St. Augustines Church,
Parish Council Minutes
May 7, 2007
Present: Msgr. Kenny, Anne Avenius, Terry Donnellan, Sr. Clare Kelleher, Pat McNamara,
Sally Robling, Jay Romagnoli, Jerry Baum, Matthew Jacobs, Jack Callahan, Anne-Mieke
Smeets, Sally McGuire, Kevin Brosnan, Victoria Rizzo-Nikou, Mary Margret Johnson
1. Opening Reading (Sally McGuire)
- a reading from The First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 14
– discussed the gift of prophesy and its relevance today
2. Opening Prayer (Monsignor)
3. April Minutes approved
4. Pastor’s Report (Monsignor Kenny)
 First Communion
- took place last Sunday, May 6, 2007
- very well organized - children did a great job
- 2 groups for a total of 65 all well prepared
 Confirmation
- Saturday, May 12 - approximately 35 participants.
 Ordination/First Mass
- Louis Jansen Anderson to be Ordained Saturday
- First Mass Sunday at 12 noon reception to follow.
 Monsignor to retire
- Monsignor will retire after 21 years effective June 30, 2007 (WOW)
- would like to stay as a senior priest to help his replacement for as long as needed
- all agreed this would help with the transition
- no new curate named as yet
- Anne Avenius gave heart felt thanks and best wishes on behalf of the Parish
Council
- Monsignor gave his thanks to all the committees he has worked with over the
years and mentioned we seem to be one of the few parishes with a working parish
council.
 Work on the Buildings
- new projects soon to commence include a new roof on the school and new
boilers
- permission has been granted by village to use asphalt tiles instead of slate
- bids have been received to replace the boilers in the school
- permission from the Diocese required even though money to come from St.
Augustine’s own resources
- over the course of the next 5 – 20 years significant amount of work required to
maintain the integrity of both the physical church and the school building
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- given the substantial increase in the estimated costs for the current proposed roof
and masonry work at the school, Church and rectory (the original estimate for
roof work was approximately $300,000, the current estimates by the Church’s
architect range anywhere from 1.5 – 3 million dollars) the finance committee feels
a capital campaign is appropriate (see Buildings and Ground Report for detailed
information on work)
 Elementary School
- the Diocese Secretary of Education has proposed Sts. John and Paul School
become a separate school corporation
- a separate legal entity with the 4 Pastors and a Board of Directors managing the
school has been suggested
- the school would remain in the same location
- this is still in very early discussions
- some of the reasoning being: to revitalize Catholic Schools; to more fairly
distribute the cost of running the school (currently Sts. John and Paul Parish
heavily subsidizes the school); the idea that the school may be more desirable if
people think of it as their Parish school
-this idea has worked in other areas such as the Bronx and Bedford (?).
5. Religious Education Program (Sister Clare)
 First Communion/Confirmation
- no additional news (see Pastor’s Report)
 4TH Grade Pot Luck/5th Grade Mass
- 4th grade pot luck dinner was a success- there were 75 people in attendance
- 5th grade year end Mass went well
6. Spiritual Development & Education Committee (Sally McGuire)
 Programs
- discouragement was expressed over the disinterest in the various speakers
- A number felt we should not be worried about the number of people in
attendance at the various meetings and functions
– it is still interesting to those that do attend and slowly the word will get out
- over-all the program was good this year
- the most recent speaker was Suzanne Gallagher who spoke about Africa
- there were 10-12 people in attendance
7. Christian Social Action Committee (Anne Avenius)
 Habitat for Humanity
- working in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity to help fix 32 homes
damaged by the floods in Mamaroneck in March and April
- much work still needs to be done
- some families are just returning to their homes now
- some are still with friends or in the shelter
- volunteer carpenters desperately needed
- call Anne Avenius directly with names: 914-527-6762
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 Clothing Drive
- clothing drive for the Little Sisters of the Assumption in East Harlem, Sunday
May 20, 2007 and for the flood victims of Mamaroneck.
 Midnight Run
- was a success- no dates yet for our next run
8. Parish Activities (Matt Jacobs)
 Blood Drive
- June 3, 2007
 Parish Picnic
-June 10, 2007 - volunteers needed
9. Administration Committee
 Finance Council (Richard Summo)
 Cardinal’s Appeal (May monthly report on the Cardinal’s Appeal )
- St. Augustine’s exceeded its goal of $88,000
- today has pledged $106,825 to the Cardinal’s Appeal.
- to date, St Augustine’s parishioners have paid $95,975 with
contributions coming from 161 parishioners, resulting in an
average gift of $664.
