until our guest, Charles Thomas, architect, had a chance to speak.

Mr. Thomas is an architect from Riverhead. He attended the Building Team meeting to answer questions, address concerns and provide general information about the building process. Points raised, in no order, follow:

-Mr. Thomas has mostly worked with residential projects, though he has done several commercial buildings.

-He has designed a church in Coram, NY.  (He went on to state that there was not a fellowship hall included in that project.)

-He worked on the Jedidiah Hawkins House in Jamesport.

-He stated he has a good working relationship with the Southold Town regulatory bodies.

-His job is to “…take a cohesive idea from his client and interpret it according to appropriate codes.”

-Mr. Thomas reminded the Team of the regulatory bodies involved in a building project: New York State Department of Transportation, Suffolk County Health Department, Southold Town Planning Department and the Southold Town Zoning Board of Appeals.

-Mr. Thomas recommended the BT obtain, in writing, that rebuilding on the original church footprint as “pre-existing, non-conforming,” will preclude variances. He suggested talking to the Town Attorney or the Building Department Supervisor. Peter volunteered to do so.

-Mr. Thomas stated that there are certain occupancy thresholds in public spaces that trigger coding, but, without committing to an answer, suggested that a church, and our project, may be below some of those thresholds.

-He has not worked with engineered construction, but commented that engineered construction saves time, but not always money.

-He noted that in certain cases, codes state that egress must be directly outside, and in others, egress can lead to a foyer containing an outside exit. These are found in the NYS Building Codes.

-He noted that with the Americans With Disabilities Act mandates paving only for certain areas of parking lots and access to buildings. . (He stated it might be possible to avoid paving the entire parking lot.) These codes are found in the NYS Building Codes.

-He suggested investigating whether an elevator would be required or not. However, he also suggested including an elevator shaft in the floor plan, regardless of requirements. He further noted that commercial buildings have minimum sizes for ADA compliant elevators.

-Mr. Thomas noted that the NYS DOT will have to approve our site plan and expressed hope that the pre-existing curb cut  for access to the parking lot will forestall any complicaitons.

-He generously offered to be of any assistance to the Team, regardless of whether we hire his firm or not.

The Building Team thanked Mr. Thomas for his time and enthusiasm.

The minutes from the meeting of June 9 were read and accepted.

Irene presented a brief update about how insurance money is being spent from the Board of Trustees.  Xavier stated that the deadline for completion of our project could be moved

Suzette and Peter presented an update of the builders/contractors they have been in touch with. The Team decided to invite Bill Kelly from Morton Buildings to speak at our next meeting. Stacey Bishop from NeCM submitted a complete proposal. Other tradespeople contacted were still working on proposals. Mark stated that architect Frank Notaro had been contacted and would be willing to meet with the BT. It was decided to invite him at a later date, if necessary.

The Team addressed some issues contained in the Challenges Re: Interior Design.

-A motion was made by Peter, seconded by Bill, to not include a balcony in the sanctuary. Discussion followed; a balcony would interfere with large windows, would increase expense, could reduce usefulness of space, could be an interesting architectural detail. Motion carried.

    –It was noted that plans submitted by Peter, or other members of the Team, are not final, but simply ideas or concepts, and that once we have decided on a builder, we can include or reject other ideas during discussions with them.

Irene asked that the Team make sure we have done “our homework,” i.e., our interpretation of the First Universalist Church of Southold’s mission, and bring copies, electronic or printed.

Donya asked the Team to reread the Charge to the Building Team (Ed. Note: each member of the Team received a copy of this charge. A scan will be loaded onto the website) and be sure to follow as closely as possible that charge.

Donya volunteered to compile the “Key Points” presentation to be included in the Free Spirit and the Order of Service at the end of each month. This will consist of the high points of our meetings with builders, engineers and architects, as well as from our discussions/decisions.

A brief discussion of who is the liaison between the Board of Trustees and the Building Team was held. Peter was appointed our liaison, and will act as the conduit between the Board and the BT and vice versa.

A motion to adjourn was made by Bill and seconded by Laurie. Motion carried. We said “Thank You” and our meeting adjourned at 9:10.