Property & Grounds Annual Report Fiscal Year 2019-2020:
Priscilla Morris—Accepted
Priscilla acknowledged the work of three clerks this year: Ben Tilghman; Bob Day and Priscilla Morris as subsequent co-clerks. Property and Grounds' budget generally comprises half of the Third Haven's annual budget. This includes the caretakers salary, general operating costs such as utilities, internet and cleaning. Also included in the budget are costs of minor repairs to the property and equipment. Property and Grounds ended the fiscal year 2019-2020 about $1400 over budget. This was due to the unexpected cost to deep clean both the Common Room and the Brick Meeting House. This added a $2800 to our budget that we had not anticipated. The advent of the Covid lockdown sharply curtailed the committee's activities.
Despite the pandemic, the committee was able to carry forward on a number of items. The Peace Pole is awaiting the final carvings and should be available for mounting this coming spring. Thanks to Bill Lane's efforts the caretaker's cottage was painted and repaired. We have a bid of $900 to repair the front steps to the cottage. The committee will review the bid and determine whether to accept it or possibly attempt the repairs ourselves. Work has begun on the new front doors to the Brick Meeting House. The new doors, which will resemble the old doors in style and appearance, will resolve the issues created by the brick entrance steps. Bids were received for the replacement of the pillar at the entrance to the drive. After much thought and discussion by the committee and the Trustees, we were unable to arrive at a decision to replace the pillar. We concluded to table this issue for this year.
Finally we have had to address the unexpected expense to clean up the damage from the windstorm this summer. While the total cost for the clean up is not yet known, we anticipate the total could be as high as ten thousand dollars. The committee is preparing to work with Worship and Ministry on opening the Old Meeting House for worship. We ask that members of the Meeting join us on the 17th of this month to clean the OMH and prepare it for services. The committee has begun to examine ways to do a better job of keeping track of needed repairs and maintain an accurate log of repairs completed. We ask that members share their concerns with the committee and also that members do not take on repairs without checking with the clerk of P&G.