Vestry Minutes

Monday February 9, 2026

Present: Rich Gabrielson (2); Deb Marrer (2) Brian Erle (1); and Maui Palmiter (1)

The meeting opened at 1:05 with Vestry reading a portion from Midday Prayer.

The minutes from the January meeting were approved.

Finance Report:

The January Finance report was submitted by Cathy Smales. There were two questions on line items. One was regarding the yearly tax software expense of $1,165 (which was put in ‘Miscellaneous’ rather than’ Software Expense’)

There was also a question about why the January Rectory expenses were so high. (which were submitted but not yet reimbursed by Good Shepherd) Gas and electric expenses were quite high for both church and rectory due to the very cold weather.

Property Report

Rectory Furnace:

Deb let us know that Arctic Bear notified us about doing their yearly maintenance, and Deb will get in contact with them about when they could come and do that. The furnace has been working fairly well, and Arctic Bear has not had to come this month. (Although they are still monitoring it from off-site)

The town fire code inspection will be taking place next Thursday.

New Window Estimates:

Deb and Brian have reached out to different window companies to get quotes for the 7 windows in the music room, and the one window by the undercroft. We have narrowed it down to either Window Town or Howard's. Both companies seem reputable and gave us similar quotes. We discussed that Howard's was $700 more, but offered exterior (maintenance free) aluminum window casing in brown. Deb will contact Window Town to see if they can match that offer.

Gutter Ice Issues:

There are still ongoing problems with the ramp door and gutters freezing over, and creating hazardous conditions at the top of the ramp. We are not sure what to do, other than possibly checking the insulation above that area from inside the church. We are keeping the ramp very well salted. Brian is planning on ordering more ice melt soon because we are almost out.

Rectory Issues:

We are still having issues with the upkeep of the rectory grounds. The boys still need to sign the mutual agreement we had written up.  The unused couch on the front porch still needs to be moved into the rectory basement, attic or garage. (We had asked this to be done by 1/31) The area by the garbage cans/recycle had yet to be shoveled - making it impossible to get to the garbage cans which had iced to the ground. Deb finally had to shovel it herself. Brian and Deb were going to check the condition of the garage, which had previously been left with empty salt bags and salt all over the floor.

Old Business:

Meeting with the boys:

Rich emailed the boys last week to set up a meeting to discuss the Cranmer rectory agreement and expectations moving forward. The meeting was scheduled for 2/10. Timothy was unable to be present (quite last minute) so it will need to be rescheduled. Rich is waiting for their response and hopes to do this soon. If he is unable to be present, Brian and Deb will fill in.

Vestry Retreat?

We still have not made a final decision on whether to have a Vestry retreat. Rich is going on vacation soon so it would have to be put off until when he returns.

Annual Parish Meeting and Luncheon on 2/15:

Ministry reports have been turned in so that they will be put together in the annual report. Reverend Bob should be back in time for the meeting which will be held right after Sunday service. Debra Gabrielson offered to provide lunch after the annual meeting, but would appreciate some help serving and cleaning up.

New Business:

Ministry Safe:

All Vestry members, along with Craig, Debra and Sarah will need to complete the Ministry Safe online program and receive their bi-annual certification certificate. Anyone who works with children at St Andrews is required to do this training which can be done on the Ministry Safe website. Maui offered to look through the file cabinets to organize the files. (Only one physical copy certificate was located) We know there must be online copies somewhere, but these certificates expire at the end of February 2026.

Meeting adjourned at 2:05 p.m.

Draft minutes submitted by Maui Palmiter, Vestry Clerk