 Finance Council ( April 29th Finance Committee meeting)
- Church finances are being reported consistently on the LOGOs
accounting system
- collections for the 7 months through March 31, 2007 have
decreased approximately 7.5% over same period last year,
including Christmas collection
- as a result of the Buildings and Grounds Committee considering
roof and masonry expenditures, plus new boiler expenses all of
which could aggregate in excess of $2million, the Finance Council
has recommended to the pastor that the parish conduct a capital
campaign in the near future to assist in the funding of these
expenditures
- Our pastor's good stewardship and planning plus the generosity
of our parishioners through the years have placed the parish in
a good financial position to plan for these capital expenditures
 Buildings and Ground Report (Jay Romagnoli)
 Report
- Larchmont Architectural Board of Review approved new shingle
roof replacement for the school last week
- Hoffmann has sent the Church and our Committee a draft of the
proposed drawings and specifications to be sent out for bids
- Hoffmann, together with Committee and Jason Gaynor
(Archdiocese representative), has compiled a list of 10 qualified
proposed contractors for the bid process
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- it is hoped Hoffmann will send out bid packages to contractors by
end of next week
- Hoffmann is working with Roger Dufort and Committee to
complete and finalize bid packages
- Archdiocese must approve overall project and Jason Gaynor will
submit the Church's Financial Plan (RFP) to Diocese after
receiving the RFP signed by Msgr. Kenny
- Jason is fully aware of timing issues regarding construction work
to be performed at the school
- Jason will endeavor to do everything possible to ensure receipt of
approval by Committee in time to start work by July 1st
- also planned is a meeting with representatives of FASNY in next
few weeks to walk through contemplated process and answer any
questions
- RFP will also include replacement of 2 boilers in School (the
Diocese must also approve purchasing the new boilers due to the
anticipated cost)
- additional bids on the boilers were received by the Church Jason Gaynor has advised that since the Church plans on paying
for roof and boiler projects with its own finances, he does not
expect any issues as part of the Diocese approval process
- the RFP will indicate the projects will be self-funded by Church
finances
- as part of the approval process, it is understood
representatives of the Diocese will review the Church's finances
-we currently have estimates on the costs – specific cost will be
determined when bids received
-to date there are 4 bids on the boilers ranging from $180,000 to
$210,000.
 Other Building Business
- concern was expressed over the heat of the floor in room 104 of
the school
-a suggestion was made that it could be as a result of the computers
which are housed in the room under room 104
 Parish Directory (Jack Callahan)
- there is no longer a Parish Directory Committee per se
- a discussion ensued in regards to the value of a paper directory and the over all
purpose of creating a data base
- it was concluded that a paper directory for distribution to the parish was not
important given the enormity of the task and the cost of ensuring it’s accuracy
- it was agreed that maintaining a database for the purpose of sending out
mailings and potentially emails, is important
- currently the data base is maintained by Diane Lama for the purposes of
mailings
- Roger Dufort sends updates to Diane when new people register
- pertinent information from all new registrants to the Religious Education
Program is also collected
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– the Religious Ed data base is now linked with the church data base
 French Community
- Father Murray had approximately 30 children at the French First Communion
 Reflections (Mary Margaret Johnson)
- final article for the next issue has been received
- next issue should be mailed out by the end of the month
10. Other Business
 Youth Ministry (Bruce Habig via email)
-Bruce has been in discussions with Beth Moretti
- it has been proposed we pay a monthly salary, rather than an hourly wage,
through June and then re-evaluate after she gets her feet into the situation
- a suggestion to pay twice monthly based on $15,000 per year is based on the
Larchmont recreation director which is a similar part time job
- this is similar to remuneration from several years ago ($30,000 to $35,000 for a
full time position)
- Beth has been asked to be available to have a meeting with a parent group who
can advise her
- it was also suggested Beth begin laying some ground work; doing some
research; speaking with area programs such as the area parishes and the
archdiocese office; meet with the confirmation class before their confirmation
ceremony
 Church Survey (Sally Robling)
- the test surveys have been sent out and returned with comments
- the survey is now ready to be sent to the entire Parish
 C. Nominating Committee (Anne Avenius)
- the nominating committee has been selected
- they are:
Jim Jeffry
Mary Ellen Beitel
Peggie Cashman
Fran Riley
Anne Avenius
-we need four new members for next year
- Sally McGuire, Pat McNamara, Richard Summo and Matt Jacobs have
completed their tenure
-Matt Jacobs has offered to continue doing the blood drive and the parish picnic,
his offer was gratefully accepted
 D. First Mass
- a request was made to have the 10:30 mass May13th in the church to allow for
set up for the reception following the 12 noon mass (permission granted)
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-anyone willing to help with the set up for the reception should arrive around
10:30am
11. Next Parish Council Meeting
- Monday June 4, 2007 at 8:00pm
12. Meeting Adjourned
Minutes respectfully submitted by:
Mary Margaret Johnson
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